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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fire!, Probability, and Chaos

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Upper elementary and middle schoolers work with the concept of probability. They are introduced to the concept of chaos. Learners graph and analyze using a line plot, work with mean, and are introduced to the concept of variance.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Geometric Fractals and the Chaos Game

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Learners define fractals and patterns. They explore how a seemingly random process can result in a pattern. Students practice probability and fractions skills by playing the chaos game online.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Chaos

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students experiment with several chaotic simulation, they build a working definition of chaos. Students reinforce their knowledge of basic probability and percents. They are reminded of previous knowledge that is pertinent to this...
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Handout
American Association of Physics Teachers

Com Padre Digital Library: Open Source Physics: Lorenz Attractor Periodic Orbits

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Simulation of a Lorenz attractor which is shaped like a butterfly. Manipulate the image and observe from all sides as the orbits about two fixed points are drawn.
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Handout
Greek Gods

Greek Gods: First Greek Gods: Theogony: Chaos

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about the first Greek gods who were created out of Chaos, a primeval state of existence. Learn how it all began and see Chaos' family tree.
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Handout
Greek Gods

Greek Gods: The First Greek Gods and Goddesses: "Theogony"

For Students 9th - 10th
"Theogony," a famous poem, by Hesiod explains the beginnings of Greek Mythology's first Greek Gods and Goddesses. From Chaos came Gaea (Earth), Uranus (the Heaven), and Eros (Desire) who produced the Titans and from them, the Olympian gods.
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Website
Virginia Tech

Virginia Polytechnic Institute: Greenhouse Dinosaur Extinction Theory

For Students 9th - 10th
This comprehensive page discusses the Asteroid Impact vs. Volcano-Greenhouse dinosaur extinction debate. It was written by paleontologist, professor, and scientist Dr. Dewey McLean.
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Unit Plan
Boston University

Fractal Geometry of the Mandelbrot Set Ii

For Students 9th - 10th
This web site addresses counting and adding in fractal operations, as well as the role of the Fibonacci sequence in fractal geometry.
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Website
Physics Central

American Physical Society: Physics Central: Discover Homepage

For Students 9th - 10th
Link to nine major physics topics and dig deeper into the content. Find out about the work of scientists in each field and see example physical science experiments.
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Interactive
University of Toronto (Canada)

University of Toronto: Flash Animations for Physics

For Students 9th - 10th
This site boasts an extensive list of physics animations that cover topics such as electricity, magnetism, quantum mechanics, and relativity. Variables can be manipulated for each demonstration.
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Activity
Texas Instruments

Texas Instruments: Numb3 Rs: Making "Fingerprints"

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Based off of the hit television show NUMB3RS, this lesson has students simulate a forest fire based on probability of the fire spreading. Different probabilities will yield different results, and as such all students should attain...
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Activity
Texas Instruments

Texas Instruments: Numb3 Rs: I, It, Itera, Iteration

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Based off of the hit television show NUMB3RS, this lesson introduces students to the notion of Brownian motion and has students graph a sample Brownian particle. In Brownian motion, each "step" depends on the "steps" taken previously,...
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Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: The Origin of Countless Conspiracy Theories

For Students 9th - 10th
Why can we find geometric shapes in the night sky? How can we know that at least two people in London have exactly the same number of hairs on their head? And why can patterns be found in just about any text - even Vanilla Ice lyrics?...
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Website
Other

P.u.e.m.a.c.: Una Visita Guiada Al Caos (El Mapeo Logistico)

For Students 9th - 10th
This is an advanced topic with a very detailed presentation of the chaos theory.
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Handout
Encyclopedia Mythica

Encyclopedia Mythica: Greek Mythology

For Students 9th - 10th
Encyclopedia Mythica offers a comprehensive resource on Greek mythology. Content includes a look at the principal gods, Zeus's consorts and offspring, the descendants of Prometheus, and much, much more. Click on "browse articles" for a...
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Interactive
Shodor Education Foundation

Shodor Interactivate: A Better Fire!!

For Students 6th - 8th
Students run a simulation of how a fire will spread through a stand of trees, learning about probability and chaos.
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Interactive
Shodor Education Foundation

Shodor Interactivate: Advanced Fire

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Run a simulation of how a fire spreads through a stand of trees, learning about probability and chaos. Track the results of multiple burns and use the data to draw conclusions.
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Activity
Shodor Education Foundation

Shodor Interactivate: Life

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Run the classic game of life, learning about probabilities, chaos and simulation. This activity allows the user to run a randomly generated world or test out various patterns.
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Interactive
Shodor Education Foundation

Shodor Interactivate: Directable Fire!!

For Students 9th - 10th
Run a simulation of how a fire will spread through a stand of trees, learning about probability and chaos.
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Interactive
Shodor Education Foundation

Shodor Interactivate: Fire!!

For Students 9th - 10th
Run a simulation of how a fire will spread through a stand of trees, learning about probability and chaos.
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Interactive
Shodor Education Foundation

Shodor Interactivate: Rabbits and Wolves

For Students 9th - 10th
Experiment with a simple ecosystem consisting of grass, rabbits, and wolves, learning about probabilities, chaos, and simulation.
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Unit Plan
Boston University

Boston University: Chaos, Fractals and Arcadia

For Students 9th - 10th
This is an interesting site for information on chaos and fractals. Includes links to interactive activities to learn more.
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Unit Plan
Boston University

Bu: Fractal Geometry of the Mandelbrot Set

For Students 9th - 10th
This site progresses in iterations through Mandelbrot and Julia sets to explain fractals and the mathematics behind them.
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Lesson Plan
Shodor Education Foundation

Shodor Interactivate: Lesson: Fractals

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This site provides some links to activities and lesson plans dealing with fractals and chaos.