Compare the surface charges on various molecules and explore which atom types tend to cause uneven sharing of electrons.

Explore how heating works in different rooms in the home. Rooms may be bigger or smaller, may have windows or no windows, and may have multiple sources of heat or one. All of the conditions will affect how well a room will be heated, and subsequently the room’s energy efficiency. A more energy-efficient room will require less energy to produce the same outcome (e.g., the same level of heating).

Explore how different elements come together to form bonds and compare changes in potential energy and forces.

Set the initial height of a pendulum and observe how potential, kinetic, and thermal energy change during pendulum swings.

Set the initial position of a mass on a spring and observe how potential, kinetic, and thermal energy change when the spring is released.

El módulo de Calidad del Aire de Alta Aventura Científica contiene cinco actividades. En este módulo se explora la pregunta: ¿Estará el aire lo suficientemente limpio como para respirarlo? Serán guiados a través del análisis de modelos y datos del mundo real a medida que exploran las interacciones de los factores que afectan la calidad del aire de una región. Al finalizar el módulo serán capaces de predecir el efecto del desarrollo humano sobre la calidad del aire de una región.

This activity introduces students to the idea that all living organisms must compete for food. Students control a rabbit in a field with edible plants, at first alone, and later joined by computer-controlled rabbits. With such competition it becomes harder and harder for the students to keep their rabbit alive. Students shift their thinking from a focus on individual organisms to a concern for the well-being of the population as a whole. (Evolution Activity 6 of 10.)

This activity places the control of the environment under the student's control. A field starts off with a uniform light level, and thus capable of growing plants with medium-sized leaves. Students can alter the environment by 'growing' a chain of mountains through the field. Students are challenged to grow the mountains to their maximum height (corresponding to the maximum change in light level on either side of the chain) while maintaining a viable population of plants on each side. (Evolution Activity 4 of 10.)

The goal of this activity is to introduce students to the variation that exists in a population of organisms. Students plant different seeds in a field with a gradient of sunlight. Their seeds survive the winter and grow into plants the following spring to reinforce the point that the evolutionary changes the students observe take place over many generations. In a second model, a plant produces seeds, some of which grow into plants that are slightly different from those of the parent plant. (Evolution Activity 2 of 10.)

The goal of this activity is to give students the opportunity to 'think like a scientist,' making hypotheses, doing experiments, making observations, and analyzing data. Students are encouraged to construct and conduct their own experiments with ecosystems comprising grass, rabbits, and up to two predator species: hawks and foxes. (Evolution Activity 10 of 10.)

The concept of interdependence in an ecosystem and its effect on the evolution of populations is further explored through a model of a dam. Students build a dam in the middle of the field, dividing the ecosystem in half to illustrate the effects of geographic isolation. They watch as the grass and then the rabbit populations in that region shift to one variant in the population. When students remove the dam, they observe the ecosystem slowly return to its original state. (Evolution Activity 8 of 10.)

In this activity, students review inheritance with variation. A Virtual Field model has light levels that vary smoothly from top to bottom. A single type of seed grows best in the center of the field, but the model includes variation in the offspring seeds. Since each plant scatters seeds randomly, it happens occasionally that some of these different seeds fall in a location where the light level is just right for it. When this happens the seed will grow into a healthy plant that will produce seeds of its own. In this way, the single type of plant eventually evolves into a full spectrum of different varieties. (Evolution Activity 3 of 10.)

This activity uses a model of the Virtual Ecosystem with three species in it: grass, rabbits, and hawks, enabling the students to explore the effect of predation on the prey population. At first students explore protective coloration as they 'become' a hawk and try to catch and eat brown and white rabbits on a snowy field. The latter blend into the background and are harder to see, so they have a selective advantage. Students then explore how the color of the rabbit population changes as the environment changes over time. (Evolution Activity 9 of 10.)

This transfer activity tests student understanding of variation and inheritance. It starts with five flower boxes, as in 'The Virtual Greenhouse,' and three types of seeds with variations in their roots. The flower boxes differ in the amount of water they receive, and students discover which seeds thrive in which environment. Students are then challenged to produce a crop of plants that can grow everywhere in a field by taking advantage of the small variation in root type from one generation to the next. (Evolution Activity 5 of 10.)

The goal of this activity is to introduce students to how variation in organisms can enable them to live in different environments. For example, plants with different sizes of leaves are adapted to grow under different amounts of light. Students plant three different types of seeds in five different flower boxes and are challenged to determine the light level under which each type of seed grows best. (Evolution Activity 1 of 10.)

Students discover that variation in plants allows some varieties to survive in near-drought conditions. Next, students learn that different types of rabbits prefer to eat different varieties of plants. Students make the connection between rainfall amount and the rabbit population's ability to survive by thinking first about rainfall and plants, then about plants and rabbits. Students discover that when certain plants cannot grow and reproduce, the rabbits that eat those plants will not have enough food to survive. (Evolution Activity 7 of 10.)

When J.J. Thomson first discovered that a cathode ray was actually a particle beam consisting of a stream of electrons, he concluded that these new particles were not just another type of atom. Explore and compare the behavior of electrons vs. charged atoms when they are shot through an electric field of varying intensity.

Explore the structure of various proteins and see how the nonpolar amino acids form the core of many protein structures.

Each page of this activity has a CODAP doc for recording data from sensors. This can be used for ad hoc experimentation or just messing around with sensors to learn how to use them. If not using sensors, the sensor interactive can be minimized and moved out of the way.