What Can We Learn About Our Seasons?
The purpose of this resource is to have students develop a qualitative understanding of the characteristics and patterns of seasons and highlight the relationship of seasons to physical, biological and cultural markers. Students observe and record seasonal changes in their local study site. They establish that these phenomena follow annual cycles and conclude the activity by creating displays that illustrate the repeating pattern associated with the appearance and disappearance of seasonal marke
Seasonal Change on Land and Water
The purpose of this resource is to further students' understanding of the causes of seasonal change using visualizations to compare the effects of incoming solar energy in the two hemispheres. The class reviews global visualizations of incoming sunlight and surface temperature and discusses seasonal change. Students use the visualizations to support inquiry on the differences in seasonal change in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, culminating in an evidence-based argument about why one hemi
GEOLogic: Museums and their Dinosaur Displays
GEOLogic questions are puzzles that were developed to support students understanding of geoscience concepts while challenging them to develop better logic and problem solving skills. In this exercise, students are asked to match five top museums with two fossils that they have on display based on clues presented from various points of view. This activity is appropriate for a high school science class or an introductory level undergraduate geoscience course, and can be given as an in-class assign
GEOLogic: How Much of the State is Wet
GEOLogic questions are puzzles that were developed to support students understanding of geoscience concepts while challenging them to develop better logic and problem solving skills. In this exercise, students are asked to match up students with their home state, and their states with the area and percentage of area of surface water that they contain, as well as where each of the states rank nationally in terms of water area. Students are given clues from various perspectives to help them deduce
GEOLogic: Continental Drift and Plate Tectonics
GEOLogic questions are puzzles that were developed to support students understanding of geoscience concepts while challenging them to develop better logic and problem solving skills. In this exercise, students are asked to match up lecturers with what day and time they teach, and how many students they have in each class based on clues given from several different perspectives. In the second part of the activity, students are asked to learn more about the historic figures mentioned by doing read
Conflict resolution: Working with perceptions
This unit deals with one of the "non-linear" dimensions of cooperative problem solving - perceptions. If we understand that each of us experiences the world differently, then we can use our different perceptions as sources of creativity and understanding, rather than as sources of dissent.
Life of a Vertebrate Fossil
This site traces the journey of fossils from discovery to display. Find out what paleontologists do in each stage a vertebrate fossil's life. Learn about digging up fossils, getting them to the laboratory, preparing them for research and exhibition, and understanding what they say about past life.
Pioneer Life With Laura
Through literature, both fiction and nonfiction, the learner will develop an understanding of and an appreciation for: Why pioneers left their homes and families to journey west; The hardships pioneers faced on the journey and as they built a new life on the frontier; Family life on the frontier; Building a community; Destruction of the way of life of the Plains Indians and their forced movement to reservations; Effects the pioneers had on the natural environment.
We'd Like to Thank You, Herbert Hoover
Since the advent of book musicals such as "Show Boat" and "Oklahoma!", many Broadway shows have touched upon relevant social and historical issues. In this lesson, students will investigate how Broadway musicals can reflect the times in which they were created. Students will examine video clips and Web sites related to relevant productions, study song lyrics, and compare and contrast actual history with Broadway history. By becoming "historical detectives," they will determine how accurately Bro
Sequence It!
SequenceIt! is a simulation program that allows you to experience the art and logic of protein sequencing through experimentation.
Your objective is to deduce the sequence of this polypeptide using many of the tools available to a practicing protein chemist.
You specify the operations and the order of their application. Success in determining the protein sequence depends on your understanding of the experimental procedures and on the logic you use in executing those procedures. Operations avai
Sampling
Sampling is a computer tool designed to help biology students obtain a qualitative understanding of basic concepts related to estimation and statistics.
Sampling presents the user with a group of hypothetical populations distributed throughout an area, and with tools for sampling these populations to estimate characteristics such as population size and density, the nature of each population's spatial patterning, and spatial correlations in abundance between populations. By manipulating the numb
Whatzzzup-Stream?
In this set of exercises, students will study rivers and waterways around them by using the Internet, maps, and their knowledge of local landscapes. The students will use an EPA Web site to investigate what is upstream and downstream of them. They will also look at graphs of flow in familiar river locations on a live U.S. Geological Survey Web site. Using small rocks and a washbasin, students will build a model that leads to extending their understanding of streams in different geographic locati
Aquifer on the Go
This demonstration should follow a class discussion on potential sources of pollution to drinking water supplies. To illustrate how water is stored in an aquifer, how ground water can become contaminated, and how this contamination ends up in a drinking water well. Ultimately, students should get a clear understanding of how careless use and disposal of harmful contaminants above the ground can potentially end up in the drinking water below the ground. This particular experiment can be done by e
Who Has? Multiplication Activities
Once students have developed conceptual understanding of the basic operations they need to develop fluency with the facts. One quick way to include daily practice and motivate students to master these basic facts is through the use of the Who Has? card decks. These decks can be created for virtually any topic and frequent use as both a whole class practice or as a center activity for partners or small groups will provide facts practice in a highly-motivating format.
The History of Luxury Car Bentley
This is a brief history of the Bentley automobile. It is almost an advertisement for the brand. This video lacks details as to costs and performance, but may have value to motivate those students who are interested in cars and who wish to work with them.
Digital Government 1: Information Technology and Democratic Politics, Winter 2009
Course is the first in a two-part sequence exploring contemporary practices, challenges, and opportunities at the intersection of information technology and democratic governance. Whereas the second course focuses on challenges and innovations in democratic administration, this first course focuses on theories and practices of democratic politics and the shifting role of information technologies in supporting, transforming, and understanding these. The first half of the course seeks to ground co
Digital Government I: Information Technology and Democratic Politics, Winter 2007
This seven-week course is the first in a two-part sequence exploring contemporary practices, challenges, and opportunities at the intersection of information technology and democratic governance. This first half of the course focuses on theories and practices of democratic politics and the shifting role of information technologies in shaping, transforming, and understanding these. The course seeks to ground contemporary discussions around IT and politics in various flavors of democratic, polit
eCommunities: Analysis and Design of Online Interaction Environments, Winter 2009
Gives students a background in theory and practice surrounding online interaction environments. For the purpose of this course, a community is defined as a group of people who sustain interaction over time. The group may be held together by a common identity, a collective purpose, or merely by the individual utility gained from the interactions. An online interaction environment is an electronic forum, accessed through computers or other electronic devices, in which community members can conduct
Utilization of Nursing Research in Advanced Practice, Summer 2008
The primary goal of this course is to promote an evidence-based approach to advanced nursing practice. Evidenced-based research findings for nursing practice will be evaluated in terms of racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic relevance. An understanding of the research process, applicable theories, organizational dynamics, and leadership functions are applied to design and process of implementing research in health care settings.
Chemistry: making it real
The resources selected for this publication will help your students understand chemistry at work, using examples that will spark their interest. A basic understanding of chemistry concepts and terminology will prepare them for more abstract studies.
