Utah Geology
Utah Geological Survey's Web site, Utah Geology, offers a variety of interesting geological information about the state. Good descriptions, illustrations, and photographs can be accessed on earthquakes and hazards, dinosaurs and fossils, rocks and minerals, oil and energy, and more. For example, the Rocks and Minerals page contains everything from how to stake a mining claim to downloadable summaries of mineral activity in the state. There is quite a bit of information within the site, and anyon
Coalbed Methane
The US Department of Interior Web site offers a hot topics section that currently includes information about coalbed methane. The links include a fact sheet entitled "Coalbed Methane--An Untapped Energy Resource and an Environmental Concern." A documents link takes visitors to a page maintained by Wyoming's Bureau of Land Management that contains several reports related to the topic, including information about Atlantic Rim Coalbed Methane Projects and Coalbed Methane and Water Monitor Well Data
The La Silla Observatory
This European Southern Observatory website features the La Silla Observatory's latest news, telescopes, and observation reports. Visitors can find sun and moon tables, a meteorological monitor, and satellite maps. Students can learn how the mountain's geologic and geographic features impact observational abilities. Researchers can find out about visiting the Observatory and how to apply to use the observation equipment. Everyone can view amazing images of La Silla's Chilean landscape and the Obs
Tutorial on Optimization Theory and Difference and Differential Equations
This online tutorial is intended for college students taking an early course in mathematical optimization or linear differential equations. Although it is written by a professor of economics, little economic theory is presented. This keeps the material centered on the mathematical aspects of optimization and differential equations, which have a wide range of scientific applications. The text is very well organized and is accompanied by illustrative figures. No prerequisites to the tutorial are l
Get A Grip On Robotics
Get A Grip On Robotics is a wonderful site for both children and adults to learn about robots. The site focuses mainly on industrial applications of robots -- their most common and practical use. The exhibit covers robot basics, the five main parts of a robot, how they move (i.e., "degrees of freedom"), and current and future outlooks for the technology. There are several animations that show a jointed-arm robot in action and how it compares to a human arm. One section of the site addresses the
Interactions.org: Particle Physics News and Resources
The Interactions.org website serves as a hub for news, information, images, and links for particle physicists. Educators and students can find a sizeable image collection and short videos and animations describing the research and history of key physics institutions. Researchers can discover a global data grid and a database of talks in cosmic physics, linear collider, ethics and science, and other particle physics topics. The website offers links to various physics glossaries, universities, and
Mint-Mobiles
Students design, build and test model race cars made from simple materials (lifesaver-shaped candies, plastic drinking straws, Popsicle sticks, index cards, tape) as a way to explore independent, dependent and control variables. They measure the changes in distance travelled with the addition of mass to the vehicles. Students also practice the steps of the engineering design process by brainstorming, planning, building, testing, and improving their “mint-mobiles.”
Building Tetrahedral Kites
Working in teams of four, students build tetrahedral kites following specific instructions and using specific materials. They use the basic processes of manufacturing systems – cutting, shaping, forming, conditioning, assembling, joining, finishing, and quality control – to manufacture complete tetrahedral kites within a given time frame. Project evaluation takes into account team efficiency and the quality of the finished product.
Energy Perspectives
Students utilize data tables culled from the US DOE Energy Information Agency to create graphs that illustrate what types of energy we use and how we use it. An MS Excel workbook with several spreadsheets of data is provided. Students pick (or the teacher assigns) one of the data tables for the students to create a plot from and interpret the information provided. Each student group shares their interpretation and new perspectives on energy resources and use with the class.
Stormy Skies
Students learn that wind and storms can form at the boundaries of interacting high and low pressure air masses. They learn the distinguishing features of the four main types of weather fronts (warm fronts, cold fronts, stationary fronts and occluded fronts) and how these fronts are depicted on a surface weather analysis, or weather map. Students also learn several different ways that engineers help with storm prediction, analysis and protection.
Life Science
This unit covers the processes of photosynthesis, extinction, biomimicry and bioremediation. In the first lesson on photosynthesis, students learn how engineers use the natural process of photosynthesis as an exemplary model of a complex yet efficient process for converting solar energy to chemical energy or distributing water throughout a system. In the next lesson on species extinction, students learn that it is happening at an alarming rate. Students discover that the destruction of habitat i
Oil Spill
This lesson will allow students to explore an important role of environmental engineers: cleaning the environment. Students will learn details about the Exxon Valdez oil spill, which was one of the most publicized and studied environmental tragedies in history. In the accompanying activity, they will try many “engineered” strategies to clean up their own manufactured oil spill and learn the difficulties of dealing with oil released into our waters.
How Much Water Do You Use?
Students keep track of their own water usage for one week, gaining an understanding of how much water is used for various everyday activities. They relate their own water usages to the average residents of imaginary Thirsty County, and calculate the necessary water capacity of a dam that would provide residential water to the community.
The Boxes Go Mobile
To display the results from the previous activity, each student designs and constructs a mobile that contains a duplicate of his or her original box, the new cube-shaped box of the same volume, the scraps that are left over from the original box, and pertinent calculations of the volumes and surface areas involved.
Heads Up
The purpose of this activity is to demonstrate some of the different parts of an airplane through the construction of a paper airplane. Students will build several different kinds of paper airplanes in order to figure out what makes an airplane fly and what can be changed to influence the flying characteristics of an airplane.
A Merry-Go-Round for Dirty Air
Students observe and discuss a cup and pencil model of a cyclone to better understand the science behind how this pollutant recovery method functions in cleaning industrial air pollution.
Engineering for the Earth
Young students are introduced to the complex systems of the Earth through numerous lessons on the Earth’s natural resources, processes, weather, climate and landforms. Key earth science topics include rocks, soils and minerals, water and natural resources, weather patterns and climatic regions, wind, erosion, landforms, and the harvesting of fossil fuels — all presented from an engineering point-of-view. (See the Unit Overview section for a list of topics by lesson.) Through many hands-on ac
What is Energy?
With an introduction to the ideas of energy, students discuss specific types of energy and the practical sources of energy. Hands-on activities help them identify types of energy in their surroundings and enhance their understanding of energy.
Breaking away from the math book : creative projects for K-8
This site, developed by two university instructors, offers 37 lesson plans for hands-on learning activities for grades K-8 to reinforce or introduce concepts. Lessons cover a multitude of topics. Several involve constructing containers; these require students to look at the connection between dimensions and volume. For example, the lesson on Capacity has students make several boxes of different dimensions and calculate the capacity of each box. The boxes are then used to measure dry rice. Other
Are You An Energy Efficient Consumer?
This activity engages students in learning about ways to become energy efficient consumers. Students examine how different countries and regions around the world use energy over time as reflected in night light levels. They then track their own energy use, identify ways to reduce their individual energy consumption, and explore how community choices impact the carbon footprint.
