This Planet Really Rocks
This ThinkQuest Junior site contains information and activities about rocks and minerals. Included is information about what a rock is, the major characteristics with examples of sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks, the rock cycle, the differences between rocks and minerals, how to identify minerals (color, luster, streak, cleavager, hardness, and specific gravity), and the Mohs Scale. Facts about common minerals and their properties, how rocks and minerals are important, and their uses
Improving Mathematics Education: Resources for Decision Making
This report has been designed to help inform stakeholders about the decisions they face, to point to recent research findings, and to provide access to the most recent thinking of experts on issues of national concern in mathematics education. The essence of the report is that information is available to help those charged with improving student achievement in mathematics. It can guide those who make decisions about content, learning, teaching, and assessment. Eight important documents were revi
Visualizing the Metric System
What are some common things that could be used to approximate lengths for a visual picture of the different lengths in the metric system?
When did the Grand Canyon begin to form?
This March 14, 2008 entry in the NSDL Expert Voices blog Connecting News with National Science Education Standards deals with the recent finding suggesting the Grand Canyon is two to three times older than commonly believed. Additional links to teaching resources related to earth systems structure, rock dating and the nature of science are provided.
Science Sampler : Thriving in the co-taught classroom
Classrooms are becoming more diverse as students with specific learning needs are moved out of self-contained special education classrooms and into mainstreamed classrooms with their non-disabled peers. The use of the co-teaching model allows for extensive flexibility in structuring instructional activities and responding to the needs of diverse learners. This article provides a summary of co-teaching practices that have been effective and beneficial for many years.
Population Growth in Yeasts
This lesson is the second of two that explore cellular respiration and population growth in yeasts. In the first lesson, students set up a simple way to indirectly observe and quantify the amount of respiration occurring in yeast-molasses cultures. Based on questions that arose during the first lesson and its associated activity, in this lesson students work in small groups to design experiments that will determine how environmental factors affect yeast population growth.
Compare Human-made Objects with Natural Objects
In small groups, students will experiment and observe the similarities and differences between human-made objects and nature. The students will compare the function and structure of hollow bones with drinking straws, bird beaks, tool pliers, bat wings and airplane wings. A classroom discussion can be held to discuss similarities and differences that were observed along with follow up assessment activities such as journal writing and Venn diagrams.
GoNU.TV Game Recap - Baseball vs. Boston College - March 29, 2011
The Northeastern University baseball team defeated the Boston College Eagles in an extra inning affair Tuesday afternoon, claiming a 2-1 victory at Friedman Diamond in Brookline, Mass.
What Is Bullying?
In this short video, bullying is defined with facts and stats. Some key elements are power imbalance with intent to harm physically or verbally. This would be a good resource for a teachable moment in the classroom or for a guidance session on reminding students about what bullying is. Content is appropriate for upper elementary. (0:45)
Shoes Under Pressure
Students explore the basic physics behind walking, and the design and engineering of shoes to accommodate different gaits. They are introduced to pressure, force and impulse as they relate to shoes, walking and running. Students learn about the mechanics of walking, shoe design and common gait misalignments that often lead to injury.
A New Angle on PV Efficiency
Students examine how the orientation of a photovoltaic (PV) panel relative to the sun affects the efficiency of the panel. Using sunshine (or a lamp) and a small PV panel connected to a digital multimeter, students vary the angle of the solar panel, record the resulting current output on a worksheet, and plot their experimental results.
Design a Solar City
Students design and build a model city powered by the sun! They learn about the benefits of solar power, and how architectural and building engineers integrate photovoltaic panels into the design of buildings.
Zero-Energy Housing
Students investigate passive solar building design with a focus solely on heating. They learn how insulation, window placement, thermal mass, surface colors, and site orientation play important roles in passive solar heating. They use this information to design and build their own model houses, and test them for thermal gains and losses during a simulated day and night. Teams compare designs and make suggestions for improvements.
Passive Solar Design
Students are introduced to passive solar design for buildings — an approach that uses the sun’s energy and the surrounding climate to provide natural heating and cooling. They learn about some of the disadvantage of conventional heating and cooling and how engineers incorporate passive solar designs into our buildings for improved efficiency.
Sliders (for High School)
In this hands-on activity, students learn about two types of friction — static and kinetic — and the equation that governs them. They also measure the coefficient of static friction and the coefficient of kinetic friction experimentally.
Got Energy? Spinning a Food Web
Students learn about energy flow in food webs, including the roles of the sun, producers, consumers and decomposers in the energy cycle. They model a food web and create diagrams of food webs using their own drawings and/or images from nature or wildlife magazines. Students investigate the links between the sun, plants and animals, building their understanding of the web of nutrient dependency and energy transfer.
A Simple Solution for the Circus
In this activity, students are challenged to design a contraption using simple machines to move a circus elephant into a rail car. After students consider their audience and constraints, they work in groups to brainstorm ideas and select one concept to communicate to the class.
Household energy audit
Students review the electrical appliances used at home and estimate the energy used for each. The results can help to show the energy hogs that could benefit from conservation or improved efficiency.
Efficiency of a water heating system
Students use a watt meter to measure energy input into a hot plate or hot pot used to heat water. The theoretical amount of energy required to raise the water by the measure temperature change is calculated and compared to the electrical energy input to calculate efficiency.
