Bells in Your Ears
Does sound travel better through solids or gases? This material is part of a series of hands-on science activities designed to arouse student interest. Here the student hangs a metal fork from a pencil using string, and then strikes the fork while the eraser end of the pencil is in his or her ear. The activity includes a description, a list of science process skills and complex reasoning strategies being used, and a compilation of applicable national science standards for grades K-12. Also provi
Popcorn : if you like popcorn, which one would you buy?
This third challenge in the Figure This! list of 80 math challenges directs the student to use popcorn to compare the volumes of tall and short cylinders formed with 8- by 11-inch sheets of paper. The challenge points out that it is important to be able to make visual estimates and find volumes. The web page includes links to a solution hint, the solution, other related math questions, and print resources that contain mathematics activities about packaging and wrapping shapes. The Did You Know a
The Factor Game
Students will use a game setting to identify the properties of prime, composite, abundant, deficient, and perfect numbers. This lesson plan includes the objective, overview of the lesson, needed materials including transparency and worksheets, procedures and rules of the game, extensions and connections, resources, and ideas for discussion.
Urban Tree Planting: Soil 101
Ever wondered how trees live amidst city sidewalks? This two-minute radio program from the show Pulse of the Planet focuses on the below-ground challenge that urban trees face--city soil. In the program, which is provided here in audio and text formats, a horticulturalist describes the importance of soil and the soil quality and quantity problems often found in cities. She then talks about a mixture that she and fellow researchers at Cornell University have developed called structural soil, whic
Eratosthenes and the mystery of the stades
This article on the history of mathematics explains the famous measurement of the circumference of the Earth made by Eratosthenes, and discusses the mystery surrounding the accuracy of that measurement. A key element in the discussion is the ancient unit of length used in the measurement: the stade. The in-depth article uses diagrams as well as text to make its point.
Idea Bank : A Big Bang Lab
The authors of "How Far are the Stars," featured in the February issue of The Science Teacher, showed how the measurement of parallax permits scientists to infer astronomic distances. Give your students the chance to make similar inferences through a free module available online that allows students to scale sizes and distances, and then create models from which they calculate inferences that, in simplified form, give results that astronomers obtained similarly in recent times.
Glue Polymer
What is a polymer, and what are some of its properties? This material is part of a series of hands-on science activities designed to arouse student interest. In this discovery activity students use white glue, water, and borax to make a vinyl polymer and study its properties. The activity includes a description, a list of science process skills and complex reasoning strategies being used, and a compilation of applicable K-12 national science education standards. Also provided are content topics,
Whats It Like Where You Live? Desert
This site provides excellent background information on deserts. Large print and superb pictures make this site very appealing to younger students. Topics include: What is a Desert Like?, Types of Deserts, What causes Deserts?, Deserts of the World, Desert Plants, Desert Animals, and links to other desert sites.
Natural Resources, the Environment, and Ecosystems
This collection of teacher guides includes: Ecosystems and Climate, Wildlife - Just One Piece of the Picture, Integrated Pest Management, Soil and Ecosystems, Sustainable Agriculture, and The Web of Life - Understanding Ecosystems. Each guide includes a subject overview, objectives, and student activities. By the end, students should be able to understand the effect of climate on ecosystems; the interrelationships of animals with components of their natural ecosystem; how ecosystems benefit from
Spinner
users can create a game spinner with one to twelve sectors to look at experimental and theoretical probabilities.
The Earth's Orbit
These eleven activities relate to the results of the motion and position of the Earth in its orbit, investigating both the causes and the effects of changing seasons. It starts simply by trying to quantify the observation that it is colder in the winter and ends by measuring the tilt of the Earth. This is chapter two of the online book Eyes on the Sky, Feet on the Ground, containing explorations into astronomy as a classroom tool for learning how to theorize, experiment, and analyze data. The ac
Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards: A Guide for Teaching and Learning
This book explores the dimensions of teaching and learning science as inquiry for K-12 students across a range of science topics. Detailed examples help clarify when teachers should use the inquiry-based approach and how much structure, guidance, and coaching they should provide. The book dispels myths that may have discouraged educators from the inquiry-based approach and illuminates the subtle interplay between concepts, processes, and science as it is experienced in the classroom. Inquiry and
Examine the sun at different wavelengths
This Earth science resource enables students to observe and compare the sun's appearance under different types of electromagnetic radiation. Students are instructed to move the cursor across the spectrum to see images of the sun under radio and microwaves; infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light; and gamma rays. Each image includes a label that indicates the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, the wavelength in angstroms and meters, and the layer of the sun in view. Copyright 2005 Eisenhow
El Nino Returns
This web page is an online companion to CNN's special coverage on El Nino for the 1997-98 season. El Nino is a strange but powerful weather phenomenon; tracker and background reports provide the user with the science behind El Nino, its history and impact. Topics covered include: forecast; ground zero (Peru); strange brew (weather); prediction meter; the wet coast (California); and the trackers. Links to other web sites are provided, and users may access more up-to-date El Nino stories by clicki
Astronomy
This page contains links to one pagers on historical instruments of astronomy with photos of the following : Astronomy Slides, Celestial Globe, Cometarium, Globe, Gregorian Telescope, Kepler's Laws Demonstration, Orrery, Planetarium, Planisphere, Stereoscopic Pictures of the Moon, Tellurian, and Transit.
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.
Evolution : Online Lessons for Students: Learning Evolution
These seven online lessons provide multimedia pathways to help students understand evolution and the nature of science. Each lesson focuses on an essential question and contains two to three engaging activities. The website includes both student lessons and teacher pages for each topic.
Waves, sound and light
Teachers can give demonstrations and students can conduct virtual physics experiments related to waves using the Shockwave simulations at this site. Simulations are designed to explore sound wave frequencies, echoes, a phased array, ultrasound, interference patterns, the doppler effect, and more. Students will need teacher assistance as there is little explanatory material with the simulations.
Sketches of the history of Electromagnetics
This website outlines the history of light, electricity, magnetism and electromagnetic theory, placed in a linked timeline order with corresponding biographical sketches. It includes events from antiquity to 1933.
BBC historic figures : Isaac Newton
This concise biography includes an image of Newton and related links in the right navigation bar including: one to an article Newton papers revealed; The Newton Project; and to a lengthier biography, Isaac Newton.
