This lab is meant to help students have a meaningful experience when they visit the Great Valley Museum in Modesto, California. I was written for the junior college student, but can be easily adapted to be used by any class that is visiting the museum.
The Greater Yellowstone Science Learning Center is a portal to information about the natural and cultural resources of Yellowstone and Grand Teton (including John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway) national parks and Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area. By reporting on what has been learned from research and monitoring in these parks, we hope to increase public awareness of new findings and encourage studies that will help guide park management decisions. The National Park Service has set up Research Learning Centers as public-private partnerships that promote the sharing of scientific knowledge about the parks.
Learn about a study in which participants discovered contaminants in their homes, and how green chemistry may provide alternatives to such everyday toxins, in this video adapted from Contaminated Without Consent.
The purpose of this resource is to observe plant green-down and report greendown data to help validate estimates of the end of the plant growing season. Students monitor the change in color of selected leaves of trees, shrubs or grasses.
The purpose of this resource is to observe plant green-up and report data that will be used by scientists to validate satellite estimates of the beginning of the plant growing season. Students monitor budburst and growth of leaves of selected trees, shrubs, or grasses. Species chosen should be native, deciduous, and dominant in your area.
This resource provides a basic introduction to the greenhouse effect, global warming, and climate change. It is aimed roughly at undergrad classrooms (which is where I have taught), but it's also suitable for high school teachers, lifelong learners, climate change outreach, etc., and can be used for 'just in time' professional development by everyone.
Explore how the Earth's atmosphere affects the energy balance between incoming and outgoing radiation. Using an interactive model, adjust realistic parameters such as how many clouds are present or how much carbon dioxide is in the air, and watch how these factors affect the global temperature.
This activity is an interpretation of a ground penetrating radar (GPR) data set collected from a 19th century slave cemetery in North Carolina.
(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)
This blog post, written by Joel Cryer of Bottle Biology, provides instructions to construct an inexpensive, self-watering planter that can be used to grow Wisconsin Fast Plants. The blog covers the materials and tools needed, as well as step-by-step instructions to create a universal reservoir bottle growing system. Also included are a variety of diagrams and images to help guide the construction process. Additional resources about growing Fast Plants, and Bottle Biology, are available to view separately.
This online article, from Biodiversity Counts, is a guide to finding local specialists who are knowledgeable about plants and arthropods. It includes: an overview of how local specialists can be of help; a link to the Directory of Local Specialists, a list of specialists who have agreed to work with participating schools; a list of additional organizations, with links to Web sites, that are good sources for local specialists; tips on how to find local specialists from Linda Beyt, a middle school teacher in Louisiana and a Biodiversity Counts mentor; and tips for enlisting volunteers by Karen Spaulding, a middle school teacher in Massachusetts and a Biodiversity Counts mentor.
In this video adapted from Bullfrog Films, GwichŰ__Ű__Çin Chief Evon Peter of Arctic Village, Alaska, describes his people's connection to the caribou and their passion to protect Alaska Native land and traditions.
In this lesson, students investigate wildfires in Colorado by analyzing wildfire data and information to create a local news story that educates community members about wildfire risk. In Part 1, students watch and discuss a short documentary about wildfires. In Part 2, students analyze wildfire data to build understanding of the causes, impacts, locations, and frequency of wildfires. In Part 3, students create a local news story for their community.
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This role playing game allows students to explore the issue of habitat loss and its effects on animal populations.
The marine environment is unique and requires technologies that can use sound to gather information since there is little light underwater. The sea-floor is characterized using underwater sound and acoustical systems. Current technological innovations are allowing scientists to further understand and apply information about animal locations and habitat. Remote sensing and exploration with underwater vehicles allows scientists to map and understand the sea floor, and in some cases, the water column. In this lesson, the students will be shown benthic habitat images produced by GIS. These imaged will lead to a class discussion on why habitat mapping is useful and how current technology works to make bathymetry mapping possible. The teacher will then ask inquiry-based questions to have students brainstorm about the importance of bathymetry mapping.
In this video segment adapted from United Tribes Technical College, meet Native Americans who are concerned about climate change and believe that action today can help future generations once again live in harmony with Earth.
Students explore heat transfer and energy efficiency using the context of energy efficient houses. They gain a solid understanding of the three types of heat transfer: radiation, convection and conduction, which are explained in detail and related to the real world. They learn about the many ways solar energy is used as a renewable energy source to reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses and operating costs. Students also explore ways in which a device can capitalize on the methods of heat transfer to produce a beneficial result. They are given the tools to calculate the heat transferred between a system and its surroundings.
NGSS unit addressing the following standards:4-LS1-14-ESS 3-2This 5E lesson guides students to answer the following questions:How do plants’ structure and function affect their survival?How do plants impact wildfires in Oregon?
With a solid understanding of biology on the small scale under our belts, it's time for the long view - for the next twelve weeks, we'll be learning how the living things that we've studied interact with and influence each other and their environments. Life is powerful, and in order to understand how living systems work, you first have to understand how they originated, developed, and diversified over the past 4.5 billion years of Earth's history. Hang on to your hats as Hank tells us the epic drama that is the history of life on Earth.
Chapters:
1) Archaean & Proterozoic Eons
a) Protobionts
b) Prokaryotes
c) Eukaryotes
Student analysis of the last 1000 years of the Gulf of Mexico hypoxia zone (informally "dead" zone) by using relative abundance of low-oxygen tolerant benthic foraminifera. In this example of environmental micropaleontology, students evaluate whether the "dead" zone has existed in its current form for many centuries or has become more intense in the time of increased anthropogenic input of organics (i.e., fertilizer).