Exploring the Mysteries of the Ocean Floor
This article explains why scientists study the ocean floor; scientists travel to the seafloor to learn how deep sea organisms use the sun-less chemical environment to thrive.
Reading Comprehension Strategies
This resource guide from the Middle School Portal 2 project, written specifically for teachers, provides links to exemplary resources including background information, lessons, career information, and related national science education standards. Do your middle school students not complete reading assignments or not comprehend them when they do? Is student motivation an issue you struggle with? Do you feel that your students need assistance comprehending the textbook? Students are faced with inc
International Boiling Point Project
The purpose of this project is to discover which factor in the experiment (room temperature, elevation, volume of water, or heating device) has the greatest influence on boiling point. Anyone can participate in this year's project. All you have to do is boil a bit of water, record a bit of information, and send it along to the website to have your results included in the database of results. Then, students can analyze all of the data to reach an answer to the question: What causes a pot of water
Human Genetics Project
Participants in this project will survey phenotypic traits of classmates and schoolmates, compile data with students from around the world, and analyze data to determine if the prevalent phenotype is the dominant allele. The Human Genetics Project is an Internet-based project which enrichs a student's learning experience through "Unique and Compelling" applications of instructional technology. In particular, this project taps into some of the exciting applications of the Internet in education by
neoK12: Algebra
A set of 26 videos showing brief lessons or mini-tutorials on algebra topics. These 2 to 19-minute lessons are appropriate for a first year algebra class. In each video, a teacher uses the blackboard to give clear, concise explanations of such elementary topics as slope, equations, and factoring, but also higher level topics such as conic sections and systems of equations.
Video Games in the Middle School Classroom
Video games use problem-based learning to engage and motivate students. They have the potential to meet curricular standards and challenge students to exceed those curricular standards.,Volume 39, Number 4
Bias Sampling
The purpose of this activity, designing a survey, is “to demonstrate how the results of a poll or other scientific study can be biased by selecting special types of people to respond or by asking only certain questions.” In this well-constructed lesson, students gather opinions on how much homework time is appropriate for them to have. Who should they interview? What questions should they ask? The task culminates in a persuasive, hopefully unbiased, report to the school principal.
Adapting Literacy Strategies to Improve Student Performance on Constructed-Response Items
This practical article discusses ways of adapting various reading strategies to help students improve their answers to extended-response questions on the mathematics portion of high stakes tests. Although initially addressed to Ohio educators, it is ultimately directed to all math teachers.
Down the Drain: How Much Water Do You Use?
This Internet-based collaborative project will allow students to share information about water usage with other students from around the country and the world. Based on data collected by their household members and their classmates, students will determine the average amount of water used by one person in a day. They will compare this to the average amount of water used per person per day in other parts of the world. Students will record water use by members in their household for one week. At t
Keeping the Legacy Alive
"Keeping the Legacy Alive" - Through Eliezer Ayalon's poignant and captivating tale of survival, we can grasp the vital need of preserving the Holocaust survivors legacy. Yad Vashem has been rightfully entrusted with this mission since its establishment in 1953. The brief and compelling film sheds light on Yad Vashem's multifarious activities -- the many millions of documents, the inspiring exhibitions, the workshops, conferences and seminars for educators -- strengthen the voices of the sur
L'eau dans le monde - Johnny Douvinet
Une conférence de l'UTLS au Lycée
L'eau dans le monde par Johnny Douvinet (géographe et géomorphologue)
CFA BTP (13 Aix les Milles)
Scientific American Frontiers: Calls of the Wild
As always, PBS offers a fantastic companion Web site to its popular series Scientific American Frontiers, this time for the episode "Calls of the Wild" (aired April 1, 2003). Viewers join researchers as they "listen in on animal communication as birds, bees, bugs, bats and elephants flirt, eavesdrop, and even give directions." Three lesson plans are available, as well as an answer key and a quiz based on the program, each for grades 5-8. The site also includes a number of Web-exclusive features,
Wise Drives
Appearing in the August 2002 issue of IEEE Spectrum, this article considers the potential advantages of adding processing power to computer hard drives. By shifting the burden of such common tasks "as searching and encryption" from the CPU to the hard drive, the author argues that significant performance improvements would be realized. Using a hard drive for more than just data storage would require some changes to existing standards, but could result in more opportunities for manufacturers. The
Prime Curios!
The University of Tennessee at Martin has one of the most expansive sites devoted to prime numbers and their significance. This page "is an exciting collection of curiosities, wonders and trivia related to prime numbers." As of December 2002, there are nearly 2,000 numbers with at least one curio. Some of the smallest numbers are interesting to peruse; however, reading every curio or researching other numbers to submit to the database is probably left to the mathematicians. One thing is certain,
National Aquarium in Baltimore
The Web site for the National Aquarium in Baltimore has some valuable resources for students and teachers, as well as information for those interested in visiting the museum. Several of the teachers activities can be used in classrooms that do not visit the aquarium, and the Animals section is a sizable resource of information on a number of aquatic species. A great new feature is the interactive aquagames that provide a fun way for students to test what they have learned from visiting this Web
Nærfoto: The Visual Impact of Nature
This free, non-commercial website was created by professional nature photographer and former aquatic ecologist Bjørn Rørslett to exhibit his remarkable photographic work. A stand-out section of the website, titled Flowers in Ultraviolet, provides a glimpse into the visual world of pollinators by displaying fantastic ultraviolet and visible light images of different flower species. The website also contains some intriguing images featuring frogs, plants in urban settings, aquatic species, w
EDUCAUSE Quarterly
EDUCAUSE Quarterly "is a practitioner's journal about managing and using information resources in higher education." It deals with many issues about implementing information technology (IT) practices as learning tools. The material is suitable for anyone interested in IT applications, but is particularly useful for those who work in computer services or other IT organizational positions. This site offers full text articles from the journal at no cost, and several back issues can be viewed as wel
Interactive Investigator
Interactive Investigator, available through Virtual Museum Canada, is a website "for anyone with an interest in the different scientific methods used to solve crimes." Users will find a database of forensic science, containing short but informative essays on forensic entomology, toxicology, alcohol analysis, and various other forensic science topics. A simple timeline reviews key dates in the development of forensics, starting with the creation of the Paris Institute for Forensic Science in 1868
UK Particle Physics, Astronomy, and Space Science (PPARC): Frontiers
The Frontiers publication offers the latest news and activities of the Research Council's funded projects and the UK Particle Physics, Astronomy, and Space Science's (PPARC) funded scientists. Produced three times a year, each issue is easy to navigate with quick links to the space science and particle physics articles on the Contents page as well as a keyword search. The website offers archives of the publication since 1997. Each issue contains five sections: the Contents, Editorial, Update, Fe
Dendrochronology Species Database
The Dendrochronology Species Database was composed by Henri D. Grissino-Mayer, a Professor of Geography at the University of Tennessee. The database "currently contains the names of over 1,100 tree and shrub species for which tree rings have been analyzed in the published literature." Records include the authority and scientific and common name(s) for each species. For species with available data in the International Tree-Ring Data Bank (ITRDB), records provide an ITRDB Code, and a link to the I
