Tangrams : geometry (grades 6-8)
Using this applet for the Chinese tangram puzzle, students can experiment with the placement of the seven tangram blocks to form 14 different shapes. Shapes range from a square to a reclining human. After selecting a shape from a menu, the selected shape's outline appears on the screen. Students move, flip, and rotate each tangram block to discover how the blocks fit together to form the selected shape. For the more complicated figures, students can access a hint by clicking a button that then d
Apply Lessons: Applications of Mathematics 9 and 10
Education for the real world. Lesson plans and the careers to which they apply include: All Fired Up (Firefighter); Circuit Challenges (Electrical Engineer); Daunting Peaks (Vulcanologist); Fit by Design or Design to Fit (Mechanical Drafter Designer); Formula for Success (Market Analyst); Hearing is Believing (Audiologist); In Dog Pounds (Animal Health Technologist); Let it Fly! (Aerospace Engineer); Life Saver Anyone? (Lifeguard); Making Plans (Event Planner); On a Roll (Roller Coaster Designer
Factoring Special Products
Choose the correct steps to factor a polynomial involving perfect-square binomials, differences of squares, or constant factors. Use the feedback to diagnose incorrect steps.
Observe solar eclipses
This Earth science animation helps students compare three types of solar eclipses: total, partial, and annular. The introduction explains how the type of eclipse is determined by variations in distance and alignment between the Earth, sun, and moon. The animation follows the events of all three eclipses concurrently. Movie controls allow students to repeat, pause, or step through the animation, which can give students more time to compare the eclipse sequences. Copyright 2005 Eisenhower National
Villainy, Inc : thwarting world supremacy through mathematics
This animated web site features two adventure missions that challenge middle grade mathematics students to stop the evil Dr. Eugene Wick's schemes to take over the world. The students/players assume the role of double agents working undercover as advisors to Dr. Wick's company, Villainy, Inc., while trying to foil Wick's evil schemes using their mathematics skills. Both interactive missions are completed by problem solving and using logic to find answers to mathematics problems involving measure
A Change in Seasons : Increasing Student Observation Skills
The ability to accurately observe and notice small details is a skill important to scientists. To help students develop this skill, have them record and share observations, successively focusing in on smaller, more precise details. When students observe changes in the seasons, they can extend their science knowledge by carefully noting changes in color, shape, and patterns in vegetation, asking questions, and making predictions.
Our Solar System
This site contains information about the nine planets, the sun, and the moon. Included is each planet's size compared to the sun. Students can click on a picture to discover the following information: the diameter, mass, temperature, number of rings, what it's made of, can life exist there, and other interesting facts. Included for each planet are the number of moons, length of a day and year, and the average distance from the sun. Students can enter their weight to find out how much they would
Science Sampler : The sweet Earth
A great number of geologic processes either take unimaginable lengths of time to complete, or happen in places that cannot be directly observed, such as under the Earth's crust. It is, therefore, necessary for an Earth science teacher to find a connection between students' experiences and the geologic process they are studying to help them better understand that which is often unobservable. One Earth science topic with a tendency to be beyond the reach of direct observation for students is rock
Hubble info circuit : follow the path to and from Hubble
This diagram illustrates and describes the steps involved in sending directions to the Hubble Space Telescope, collecting and processing the data collected by Hubble, and delivering the requested data and images back to a scientist on Earth. When users roll over each of the six entities depicted in this sequence, they can read about that entity's involvement in this two-way process. Arrows document the flow of information between entities such as the Space Telescope Sky Institute, the Goddard Sp
Ecological Footprint: Overshoot
In this two-minute sound segment, the director of the Sustainability Program for the public policy group Redefining Progress discusses the concept of your ecological footprint. This is the amount of nature it takes to support your lifestyle. He says that if we use more than can be replaced by nature we are in a condition called overshoot. He suggests that this can continue for a while but eventually someone will have to pay with a lower standard of living. This site is from an archive of a daily
Statistics and probability. Grades 6-8
This MathPARTNERS unit contains seven lessons with hands-on learning activities for exploring statistics and probability with students in grades 6-8. The lessons, designed for mentoring situations, may also be helpful for teachers and parents. Each lesson with reproducible student materials, features an overview of the mathematics, preparation guidelines, teaching tips, and suggestions for how to use each activity to develop specific mathematics concepts. Statistics activities focus on posing qu
Zoom!
In this materials science activity, students zoom in on the atoms in a soda can to explore the structure of materials. As they zoom, a vertical scale and labels in the images show the scale at which they are viewing the can. Once they have zoomed in on the can, students can drag a pointer on the adjacent vertical scale to access information, images, and video clips of scientists talking about the different scales represented. At the smallest scale (the atomic level), students read how scientists
Solar two
What is a method of active solar energy production? This article, part of a series about the future of energy, describes the use of large reflector power plants in the Mohave Desert. Students are introduced to the use of large solar reflectors to heat molten salt and produce energy for homes. Students view four photographs of different aspects of the solar complex. Copyright 2005 Eisenhower National Clearinghouse
Observe the origins of some ocean floor sediments
This Earth science resource illustrates the sources of ocean sedimentation along coasts, on the ocean floor, and at hydrothermal vents. Students click on these ocean locations to see examples of the formation of hydrogenous, biogenous, and terrigenous sediments. For each sediment type, the resource provides two enlargeable images. When enlarged, each image is accompanied by descriptive text. For example, the hydrogenous sediments are represented by a close-up view of ferromanganese nodules, as w
Angles
This Java applet enables students to investigate acute, obtuse, and right angles. The student decides to work with one or two transversals and a pair of parallel lines. Angle measure is given for one angle. The student answers a short series of questions about the size of other angles, identifying relationships such as vertical and adjacent angles and alternate interior and alternate exterior angles. In addition to automatically checking the student's answers, the applet can keep score of correc
Degrees Kelvin: A Tale of Genius, Invention, and Tragedy
LORD KELVIN. In 1840, a precocious 16-year-old by the name of William Thomson spent his summer vacation studying an extraordinarily sophisticated mathematical controversy. His brilliant analysis inspired lavish praise and made the boy an instant intellectual celebrity. As a young scholar William dazzled a Victorian society enthralled with the seductive authority and powerful beauty of scientific discovery. At a time when no one really understood heat, light, electricity, or magnetism, Thomson fo
Ernest Rutherford : Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1908
This biography was first published in the book series Les Prix Nobel. It was later edited and republished in Nobel Lectures, Chemistry 1901-1921, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1966. A photo is included.
The Squeeze is On
Students will learn about the force of compression and how it acts on structural components through a hands-on group project. Using everyday products such as paper, toothpicks, and tape they will construct a structure that will support the weight of a cinder block for 30 sec.
Engineering and the Human Body
The Engineering and the Human Body unit covers the broad spectrum of topics that make-up our very amazing human body. Students are introduced to the space environment and learn the major differences between the environment on Earth and that of outer space. The engineering challenges that arise because of these discrepancies are also discussed. Then, students dive into the different components that make up the human body: muscles, bones and joints, the digestive and circulatory systems, the nervo
Lights Out!
This lesson introduces the concept of electricity by asking students to imagine what their life would be like without electricity. Two main forms of electricity, static and current, are introduced. Students learn that electrons can move between atoms, leaving atoms in a charged state.
