Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Does It All Add Up?
In this chemistry classroom lab activity, students use critical thinking to investigate the molecular properties of different liquids: rubbing alcohol and water.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Nitrate Levels in the Rock Creek Park Watershed: Meas of Central Tendency
Activity uses water-quality data from Rock Creek Park to illustrate elementary statistical measures of exploratory data analysis. The focus of the lesson is the nutrient limitation in a stream and the three measures of central tendency.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Average Rates of Change and Trend Lines
In this Spreadsheets Across the Curriculum activity, students calculate the average rate of change and graph a scatter plot of status high school dropout rate for 1975-2002. The module combines interpretation of rate of change in the...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Calzones vs. Mini Pizzas a Linear Programming Problem
This module presents a linear programming problem. An example of the revenue-maximizing product mix for a pizza parlor is developed. This is an example of a more general mathematical optimization (maximization or minimization) problem....
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Why Is the Earth Still Hot Inside?
In this lesson, students conduct heat transfer experiments to investigate why the Earth is still hot at its core, even after billions of years since its formation. They will learn that the rate of heat transfer is dependent on an...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Exploring Air Quality in Aura No2 Data
This activity illustrates how data can be imported into Google Earth for visualization and interpretation. Learners are introduced to air quality as it relates to population density and topography.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Annotating Change in Satellite Images
This chapter walks you through a technique for documenting change detected in before-and-after sets of satellite images. The technique can be used for any set of images that show the same area at the same scale at different times.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Detecting El Nino in Sea Surface Temperature Data
Through data analysis and observations of patterns, students learn about normal seasonal sea surface temperature variation as well as extreme variation, as in the case of El Nino and La Nina events, in the equatorial Pacific Ocean.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Choosing the Best Contours
Using GeoMapApp's interactive elevation base map, experiment to find the best contours for sensibly displaying topography in different landscape regions. Students use contours in different landscape regions to find contour...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: 2004 Asian Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster Project
Students are employees of a unit of the United Nations responsible for coordinating disaster relief after a major disaster (the 2004 Asian Earthquake and Tsunami) occurs. The agency needs to understand the situation in each country so...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Determining the Geologic History of Rocks From a Gravel Deposit
Gravels deposited as a result of continental glaciation are used to teach the application of the scientific method in a cooperative learning mode which utilizes hands-on, minds-on analyses.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Angle of Repose
In this activity, students measure the maximum slope at which grains are stable (the angle of repose). They explore how different properties of the sediment influence slope stability and lead to different slope failures (mass movements)....
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Bot Ec: Percentage of Copper in Ore
Suppose that you are building a new house. It will take about 90 kg (198 pounds) of copper to do the electrical wiring. In order to get the copper in the first place, someone needs to mine solid rock that contains copper, extract the...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Bot Ec: Energy Released in an Earthquake
A magnitude 8.5 earthquake (such as the 1964 Good Friday earthquake in Alaska) releases about 1x1018 joules of energy. The atomic bomb exploded over Hiroshima released about 1.5x1013 joules of energy. How many Hiroshima bombs would one...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Bot Ec: The San Andreas Fault's Rate of Movement
The San Andrea is an active fault zone, marked by frequent earthquake activity. The crust southwest of this strike-slip fault (including Los Angeles) is sliding to the northwest relative to the other side. It is possible to estimate the...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Bottle Biology
This activity book explores science and the environment through soda bottles and other recyclable materials. Sections include bottle basics, decomposition column, kimchee (fermentation), soil meditations, predator-prey column, TerrAqua...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: A Data Rich Exercise for Discovering Plate Boundary Processes
This article in the Journal of Geoscience Education describes a classroom exercise based on four world maps containing earthquake, volcano, topographical and seafloor age data. Students participate in this exercise by using a "jigsaw"...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Bio Media Associates: Learning Programs for Biology
This site provides photographs, animations, essays, teaching resources, multimedia, and other information about biological systems and organisms. It features a monthly contest and quiz in which students and teachers identify a mystery...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: An Earthquake Lab for Physical Geology
This article from the Journal of Geological Education describes an activity in which students locate the epicenter of several earthquakes, plot the trends of the two faults involved, and determine the sense of motion along the plane of...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Animals Between the Sand Grains Meiofauna
In this lab activity, students will observe the minute animals that live between sand grains. The activity includes a list of materials, procedures, and discussion question. It is supplemented with reference images and a list of species...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Dive and Discover: Expeditions to the Seafloor
Dive and Discover immerses you into the world of ocean exploration. Through stories, photos, and videos go on board research expeditions that use deep-sea tools and vehicles, and become part of teams of researchers making new discoveries.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Black Smokers: Life Forms
This educational web site features life forms of deep sea hydrothermal systems. Hosted by the American Museum of Natural History, this site offers a brief introduction of the community and then focuses on Vestimentiferan tube worms,...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Activity: Is There Really Life on Mars?
This Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) activity explores the controversy over whether or not there is life on Mars. Part of the Mysteries of Deep Space Program that originally aired in April 1997, the activity includes instructional...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: c.s.i. On the Deep Reef
In this lesson students discover the factors that are indicative of chemotrophic nutritional strategies. This NOAA lesson plan is designed to teach students about the factors that are indicative of chemotrophic nutritional strategies....