The Plate Tectonics module "What will Earth look like in 500 million years?" helps students build a systems view of plate tectonics through focused case studies and interactions with the Seismic Explorer and Tectonic Explorer models. As students explore data about plate boundaries on Earth today, they make connections to what happened in Earth's past. Finally, they use their understanding of how Earth's plate system exists today to make predictions about what Earth may look like in 500 million years.

Observe how molecules with hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions move in a mixture of oil and water, and the effects on potential energy.

Explore the role of polarity in the strength of intermolecular attractions. While all molecules are attracted to each other, some attractions are stronger than others. Non-polar molecules are attracted through a London dispersion attraction; polar molecules are attracted through both the London dispersion force and the stronger dipole-dipole attraction. The force of attractions between molecules has consequences for their interactions in physical, chemical and biological applications.

Explore how the types of atoms forming a bond affect the distribution of electrons and overall shape of the molecule.

Many factors influence the success and survival rate of a population of living things. Explore several factors that can determine the survival of a population of sheep in this NetLogo model. Start with a model of unlimited grass available to the sheep and watch what happens to the sheep population! Next try to keep the population under control by removing sheep periodically. Change the birthrate, grass regrowth rate, and the amount of energy rabbits get from the grass to keep a stable population.

Explore how hydrophobic and hydrophilic interactions cause proteins to fold into specific shapes. Proteins, made up of amino acids, are used for many different purposes in the cell. The cell is an aqueous (water-filled) environment. Some amino acids have polar (hydrophilic) side chains while others have non-polar (hydrophobic) side chains. The hydrophilic amino acids interact more strongly with water (which is polar) than do the hydrophobic amino acids. The interactions of the amino acids within the aqueous environment result in a specific protein shape.

Generate all hydrophilic (polar), all hydrophobic (non-polar), or random proteins and observe how the protein folds in response to these molecular properties. Explore how the potential energy of the system changes over time to draw conclusions about how proteins develop stable structures.

Given the equation of a quadratic function in vertex form, students learn to identify the vertex of a parabola from the equation, and then graph the parabola. Two different quadratic equations are provided in this activity.

Students solve two problems involving the motion of projectile objects, modeled using quadratic equations. Students graph parabolas and use the graphs to answer questions about projectile objects. Students identify the maximum heights of the moving objects and discover how long each object is in the air before hitting the ground.

Students solve two problems modeled by quadratic equations. One problem involves profits from a business and the other, water draining from a bathtub. Students graph quadratic equations and use their graphs to answer questions.

Delve into a microscopic world working with models that show how electron waves can tunnel through certain types of barriers. Learn about the novel devices and apparatuses that have been invented using this concept. Discover how tunneling makes it possible for computers to run faster and for scientists to look more deeply into the microscopic world.

How does energy flow in and out of our atmosphere? Explore how solar and infrared radiation enters and exits the atmosphere with an interactive model. Control the amounts of carbon dioxide and clouds present in the model and learn how these factors can influence global temperature. Record results using snapshots of the model in the virtual lab notebook where you can annotate your observations.

Observe a reaction between hydrogen and oxygen atoms, and watch how potential and kinetic energy change.

Carefully observe changes in kinetic and potential energy as hydrogen and oxygen molecules react.

The MC1R gene, in part, controls deer mouse fur. Two alleles, RD and RL, in different combinations lead to light, medium, or dark brown fur. Students learn how to calculate relative allele frequencies, and then investigate how these frequencies may change over time as the environment in which the deer mice live changes. The activity is divided into four steps, which guide students to a deeper understanding of how evolution is measured.

Measure relative humidity in the air using a simple device made of a temperature sensor, a plastic bottle, and some clay. Electronically plot the data you collect on graphs to analyze and learn from it. Experiment with different materials and different room temperatures in order to explore what affects humidity.

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.

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.

Use a virtual scanning tunneling microscope (STM) to observe electron behavior in an atomic-scale world. Walk through the principles of this technology step-by-step. First learn how the STM works. Then try it yourself! Use a virtual STM to manipulate individual atoms by scanning for, picking up, and moving electrons. Finally, explore the advantages and disadvantages of the two modes of an STM: the constant-height mode and the constant-current mode.

Explore different types of attractions between molecules. While all molecules are attracted to each other, some attractions are stronger than others. Non-polar molecules are attracted through a London dispersion attraction; polar molecules are attracted through both the London dispersion force and the stronger dipole-dipole attraction. The dipole-dipole attraction is often thought of as 'opposite charges attract; like charges repel.' The force of attractions between molecules has consequences for their interactions in physical, chemical and biological applications.