Learning from the Fossil Record
This is a hypertext version of a book originally published by the Paleontological Society. The book was written to accompany an educational workshop Learning from the Fossil Record presented for K-16 educators at the 1996 Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of American in Denver, Colorado. The workshop was intended to give K-12 teaches information on how scientists use fossil evidence to reconstruct the past. It also offered ideas about using paleontology to teach the scientific process.
Tree of Life
Teachers, learners and science enthusiasts are invited to explore Life on Earth and share their learning by building ToL treehouses and publishing them on the Tree of Life. Broadening our contributor base and audience is part of our efforts to create an open access digital library about biodiversity. The ToL provides four different ways of interacting with ToL learning resources, from the least interactive (browsing) to the most interactive (becoming a treehouse builder and creating ToL treehous
Reading for Philosophical Inquiry
In this introduction to philosophical thinking, we will read some essays specially chosen from four main areas of interest: (1) the philosophy of life, (2) the philosophy of religion, (3) ethics, and (4) metaphysics and theory of knowledge. Although our approach is not comprehensive, it is reasonably representative of some of the more significant areas of philosophical inquiry. The readings are intended to illustrate the interrelations between these subject areas of philosophy and, as well, to p
NASA's Rocket to the Moon
QUEST gets the details on NASA's plan to crash a rocket into the moon in an effort to locate evidence of water. This educator guide provides activities to assist teachers with the use of the video segment in their classrooms and provides suggestions for additional educator resources offered in the Bay Area related to the study of the moon.
GLOBE Cave Protocol Field Guide: Comparing Surface and Subterranean Environments
The GLOBE Cave Protocol Field Guide utilizes existing GLOBE protocols to explore an extreme environment. Caves provide an opportunity to utilize GLOBE protocols to investigate underground environments and compare them to surface environments. Outside the cave, students record elevation, MUC, latitude and longitude, air temperature, relative humidity and air pressure. Inside the cave, students record air temperature, relative humidity and air pressure as well as observe and describe cave features
Yet Another Calculus Text
I intend this book to be, firstly, a introduction to calculus based on the hyperreal number system. In other words, I will use infinitesimal and infinite numbers freely. Just as most beginning calculus books provide no logical justification for the real number system, I will provide none for the hyperreals. The reader interested in questions of foundations should consult books such as Abraham Robinson's Non-standard Analysis or Robert Goldblatt's Lectures on the Hyperreals. Secondly, I have aime
Peirce And Fisher on the Place of Probability in Abductive Inference
In his analysis of inference into three types, deduction, induction, and abduction, C. S. Peirce maintains that probability plays an essential role in the first two, but not in the third. For a deductive argument, probability tells us the frequency with which the conclusion will hold given the premises; for an inductive argument, probability tells us the frequency with which the argument will hold true. However, probability has no role to play in abduction because there is, in Peirce's view, no
Earth Exploration Toolbook Chapter: When is Dinner Served? Predicting the Spring Phytoplankton Bloom
In this activity, users learn about the variables that influence the abundance of phytoplankton, the microscopic plants that form the base of the marine food chain. Users apply this knowledge to make predictions about the timing of the spring phytoplankton bloom in the Gulf of Maine. They obtain and graph data from buoy monitoring stations and interpret them to make their predictions. They check their predictions by examining chlorophyll concentration data at each buoy. Users also compare their
Mapping Margery Kempe
Margery Kempe's spiritual biography is often called the first autobiography in English. A married woman who attempted to live a life devoted to Christ, Margery sought official Church recognition for her status as a spiritual woman and mystic, while continuing to live and travel in the secular world. She experienced intense emotional visionary encounters with Christ, which have at times a strikingly homely quality. Her Book, dictated by her to a scribe, records these visions as well as her travel
Object of History
The Object of History is a cooperative project between the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and George Mason University’s Center for History and New Media. The project was conceived of in an effort to find a low cost way for students and teacher of U.S. History to have access to the museum’s collections and the expertise of the curators. As a result the materials on the site are designed to improve students’ content knowledge of standard topics in U.S. History and to imp
Hindsight
Welcome to Hindsight, an online history project that will transport you back to New York City on May 8, 1970. Your mission is to determine what happened on that day, and what meaning it might hold for us today. Our site uses the web's characteristics to foster historical inquiry -- you will navigate through multiple sources of evidence, explore diverse perspectives, and make connections within this "web" of material. The site is part archive, part essay, and part interactive exhibit.
Causal Reasoning
Does excessive exposure to violent video games cause violent behavior? Does increased gun availability cause more crime or less? Causal claims permeate everyday life and are constantly the subject of "studies" reported in the newspaper. The material in Causal and Statistical Reasoning examines the nature of causal claims and the statistical sorts of evidence used to support them. The material is contained in: approximately 20 content modules, a repository of over 100 short case studies, and a "C
Empirical Research Methods
Regression analysis is an enormously popular and powerful tool, used ubiquitously in the social and behavioral sciences. Most courses on the subject immediately dive into the mathematical aspects of the subject and illustrate the technique on problems that are already highly structured. As a result, most students come away with little idea of the wide range of problems to which regression analysis can be applied and how to represent those problems in a way that cleverly utilizes readily availabl
Reading proficiency, culture: Wo in Europe spricht man Deutsch?
At the completion of this lesson you will have learned something about the countries in Europe where German is the official language. You will practice your reading skills and vocabulary on this topic.
The Great Pyramid at Giza
The object of this problem is to estimate the number of people required to build the Great Pyramid at Giza in Egypt. This pyramid is nearly 150 m tall* and 230 m wide at the base. The average block of stone used in building the pyramid has dimensions .66 m x 1.00 m x 1.50 m. These blocks were quarried at a site on the Giza Plateau that shall be taken to be about 5 km away although it may have been closer. The ancient Egyptians transported these blocks from the quarry to the pyramid on wooden sle
Earth's Moving Plates
Find out how our continents have changed over millions of years.
The Taking of Knock Moss 1 to 8
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Credibility of a simulation-based virtual laboratory: An exploratory study of learner judgments of v
Several studies have examined realism and instructional effectiveness of physical simulations. However, very few have touched on the question of their credibility or verisimilitude, from the users point of view. This article presents an empirical exploratory study which investigated the perceptions of potential users of a simulation-based virtual physics laboratory (the VPLab). In the VPLab, students conduct virtual physics experiments designed to promote both acquisition of general experiment
A multi-agent and emergent approach to student modelling
User modelling has been a central issue in the development of user-adaptive systems, which behaviour is usually based on the user's preferences, goals, interests and knowledge. This is particularly the case when the user is a student and the system is a computer-based learning environment. The aim of this paper is to present a mechanism for diagnosing and modelling learner's conceptions based on a theoretical model of conceptions. Our approach takes the diagnosis of learner's conceptions as the
Modèles de soutien à l'élaboration de scénarios
Les enseignants participant aux nombreux dispositifs d'enseignement à distance sont confrontés à la difficulté d'élaborer leurs activités d'apprentissage, sur support numérique, sous forme de scénarios pédagogiques. Dans cet article, nous proposons un dispositif de soutien à la tâche de conception de scénarios pédagogiques « analyse de documents » basé sur différents niveaux de modèles.,Preprint
