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Problem Based Module: The Efficiency of Concession Stands

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In this project, you will explore a real-world problem, and then work through a series of steps to analyze that problem, research ways the problem could be solved, then propose a possible solution to that problem. Often, there are no specific right or wrong solutions, but sometimes one particular solution may be better than others. The key is making sure you fully understand the problem, have researched some possible solutions, and have proposed the solution that you can support with information / evidence.Begin by reading the problem statement in Step 1. Take the time to review all the information provided in the statement, including exploring the websites, videos and / or articles that are linked. Then work on steps 2 through 8 to complete this problem-based learning experience.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Authors: Bonnie Waltz, Deanna Mayers, Tracy Rains

How Mosquitoes Can Fly in the Rain

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In this lesson, we learn how insects can fly in the rain. The objective is to calculate the impact forces of raindrops on flying mosquitoes. Students will gain experience with using Newton's laws, gathering data from videos and graphs, and most importantly, the utility of making approximations. No calculus will be used in this lesson, but familiarity with torque and force balances is suggested. No calculators will be needed, but students should have pencil and paper to make estimations and, if possible, copies of the graphs provided with the lesson. Between lessons, students are recommended to discuss the assignments with their neighbors.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lecture Notes, Lesson Plan

Author: David Hu

The 3-D Universe

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A 2-D map is a great guide here on Earth—and virtually worthless for finding your way around in outer space. Take a 3-D look at mapping our solar system and universe. This Moveable Museum article, available as a printable PDF file, looks at how astronomers use data to create 3-D models of the universe. Explore these concepts further using the recommended resources mentioned in this reading selection.

Material Type: Data Set

‘Hunger Games’ Science: Investigating Genetically Engineered Organisms

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What lessons can we learn about genetically engineered organisms from the example of the jabberjay, a fictional bird in the movie “The Hunger Games”? In this lesson, students discuss the definition of genetically modified organisms, learn about the risks and benefits of research on G.M.O.’s, explore the growing do-it-yourself biology movement, and develop proposals seeking to either restrict or permit research into genetically modifying the avian flu virus.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Assessment, Case Study, Homework/Assignment, Interactive, Lesson Plan, Reading, Simulation, Teaching/Learning Strategy, Unit of Study

Author: David Goodrich

Injustice at Home | The Japanese-American Experience of the World War II Era

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As part of Washington's Kip Tokuda Memorial Civil Liberties Public Education Program, which strives to educate the public regarding the history and the lessons of the World War II exclusion, removal, and detention of persons of Japanese ancestry, KSPS Public Television and Eastern Washington educators Starla Fey, Leslie Heffernan, and Morgen Larsen have produced Injustice at Home: the Japanese American experience of the World War II Era. This educational resource--five educational videos and an inquiry-based unit of study--will help students understand Executive Order 9066 and the resulting internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, the failure of political leadership to protect constitutional rights, the military experience of Japanese-Americans during WWII, and examples of discrimination and racial prejudice the Japanese-American community faced before, during and after WWII. In addition, students will analyze the short and long term emotional effects on those who are incarcerated, identify the challenges that people living outside of the exclusion zone faced, examine how some Japanese Americans showed their loyalty during the period of incarceration, and learn about brave individuals who stood up for Japanese Americans during this time.

Material Type: Lesson, Unit of Study

Authors: KSPS Public Television, Leslie Heffernan, Morgen Larsen, Starla Fey

Economics, Water Use, and the Environment

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Lurking beneath our natural desire to ensure that water will always be available to perform its many life-supporting functions is the fear that it will run out. Our thinking (in truth, our feeling) about water tends to be dominated by myth and misunderstanding. We believe that our 'need' for water is exponentially greater than other wants and needs; we also believe that this intense 'need' confers special status, making water a unique resource. We mistrust the ability of people to recognize water's special status, and we assert that only through common or public ownership can we preserve water for future generations. Paradoxically, while our conviction that water is unique derives from our knowledge of its many important uses, we have trouble acknowledging the value of water in anything other than pristine form. We tend to assume that, when it comes to water, there's no such thing as 'too clean.' Unfortunately, in acquiescing to these myths, we make things worse; we create for ourselves an intellectual box that constrains our ability to conserve the resource we value so highly. These lessons challenge the myths and use economic reasoning to suggest a new way to think about our use of this vital resource. In brief, the lessons assert: (1) that in economic terms, water is not fundamentally different from any other resource, good, or service; and (2) that many of the answers to our concerns about water conservation and water quality can be found in markets, the same institution that provides us bread, shoes, underwear, tractors, flowers, computers, charities, flu shots, bubblegum, the collectible craze of the moment, and the myriad other products we find 'essential' to the way we wish to live.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Assessment, Lesson Plan

AM I on the Radio?

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Student groups create working radios by soldering circuit components supplied from AM radio kits. By carrying out this activity in conjunction with its associated lesson concerning circuits and how AM radios work, students are able to identify each circuit component they are soldering, as well as how their placement causes the radio to work. Besides reinforcing lesson concepts, students also learn how to solder, which is an activity that many engineers perform regularly giving students a chance to be able to engage in a real-life engineering activity.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Authors: Brandon Jones, Emily Spataro, Lara Oliver, Lisa Burton

Ablative Shield Egg Data Sheet

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You will present students with a challenge: build a structure from different materials that will protect a model of the Ares launch vehicles (a raw egg) from the heat of a propane torch for as long as possible. Then they design, build, test, and revise their own thermal protection systems. They document their designs with sketches and written descriptions. As a culmination, students compile their results into a poster and present them to the class. This activity explores the concepts of energy transfer with the following standards: • Energy is a property of many substances and is associated with heat and light. • Heat moves in predictable ways, flowing from warmer objects to cooler ones, until both reach the same temperature.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: heather mahon (berk)

Greenhouse Effect in a Greenhouse

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Build your own miniature "greenhouse" out of a plastic container and plastic wrap, and fill it with different things such as dirt and sand to observe the effect this has on temperature. Monitor the temperature using temperature probes and digitally plot the data on the graphs provided in the activity.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Diagram/Illustration

Author: The Concord Consortium

Food Packaging

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This lesson focuses on how food packages are designed and made. Students will learn three of the main functions of a food package. They will learn what is necessary of the design and materials of a package to keep food clean, protect or aid in the physical and chemical changes that can take place in a food, and identify a food appealingly. Then, in the associated activity, the students will have the opportunity to become packaging engineers by designing and building their own food package for a particular type of food.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan

Author: Chloe Mawer

Play the Three Muses - online art game

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An online interactive resource for children to explore and learn from visual art through quizzes and games. You can test your memory with lace, create a colourful fruit poster, paint a Paul Henry skyline, or try your knowledge with a quiz. This fun interactive encourages looking and responding to visual art and enables the child to look at and talk about works of visual art through strengthening their vocabulary.

Material Type: Game, Interactive

Authors: Limerick City Gallery of Art, Limerick Museum, The Hunt Museum

Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

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The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database has information on almost 36,000 slaving voyages that forcibly embarked over 10 million Africans for transport to the Americas between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. The actual number is estimated to have been as high as 12.5 million. The database and the separate estimates interface offer researchers, students and the general public a chance to rediscover the reality of one of the largest forced movements of peoples in world history. This resource includes a database of Trans-Atlantic slaving voyages searchable by a wide range of variables in additional to essays, maps, and numerical estimates of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, and K-12 lesson plans.

Material Type: Data Set, Diagram/Illustration, Lesson Plan, Primary Source, Reading

Authors: Allen Tullos, David Eltis

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