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Lake Superior Ecology Unit
Sixth graders research Lake Superior and its ecosystem. Students investigate the lake's cycles of mixing and stratification and how these cycles affect the biology of the lake. This activity contains five days of activities.
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How Does Mining Produce Acid Runoff?
Students examine how mining and other industry operations can lead to acid runoff. In this mining lesson students study weathering and complete a lab on it.
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Food & Science - How Healthy is Your Diet?
Learners experiment with various foods to determine fat and starch content. They rub jam, peanut butter, bananas, and other foods in a small circle on a piece of paper, and observe the results. If there is a high fat content in the...
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The Nature Of Dissolving Processes
Young scholars examine the rule of "like dissolves like." They define and describe solutions and solubility models on molecular liquids, ionic solids, and molecular solids.
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What Makes Up a Healthy Watershed
Learners, after observing the elements of a local watershed, explore the need to protect watersheds as water resources for the future. They examine the factors involved with a watershed: geology, ecology, and the effect of man's...
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Finding the Ages of Rocks and Fossils
Students practice dating fossils. They learn the concept of "deep time"--that earth was formed billions of years ago. They experience excellent hand-outs and virtual age tutorial links.
National Institute of Open Schooling
Mole Concept
Learners explore atomic measurement in the first activity in a series of 36. Through readings, activities, and questions, classes review standard SI units, learn about Avogadro's constant, and use it to help them calculate moles. They...
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Carbon: Structure Matters
Students read the Who We Are Section on Calfee Designs Webpage and discuss carbon usage. They work in pairs to look up the minerals diamond and graphite then create a chart on the properties of each mineral then compare how they differ...
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Our Universe: Designed or Evolved?
Students brainstorm and write arguments for Evolution and Intelligent Design. They research the history of each of these ideas. They also examine the controversy of teaching one or both ideas in schools.
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Keeping Healthy
High schoolers describe the relationship between exercise and health. They name ways to monitor their health and the equipment used to do so. Students name solutions to common health issues and explain why good nutrition and exercise are...
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Teaching About the Properties of Water
Students use video, Internet research, graphs and tables, worksheets and hands-on experiments to investigate the properties of water in a lake environment. They work under direction or through an inquiry process.
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DNA Diagnosis
Students describe the fundamentals of DNA such as structure and replication. Given a picture of a gel, they circle the band that represents the smallest DNA, the largest DNA, and show which DNA sources are the same.
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The Basics of Biochemistry
Science teachers can introduce basic chemical concepts to biology students.
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Inter-State Matters
Students explore the six phase transitions between gases, liquids and solids for a variety of elements. Each group of students focuses on a different element, investigating its physical properties during each of the six phase transitions.
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Air: Fuel For Thought
Students consider the impact of vehicle use in their family and brainstorm viable alternatives to this use. They calculate the total emissions for their family cars during the week, then compare those totals with Hybrid car totals.
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A Nobel Cause
Students research the lives and accomplishments of Nobel Prize-winning scientists and compose stories about what the world would be like without the accomplishments of these scientists.
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Building A Topographic Model
Students visualize, in three dimensions, features represented by contour lines on a topographic map. They see that the different elevations shown on a two dimensional topographic map can be used to build a 3-D model.
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Science Detectives
Fifth graders examine the differences between chemical and physical changes. As a class, they are read a scenerio and determine whether it was deliberate act or not. In groups, they observe the changes of an alka-seltzer tablet and...
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Winds Go Spinning Around
Students simulate the Coriolis Effect to comprehend why winds in the Westerlies are prone to cyclonic and anti-cyclonic motion. They arrive at an explanation of processes that drive world wind patterns
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The Breathtaking Nature of the Urban Explosion, Part 2
Students explore ozone levels. They measure the concentrations of ground-level ozone in the atmosphere. Students observe changes in the concentrations of ozone over time. Students complete a data sheet to record ozone readings over a...
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Nanaotechnology: Small Science, BIG DEAL!
Students read an article that introduces them to the science and applications of nanotechnology. They discuss the the everyday examples of how nanotechnology is and can be used. In small groups, they observe and make inferences about...
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What Are Alternative Fuels? Concept Mapping Alternative Fuels Investigation
Students compare and contrast the different types of alternative fuels. They create a concept map to understand their classification. They examine the properties of matter and energy as well.
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Graphing and Analysis of Water Quality Reports
Students practice making graphs and interpreting them. They compare and contrast different sets of data. They use Microsoft Excel to create different types of graphs.