The Science of Sound
This site contains a series of experiments about sound and its application to animals, musical instruments, and communications. Designed for second graders, each half hour experiment gives the students the introduction, a list of needed materials, and the procedures. Students can easily work in pairs with minimum adult supervision. Included are Animal Challenges which are activities that encourage kids to apply the concepts of sound to the animal kingdom.
Caesar Cipher II
users practice simple arithmetic skills by encoding and decoding messages to determine the form for an affine cipher.
Issue in-depth : Inside alternatively powered vehicles: The problems and the possibilities
Like all things natural or human-made, all modes of transportation, from horses to spacecraft are governed by the Principle of conservation of matter, the First law of thermodynamics, and the Second law of thermodynamics. The activities described in this article help students to explore the varied methods for powering our transportation needs, and provides students with valuable knowledge and practical experience in applying these scientific laws and principles that govern matter and energy in u
Meter : Metre
This article gives detailed scientific information related to the creation of the meter. The material connects the scientific theory behind the metric system to the practical efforts of Mechain and Delambre, including the historical times in which they worked. Information includes further definition of the meter, first as a bar and then as a specific distance measured by light.
Who Needs Algebra? Everyone! : Northwest Teacher, volume 6 number 1
Learning algebra doesn't have to be painful, and researchers are finding that the process is easier if children are introduced to algebraic reasoning early on. This issue of NW Teacher points out that students who begin learning algebra at the elementary level have a stronger foundation for higher-level mathematics. Algebra also helps pave the way for college and increased career opportunities. This issue helps schools explore new ways of bringing algebra to all students.
Platonic solids, duals (grades 6-8)
Using this virtual manipulative, the student can examine the dual relationship among the five platonic solids, each a polyhedron with identical regular polygonal faces. Every platonic solid has a unique platonic solid that fits inside it, with its vertices at the midpoints of the original solid. The student can manipulate, color, and change the size of each solid. A transparent mode is available for viewing the outline of each polyhedron and its dual. Instructions for using the applet and inform
TOPEX/Poseidon - Overview
This resource presents basic information about how the TOPEX/Poseidon satellite works, what factors affect ocean topography and how ocean circulation affects the Earths climate. Remote imagery, diagrams, and links to related topics are included.
Stem-and-Leaf Plotter
This activity generates a stem and leaf plot from data that the user enters.
Frequently Asked Questions: Questions About Paleontology
This site asks and answers questions about paleontology, fossils and dinosaurs. Paleontology questions are: What is paleontology? How does paleontology differ from anthropology and archaeology? What are the practical uses of paleontology? How do paleontologists know how old their fossils are? What training is necessary to become a paleontologist? What organizations exist for paleontologists?
Examine rocks from a satellite view and zoom in to a microscopic view
Created for high school students, this interactive Earth science visualization shows rocks at nine different scales, from a photograph of the Earth taken aboard Apollo 17, to an image of atoms created with an electron microscope. The site also provides views of continents, mountain ranges, rock formations, and minerals within a rock. The resource points out that by studying rocks at different scales, geologists can learn about Earth processes. Students are able to click on icons such as a satell
How high? : measurement (grades 6-8)
With this virtual manipulative, the student investigates conservation of volume with a virtual simulation of pouring a liquid from one container to a container of the same shape, but of a different size. There are four cylinder shapes to choose from: rectangular prism, cylinder, cone, and pyramid. The left container is partially filled with liquid and the base dimensions of the two cylinders are given. The student uses a slider to estimate how high the liquid will rise when poured into the secon
Atlas of the Cyrosphere
This site from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) allows visitors to explore and dynamically map the Earth's frozen regions. Viewed from a polar perspective, the available data sources include snow cover, sea ice extent and concentration, glaciers, ice sheets, permafrost, and other critical components of the Earth's cryosphere. Users can zoom in to a specific region on the Earth as well as overlay country borders, major cities, and other geographic information. This site provides a ge
The Universe : Beginnings
This article describes the Big Bang theory of the creation of the universe. It includes glossary definitions of the words in the article.
Dinosaur Detectives
This lesson plan will help students learn that discoveries about dinosaurs have a long history and that each paleontologist adds his or her work to a body of fossil evidence used to support theories about dinosaurs. In it, students will use the internet to explore the discovery of fossils and dinosaurs. The website includes the lesson plan, extensions, guidelines for evaluation, and MCREL standards alignment.
Ice Cube of Exotic Microbes
This article describes a permafrost subglacial lake discovered beneath Antarctica. The lake offers scientists a chance to test their sterile drilling techniques before exploring elsewhere in search of exotic microbes. Techniques that avoid contaminating a drill site with microbes, suggests the author, would prove useful for future drilling into Mars polar caps in search of life.
The Metric System : Metric and Scientific Notation
This lesson describes the history and basic operation of the metric system as well as scientific notation. Metric to English conversions and examples of unit conversions by moving the decimal are included.
Polar Bears International Photo and Video Gallery
This page links to video intervews of the researchers and photographers, videos of polar bears taken with the polar cam, and images of polar bears.
Demonstrations and Animations for Teaching Astronomy
This website is intended for teachers to use these animations in class to illustrate important astronomy concepts like: lunar phases, Keplers Laws, retrograde motion, the Doppler Effect, spectral lines, Kirchoffs Laws, and the seasons.
Using History and Biographies in Science
This article describes the use of history and biographies in the development of the educational modules available through Vision Learning, Inc. It includes suggestions for using these resources in the classroom.
Discovery, Chance and the Scientific Method
This article on the nature of science, discusses several events in science history and asks how chance influenced each. The authors conclude that though many texts credit serendipity, the reality is the scientists involved were probably aware of work done before them on until then, unanswered questions. They used this previous work to inform their own work and thus were enabled to make scientific progress, not by chance but by clever application, creativity and synthesis.
