University of Colorado
Happy Landings: A Splash or a Splat?
Huygens spacecraft landed on Saturn's moon Titan in 2005, making it the farthest landing from Earth ever made by a spacecraft. In this hands-on activity, the 12th installment of 22, groups explore how density affects speed. To do this,...
Curated OER
Foliage Tracker
Young scholars discuss the change of leaf colors and the role that climate and elevation play in those changes. They then track leaf changes, input data, and graph foliage changes with a free online tool.
Polar Trec
What Can We Learn from Sediments?
Varve: a deposit of cyclical sediments that help scientists determine historical climates. Individuals analyze the topography of a region and then study varve datasets from the same area. Using this information, they determine the...
Statistics Education Web
Double Stuffed?
True or false — Double Stuf Oreos always contain twice as much cream as regular Oreos. Scholars first measure the masses of the filling in regular Oreos and Double Stuf Oreos to generate a class set of data. They use hypothesis testing...
PHET
Soda Bottle Magnetometer
Introduce learners to set of complete instructions that describe how to build a magnetometer that works just like the ones professional photographers use to predict auroras. The diagrams are wonderfully descriptive, and the written...
Teach Engineering
Energy on a Roller Coaster
Roll with your class into the idea of conservation of energy. Pupils use a roller coaster track to collect data to reinforce the concept of conservation of energy and the influence of friction. Class members then create a graph from...
Curated OER
When Ants Fly
Here is a great lesson on constructing line graphs. Learners identify common characteristics of birds, ants common needs of all living things. They also write a story from the perspective of an ant or a bird that has lost its home and...
Statistics Education Web
How Wet is the Earth?
Water, water, everywhere? Each pupil first uses an Internet program to select 50 random points on Earth to determine the proportion of its surface covered with water. The class then combines data to determine a more accurate estimate.
Population Connection
A Demographically Divided World
Did you know that birth and life rates vary across the world? The resource, the second in a six-part series, discusses just how demographics differ across countries and why it might be the case. Scholars complete worksheets, watch...
Curated OER
WS 1.4 Metric Units II
In this metric units worksheet, students convert measurements from one metric unit to another using dimensional analysis. They must show their work to receive credit.
Berkshire Museum
Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle: Sorting Through Personal Choices
Raise children's awareness about the importance of conservation with this hands-on science lesson plan. Start by breaking the class into groups and having them collect trash from around the school or local park. Students then use the...
Curated OER
Super Ticket Sales
Use this graphing data using box and whisker plots lesson to have learners make box and whisker plots about ticket sales of popular movies. They find the mean, median, and mode of the data. Pupils compare ticket sales of the opening...
Curated OER
The Coastal Ocean: Estuaries and Continental Shelves
Amazing high-quality satellite imagery, photos, informational graphs, and detailed diagrams comprise this presentation on the movement of estuaries and the continental shelf. Data used as an example is from The Chesapeake Bay and because...
Curated OER
"Dead-Zones" and Coastal Eutrophication: Case-Study of Chesapeake Bay
Take an in-depth look at nutrient loading, eutrophication, and hypoxia using data on The Chesapeake Bay as an example. This comprehensive presentation includes detailed graphs, photos, and details about the changes in marine organism...
Curated OER
Rates of Chemical Reactions-The Iodine Clock Reaction
Students investigate the reaction rate of iodine and soluble starch. In this rates of chemical reactions lesson plan, students study the effects of varying concentrations of reactants and varying temperatures of reactants on the reaction...
Curated OER
Displacement vs. Distance Worksheet
Displacement is a foundational concept for physics pupils. If they are having trouble discerning it from distance, this activity can help clear things up. The first page is essentially a piece of graph paper. It has a compass rose and a...
CK-12 Foundation
Flashlight
In a simple circuit, does electricity start instantly? A simulation encourages thinking about the flow of electrons at a microscopic level. Pupils control the voltage, resistance, and switch in order to observe the change in both ideal...
PBS
Analyzing Light Curves of Transiting Exoplanets
Scientists detected exoplanets by measuring how the brightness of stars changed over time. Young astronomers interpret and analyze the same data that led to exoplanet discoveries. They learn to apply light curve graphs and connect the...
Curated OER
Human Activity and the Environment
Students review and analyze graphs and tables as a group. They develop their graph and data analysis skills by converting data tables from Human Activity and the Environment into graphs.
Curated OER
Arthropod Data Collection
Students describe the life cycle of various bugs as well as their predators and feeding habits. The class participates in a discussion of the various methods scientists use to gather data including research and experiment. After...
Curated OER
Weather "Whys"
Students complete activities to explore fall weather. In this weather lesson, students use the given links to examine weather forecasts. Students complete a weather graph activity and watch Internet field trips. Students complete fall...
Curated OER
Count Down
Students are introduced to useing websites as a data source. Using bird population predictions, they test their predictions from various websites. They record, organize and graph the data and share their results with the class.
Curated OER
"Weather Watch"
Learners investigate components of weather and the climate in areas around the country. They analyze data from the University of Michigan weather website, complete a weather watch worksheet, and graph weather data.
Curated OER
Endangered Species
Ninth graders graph data in order to compare the number of extinct species and a rise in human population. They analyze the data collected. Students are encouraged to infer the relationship.