Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Choosing Between Home Appliances: Benefits to the Planet and Your Wallet
Students compare various options for purchasing new home appliances by comparing the energy usage of more efficient models to less energy efficient models. They calculate the payback period in cases for which the purchase price for the...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Biking vs Driving
This exercise asks a series of questions about the benefits of biking to work one day per week instead of driving, stressing estimation and unit conversions.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Plastic Waste Production
Plastic waste is a huge problem with many potential solutions. In this lab exercise, students will use data to predict the amount of plastic waste in the next ten years and engage in communication that leads to effective decisions for...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Population Growth, Ecological Footprints, and Overshoot
In this three-part activity, students apply linear, exponential, and rational functions to explore past and projected U.S. population growth, carbon footprint trend, ecological overshoot, and effectiveness of hypothetical carbon dioxide...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Simple Population Space Usage
Using data on population, land area, and house size, young scholars will investigate how much space is used by people in Texas compared to the population of the world, and how much space would be required to give everyone in the world...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Energy Cost of Engine Idling
An open-ended modeling exercise for students about sustainability and energy behaviors and impacts.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Economics of Installing Solar Pv Panels: Is It Worth It to the Individual?
Help determine the financial calculations involved in an actual solar photovoltaic system installed Denver, Colorado in 2013.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: How Biodiverse Is Lake Superior? An Exercise in Proportions
An exercise in critical thinking, as well as practice in percents, proportions, and probabilities. Students research to gather information, then use their math skills to perform calculations on the data.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Estimating Our Carbon Footprint
This is a three-part algebra activity focusing on food-related carbon dioxide emissions.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Using "Good Guide" to Create Better Consumers
This learning activity helps educators and students use a valuable web resource that ranks products based on three sustainability criteria: personal health, environmental impact, and social equity.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: The Urgent Need for Understanding and Implementing Sustainability
Using statistics from a web-based sustainability resource, young scholars investigate the need for improving their own sustainability practices.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Using Art to Teach Environmental Responsibility
Students use art to consider the effects of industrial culture on the environment, and envision how to create a more positive and sustainable future.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Learning Sustainability With Sim City
Helps educators develop SimCity-based lesson plans that will encourage students to think critically about the challenges facing modern cities. SimCity is a city-building simulation computer game where players become the mayor and design...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Finding the Personal Voice of Sustainability
Students explore a more personal connection to sustainability and environmental concerns by reading an article, and rewriting it into a first-person monologue which they will perform.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Chem Prime: Creating a Connection Between Everyday Life and Stoichiometry
Students learn about stoichiometry, and make the connection between stoichiometry and when they use the same mathematical process during their every day life.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Virtual Photoelectric Lab
In this activity, students measure the relationship between kinetic energy of photoelectrons and the frequency of the incident light.