This blog post, written by Frieda Reichsman, discusses how educators can implement three-dimensional teaching methods into classrooms and meet the Next Generation Science Standards. The article introduces the 3D Teacher Moves Table, a lesson-planning tool created by Hedi Lauffer at Wisconsin Fast Plants, as a guide for high school biology teachers to use when developing lessons and curricula to support students' data analysis skills. Additionally, this article introduces a lesson investigation using Fast Plants and data analysis, where educators can implement the 3D Teacher Moves Table. The Biological Variation in Fast Plants Lesson Plan can be available to view separately.

Intermolecular attractions are responsible for everything from the temperatures at which substances boil to the power of your immune system in recognizing pathogens and the climbing ability of geckos! Feel the strength of London dispersion and dipole-dipole attractions, explore how intermolecular attractions affect boiling point and solubility, and investigate the special role of hydrogen bonds in DNA. Finally, design your own antibody based on intermolecular attractions.

The temperature at which substances boil is determined by intermolecular attractions. Explore how these forces affect a substance's boiling point.

Have you ever wondered why oil and water don't mix? Discover why some substances dissolve in water while others don't.

Explore how states of matter are related to the strength of intermolecular attractions. The three common physical states of matter are solid, liquid and gas. All matter is made up of atoms, which make up molecules. Atoms and molecules can be weakly or strongly attracted to each other. The way that large molecules interact in physical, chemical and biological applications is a direct consequence of the many tiny attractions of the smaller parts.

This investigation introduces students to system dynamics modeling. It assumes that students have completed Introduction to Static Equilibrium Modeling as a pre-requisite.

This activity introduces fundamental characteristics of biological macromolecules. It supports the short version of the Lipids and Carbohydrates activity as well as the Proteins and Nucleic Acids activity. This is not a full activity, and is not meant to be used by itself.

The microscopic world is full of phenomena very different from what we see in everyday life. Some of those phenomena can only be explained using quantum mechanics. This activity introduces basic quantum mechanics concepts about electrons that are essential to understanding modern and future technology, especially nanotechnology. Start by exploring probability distribution, then discover the behavior of electrons with a series of simulations.

This investigation will introduce students to systems, systems modeling and computational thinking using static equilibrium modeling with SageModeler. This (or the 5-day version of this activity) is a pre-requisite for Introduction to Dynamic Modeling. This 2-day version jumps into student modeling more quickly and relies more heavily on the teacher to scaffold concepts of systems, modeling, and SageModeler.

This investigation will introduce students to systems, systems modeling and computational thinking using static equilibrium modeling with SageModeler. This (or the 2-day version of this activity) is a pre-requisite for Introduction to Dynamic Modeling. This 5-day version has more scaffolding of the concepts of systems, modeling, and SageModeler built into the student activity, but still requires teacher guidance.

Learn how to graph the inverse of a series of discrete and continuous. Also learn how to determine whether the inverse of a function is also a function.

Watershed Awareness using Technology and Environmental Research for Sustainability (WATERS)

The WATERS project is developing and researching a student-centered, place-based, and accessible curriculum for teaching watershed concepts and water career awareness for students in the middle grades. This 10-lesson unit includes online, classroom, and field activities. Students use a professional-grade online GIS modeling resource, simulations, sensors, and other interactive resources to collect environmental data and analyze their local watershed issues. The WATERS project is paving a path to increased access to research-based, open access curricula that hold the potential to significantly increase awareness of and engagement with watershed concepts and career pathways in learners nationwide.

This material is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. The software is licensed under Simplified BSD, MIT or Apache 2.0 licenses. Please provide attribution to the Concord Consortium and the URL https://concord.org.

There are billions of galaxies filled with billions of stars. Each star has the potential to have planets orbiting it. Does life exist on some of those planets? Explore the question, “Is there life in space?” Discover how scientists find planets and other astronomical bodies through the wobble (also known as Doppler spectroscopy or radial-velocity) and transit methods. Compare zones of habitability around different star types, discovering the zone of liquid water possibility around each star type. Explore how scientists use spectroscopy to learn about atmospheres on distant planets. You will not be able to answer the module's framing question at the end of the module, but you will be able to explain how scientists find distant planets and moons and how they determine whether those astronomical bodies could be habitable.

What farming practices can maintain good soil quality? Use the model to compare the effects of different landscapes, different crops, different tillage strategies, and climatic factors on soil quality and erosion rate. Watch the graphs to see how much topsoil is left in each zone and compare the erosion rates. Watch the soil quality indicator in the model to determine how different management plans affect soil quality.

Isaac Newton's famous thought experiment about what would happen if you launched a cannon from a mountaintop at a high velocity comes to life with an interactive computer model. You are charged with the task of launching a satellite into space. Control the angle and speed at which the satellite is launched, and see the results to gain a basic understanding of escape velocity.

This NetLogo model of leaf photosynthesis shows the macroscopic outcome of the reaction.

Learn how to graph lines with two methods: using x- and y-intercepts and using point-slope form. First, solve for x- and y-intercepts to graph a line. Then, identify an ordered pair from a linear equation in point-slope form to graph a line using this point and the slope.

Explore slopes of lines and see how slope is represented on the x-y axes. Graph a line with a given slope, use rise over run on the graph grid and determine slope when given the graph of a line.

Learn to apply linear equations and their graphs to real-world problems. Write an equation based on a word problem, and graph the line described by your equation. Relate the equation and the line to the situation described in words.

Graph lines using a slope and a y-intercept. Identify the slope and y-intercept from the equation of a line in slope-intercept form. This activity is useful for algebra students learning to graph lines for the first time, or for students who may need extra help or review with this topic.