Combinatorics: The Fine Art of Counting
Love math but bored in math class? This is the course for you! Combinatorics is a fascinating branch of mathematics that applies to problems ranging from card games to quantum physics to the internet. The only pre-requisite is basic algebra; however we will be covering a lot of material. A mathematically agile mind will be helpful.
What's the chance?: concepts of probability
Probability offers one of those rare intersections where classroom mathematics crosses middle school experience. The problem scenarios investigated at this level often start with a game—as did theoretical probability itself. Students find that many of the phenomena they encounter in game playing have predictable outcomes. To reach that conclusion, they need opportunities to consider data they generate, noting patterns that emerge and comparing their results with those predicted by theory.
What Is the Meaning of Journalism?
Journalism, simply, is the process of compiling information and sharing that information with an audience that needs or wants that information. (01:52)
Elementary GLOBE: Soil Treasure Hunt
A learning activity for the Scoop on Soils book in the Elementary GLOBE Series. Students will make predictions about what they think they will find in a sample of soil. They will investigate the sample and sort out the various items they find. Next they will spend time outside observing one or more sites to see what they find in the soil. After recording and sharing their observations they will create their own stories about the things they found in the soil. The purpose of the activity is to le
Financial Planning and Forecasting
This course outlines the process for effective financial planning, including where to start, what types of budgets to prepare, and how to make budgeting a value-added activity. The objective of the course is to provide guidance for the user on how to do financial planning. Course Level: Beginner and Intermediate - The overall concepts are designed for beginners while the specific ideas on how to improve budgeting are applicable to both beginner and intermediate users. Recommended for 2.0 hours o
Astro-Venture Astronomy Educator's Guide
Astro-Venture is an educational, interactive, multimedia Web environment highlighting NASA careers and astrobiology research in the areas of Astronomy, Geology, Biology and Atmospheric Sciences. Students in grades 5-8 role play NASA occupations and use scientific inquiry, as they search for and design a planet with the necessary characteristics for human habitation.
COSEE Great Lakes Workshops
These asynchronous workshops focus on environmental topics related to the Great Lakes region. Subjects covered include: The solid earth system; The bedrock and formation of the Great Lakes; Life and Rocks: Current geological processes; Human impacts [vice-versa!]; and Ocean/lake deep exploration (sink holes, underwater archeology, NOAA's exploration book) studying the bottom, characteristics of the water at depth.
Historical Thinking Matters
For too many Americans, the history class in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (remember the teacher’s plaintive question, “anyone, anyone?”) is all too familiar. Our approach is meant to challenge this false and familiar image of history: understanding and reconstructing the past requires ways of thinking, reading, and questioning much more engaging and challenging than mere memorization.
Teaching in a way that differs from your own schooling experience is not necessarily easy to imagine, let a
Reading proficiency, culture: Wo in Europe spricht man Deutsch?
At the completion of this lesson you will have learned something about the countries in Europe where German is the official language. You will practice your reading skills and vocabulary on this topic.
Rocks Unit
Picking up, examining and collecting rocks can be the first steps in moving children toward an appreciation of geology and the “bones” of the Earth. Children can find a wide variety of rocks in many places, from the school yard to parks and driveways at home. Even very young children enjoy picking up rocks, lining them up, choosing “favorite” ones, pouring water over them to make them shiny and even painting them as gifts for adults. By letting children handle and observe rocks you give
The conditions of learning in networks
This paper discusses the metaphor of networks in relation to networked learning and how the conditions that apply in networked environments might affect networked learning. The paper considers recent advances in the study of networks and how insights from this work might affect the understanding of networked learning. It focuses in particular on two aspects of networks, the strength of weak links and the place of non-human elements in the network. In terms of networked learning it examines the r
California as a Region, Guest Lecture from the course World Regions, Peoples, and States
This course will provide a framework for recognizing and analyzing the major distinctive regions of the world in comparative context. The most important interrelations between environment, economy, ethnicity, and the national identity and viability of states will be explored.
Exploring pumpkins
This lesson will allow students to use a variety of methods to explore pumpkins.
Haymarket Martyr Albert Parsons's Last Words to His Wife
The Chicago radicals convicted of the infamous May 4, 1886 Haymarket Square bombing in which one policeman was killed remained openly defiant to the end. In his final letter to his wife, written August 20, 1886 from the Cook County "Bastille" (jail), convicted Haymarket bombing participant Albert R. Parsons, an Alabama-born printer, admitted that the verdict would cheer "the hearts of tyrants," but still optimistically predicted that "our doom to death is the handwriting on the wall, foretelling
"Nobody Would Eat Kraut": Lola Gamble Clyde on Anti-German Sentiment in Idaho During World War I
When the United States went to war against Germany in 1917, German Americans faced vicious and unfair attacks on their loyalty. Many anti-German incidents were not recorded, but they lived on powerfully in people's memories. In this 1976 interview, Lola Gamble Clyde, the daughter of an Irish-born Presbyterian minister and a teenager during World War I, described the "hysteria" that faced German Americans in rural Latah County, Idaho.
The Grand Canyon
Over the course of several lessons, this lesson plan deals with the consequences of damming in the Grand Canyon area. Students act as scientists investigating the damming of the Colorado River by the Glen Canyon dam and experimental flooding that took place in 1996. They then write a proposal as to whether or not more experimental flooding should be done on the area considering the ecological effects. This topic has great potential for an Earth Systems Science class, as the consequences of dammi
The Color of Soil
This USDA soil-conservation education site has a variety of educational resources related to soil science. Users can follow links to soil facts, resources, organizations and professional development. Information on this site can be adapted for use in college geoscience classes, particularly the wide variety of photos and the GLOBE soil analysis protocols.
Rio Grande Wildlife Refuge
This investigative case is part of the Starting Point module. In this exercise students role play as professional ecologists working for the fish and wildlife service. Students must develop a plan to manage a new wildlife refuge along the Rio Grande River. The fish and wildlife service plans to connect forest islands along the river, which will become not only a new refuge but also a "wildlife corridor." Users can access information regarding learning goals, context for use, teaching notes and t
Japan's Nuclear Policy
Ambassador Ryukichi Imai-journalist, nuclear engineer, and general manager at Japan Atomic Power Company-was Japanese ambassador to the United Nations Disarmament Conference from 1982 to 1987. In this video segment, Imai explains why he believes that Japan will never embark on a nuclear-weapons program. He also predicts that, while Japan stands alone in its reliance on nuclear energy, rising energy prices-even post-Chernobyl-will revive worldwide interest in nuclear power. In the interview he co
Vestibule (In 3 Episodes)
Episode 1: 'Place' -The color image of an apartment building vestibule shot from across the street is accompanied by a sound track of street sounds and narrated text adapted from The Moviegoer by Walker Percy. Excerpts of the text are displayed in the lower third of the screen. The image of the vestibule is interrupted by a girl riding a bicycle, a child riding a scooter, a man carrying a glass vase, and a man driving a red Pontiac. Each of these actions occurs in slow motion from right to left
