Video Tip of the Week: SNPeffect 4.0
By: OpenHelix This quick tip explores the new version of SNPeffect. For more information and links see http://blog.openhelix.eu/?p=10257
Seismic Waves
The first site for this Topic in Depth comes from the Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences at Michigan Technological University and is called What Is Seismology? (1). The site describes the basics of seismology, the various types of waves associated with it, and even contains a link that shows you how to make your own P and S waves. Next is the Earthquakes Overview site (2), provided by The Tech Museum. Visitors can explore topics such as seismographs and waves through an
Simple Machines
This series of three interactive, multimedia activities introduce and demonstrate the properties of six simple machines. Specifically, the lessons show how levers, pulleys, inclined planes, screws, wheels and axles, and wedges can reduce the amount of work done by humans. After learning about the characteristics of each classification, users can try to find the simple machines that make up a lawn mower. By inspecting the mower from different angles, several simple machines are revealed and must
NatureWorks
Developed by New Hampshire Public Television and the Squam Lakes Natural Science Center, NatureWorks offers teachers an excellent resource for biologically related subjects geared for students grades 3-6. Sixteen topics are included, ranging from species diversity to fresh water communities. Each subject has a one page description for students to read and a short quiz for them to take. A teacher's guide offers additional vocabulary, hands-on activities, teaching tips, and external links.
University of Delaware: Extreme 2003: To the Depths of Discovery
The first University of Delaware Graduate College of Marine Studies website listed above chronicles the fourth in a series of Extreme missions to explore deep-sea hydrothermal vents. This particular mission--titled To the Depths of Discovery--took place in 2003 and followed an international team of marine scientists on a 23-day expedition as they studied the life-forms and structure of hydrothermal vents. Utilizing great multimedia features, the Extreme 2003 website shares information about the
Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science
The Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science was established in 1876 and remained the only high quality research facility for the basic sciences until the early decades of the twentieth century. Visitors can discover an abundance of information on its research in the fields of Material Science, Solid State Physics, Inorganic Chemistry, Biological Chemistry, Energy Research, and much more. Scientists can find out about upcoming conferences such as the Colloquium for Young Physicists. The
Introduction to Spreadsheets
The WiseOwl project is sponsored by the Instructional Technology Division of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction offering resources for K-12 education. Although this website is specifically geared toward teachers in North Carolina whose students are expected to know measurement for the fifth grade End of Grade Test, several of the resources are applicable to any teacher looking for ways to teach about spreadsheets. The website offers links to other web resources on using spreadsh
Platonic Realms
The Platonic Realms website is a project initiated by a small group of math and math education graduate students, led by B. Sidney Smith, at the University of Colorado at Boulder. The group's goal is "to provide high-quality mathematical content for secondary-school and college students that was free, motivational, and instructional." The introductory page features a historical note, a daily quotation, a daily mathematics challenge, humorous articles, and a "math moment" which uses multi-media t
Forces, Forces Everywhere
Students are introduced to Newton’s laws of motion. They learn about forces associated with motion, gravitational acceleration, weight, normal force, static and kinetic friction, drag, and free-body diagrams. These concepts are reinforced with the associated activity, Dragged Racers, to analyze frictional forces as they use their mousetrap-powered model cars to relate displacement, velocity and acceleration with external forces acting upon them.
Bubbling Plants
Students learn a simple technique for quantifying the amount of photosynthesis that occurs in a given period of time, using a common water plant (Elodea). They can use this technique to compare the amounts of photosynthesis that occur under conditions of low and high light levels. Before they begin the experiment, however, students must come up with a well-worded hypothesis to be tested. After running the experiment, students pool their data to get a large sample size, determine the measures of
Graphing the Rainbow
Students are introduced to different ways of displaying visual spectra, including colored “barcode” spectra, like those produced by a diffraction grating, and line plots displaying intensity versus color, or wavelength. Students learn that a diffraction grating acts like a prism, bending light into its component colors.
Dress for Success
In this design activity, students investigate materials engineering as it applies to weather and clothing. Teams design and analyze different combinations of materials for effectiveness in specific weather conditions. Analysis includes simulation of temperature, wind and wetness elements, as well as the functionality and durability of final prototypes.
Pointing at Maximum Power for PV
Student teams measure voltage and current in order to determine the power output of a photovoltaic (PV) panel. They vary the resistance in a simple circuit connected to the panel to demonstrate the effects on voltage, current, and power output. After collecting data, they calculate power for each resistance setting, creating a graph of current vs. voltage, and indentifying the maximum power point.
Sounds Like Music
Music can loosely be defined as organized sound. The lesson objectives, understanding sound is a form of energy, understanding pitch, understanding sound traveling through a medium, and being able to separate music from sound, can provide a good knowledge base as to how sound, math, and music are related. Sound exists everywhere in the world; typically objects cause waves of pressure in the air which are perceived by people as sound. Among the sounds that exist in everyday life, a few of them pr
The Visual Spectrum
In this activity, students make simple spectroscopes (prisms) to look at different light sources. The spectroscopes allow students to see differing spectral distributions of different light sources.
Nidy-Gridy
Normally we find things using landmark navigation. When you move to a new place, it may take you awhile to explore the new streets and buildings, but eventually you recognize enough landmarks and remember where they are in relation to each other. However, another accurate method for locating places and things is using grids and coordinates. In this activity, students will come up with their own system of a grid and coordinates for their classroom and understand why it is important to have one co
Test and Treat Before You Drink
Students learn about water quality testing (coliform bacteria, turbidity) and what is involved in basic water treatment designs. Biological, physical and chemical treatment processes are addressed, as well as physical and biological water quality testing, including testing for bacteria such as E.coli.
Solar Angles and Tracking Systems
Students learn about the daily and annual cycles of solar angles used in power calculations to maximize photovoltaic power generation. They gain an overview of solar tracking systems that improve PV panel efficiency by following the sun through the sky.
Taking the Boat to Manaus
In this activity, the students will apply the concepts they learned regarding mass, volume and density in the previous activities to design a boat.
Downhill Science: Alpine Skiing
The following resource is from Lessonopoly, which has created student activities and lesson plans to support the video series, Science of the Olympic Winter Games, created by NBC Learn and the National Science Foundation. Featuring exclusive footage from NBC Sports and contributions from Olympic athletes and NSF scientists, the series will help teach your students valuable scientific concepts. In this activity, students will explore the physics of alpine skiing by simulating a downhill run and r
