Tomatosphere™ offers an excellent opportunity to have your students think and act …
Tomatosphere™ offers an excellent opportunity to have your students think and act like scientists as they practice their inquiry skills and develop understandings of the nature of science and the concept of a fair test.
In the spring, participating classrooms receive two packages of tomato seeds. One package contains seeds sent into space or treated in space-simulated conditions. The other contains untreated "control" seeds. Students plant the seeds and conduct experiments to explore the effects of the space environment on the germination of tomatoes. Through Tomatosphere™, students learn how to conduct a scientific experiment and compare the number of seeds that germinate for the two groups of seeds.
While completing the Tomatosphere™ program, students investigate how to supply space exploration missions with life-support requirements—food, water, oxygen and a way to consume the carbon dioxide exhaled by astronauts—while also discussing the many issues and research involved in space exploration.
Teachers can expand on the basic Tomatosphere™ Seed Investigation by connecting it to studies of plants, space, nutrition, math or the environment, depending on grade and curriculum.
"Tomatosphere™ offre une excellente opportunité pour permettre à vos élèves de penser …
"Tomatosphere™ offre une excellente opportunité pour permettre à vos élèves de penser et agir comme des scientifiques tout en pratiquant leurs compétences en recherche et en développant leur compréhension de la nature de la science et du concept d'une expérience équitable.
Au printemps, les salles de classe participantes reçoivent deux paquets de graines de tomates. Un paquet contient des graines envoyées dans l'espace ou traitées dans des conditions simulées d'espace. L'autre contient des graines "témoins" non traitées. Les élèves plantent les graines et réalisent des expériences pour explorer les effets de l'environnement spatial sur la germination des tomates. Grâce à Tomatosphere™, les élèves apprennent comment mener une expérience scientifique et comparent le nombre de graines qui germent pour les deux groupes de graines.
Pendant le programme Tomatosphere™, les élèves étudient comment fournir aux missions d'exploration spatiale les besoins en support de vie tels que la nourriture, l'eau, l'oxygène et un moyen de consommer le dioxyde de carbone expiré par les astronautes, tout en discutant des nombreux problèmes et recherches liés à l'exploration spatiale.
Les enseignants peuvent étendre l'Investigation de base sur les graines Tomatosphere™ en la reliant à des études sur les plantes, l'espace, la nutrition, les mathématiques ou l'environnement, en fonction du niveau et du programme d'études."
Students learn about tornadoes - their basic characteristics, damage and occurrence. Students …
Students learn about tornadoes - their basic characteristics, damage and occurrence. Students are introduced to the ways that engineers consider strong winds, specifically tornadoes, in their design of structures. Also, students learn how tornadoes are rated, and learn some basics of tornado safety.
Students learn about tornadoes, the damage they cause, and how to rate …
Students learn about tornadoes, the damage they cause, and how to rate tornadoes. Specifically, students investigate the Enhanced Fujita Damage Scale of tornado intensity, and use it to complete a mock engineering analysis of damage caused by a tornado. Additional consideration is given to tornado warning systems and how these systems can be improved to be safer. Lastly, students learn basic tornado safety procedures.
Students will analyze data of tornadoes throughout the United States. They will …
Students will analyze data of tornadoes throughout the United States. They will create a bar graph of the number of tornadoes for the top ten states in the country and then calculate the median and the mode of the data.
Homer, Alaska, has been taking action to reduce climate change for almost …
Homer, Alaska, has been taking action to reduce climate change for almost a decade. As the ten-year anniversary of their first plan looms on the horizon, the community is engaging in conversations about adaptation.
Hurricane Sandy served as a wake-up call for many coastal communities along …
Hurricane Sandy served as a wake-up call for many coastal communities along the East Coast: they learned that planning and preparation for future hazards and climate change impacts needs to take place before the next disaster. As this type of planning was new to many communities, they needed assistance in identifying the most beneficial data, tools, and resources that could inform their local planning and decision making.
The Trans-Canadian Research and Environmental Education (TREE) project is a citizen science …
The Trans-Canadian Research and Environmental Education (TREE) project is a citizen science program where students from across Canada join with researchers from the Mistik Askîwin Dendrochronology Lab (MAD Lab) to learn about the stories trembling aspen trees tell and how a synchrotron can be a tool to tell that story. Join us as we explore this new area in research and learn about environments across Canada!
From a scientific perspective with TREE, trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) are a species of tree that is abundant throughout most of Canada. They also tolerate, even thrive, with much higher levels of toxins in their soil than most other species of trees and can potentially be used to remediate contaminated sites.
From an educational perspective, learning about the life and nutrient cycles of trees, nutrients in soil, and tracking effects on trees over time provides a wealth of opportunity for student education. The TREE program connects with curriculum across several subject areas and grade levels. It provides an interdisciplinary learning experience for students, including local Indigenous knowledge related to the trees, history, and the environment.
Looking at transportation and the environment, students learn that some human-made creations, …
Looking at transportation and the environment, students learn that some human-made creations, such as vehicles, can harm the environment. They also learn about alternative fuels and vehicles designed by engineers to minimize pollution. The associated hands-on activity gives students a chance to design their own eco-friendly vehicle.
Students collect, categorize, weigh and analyze classroom solid waste. The class collects …
Students collect, categorize, weigh and analyze classroom solid waste. The class collects waste for a week and then student groups spend a day sorting and analyzing the garbage with respect to recyclable and non-recyclable items. They discuss ways that engineers have helped to reduce the accumulation of solid waste.
Students learn about tsunamis, discovering what causes them and what makes them …
Students learn about tsunamis, discovering what causes them and what makes them so dangerous. They learn that engineers design detection and warning equipment, as well as structures that that can survive the strong wave forces. In a hands-on activity, students use a table-top-sized tsunami generator to observe the formation and devastation of a tsunami. They see how a tsunami moves across the ocean and what happens when it reaches a coastline. They make villages of model houses to test how different material types are impacted by the huge waves.
Terry Williams is blunt when he describes the environmental crisis tribes in …
Terry Williams is blunt when he describes the environmental crisis tribes in the Pacific Northwest are facing: "We’ve lost 90 percent of the salmon population."
As the Tulalip Tribe’s Fisheries and Natural Resources Commissioner, Williams has witnessed the decline of salmon and its impacts on tribal members. For the Tulalip and other tribes in the region, the population crash of salmon is much more than an assault on their economic lifeblood—it is a cultural and spiritual threat to their identity as a people.
The annual springtime Salmon Ceremony puts tribal members in direct touch with their ancestors, and other ceremonies and practices center on the fish through the year. Losing the fish is a strike to the core of the Tulalip people, but they have a long-term vision to restore wild salmon populations to levels that will support their fishing needs.
Although anthropogenic (human made), post-industrial revolution greenhouse gases are commonly attributed to …
Although anthropogenic (human made), post-industrial revolution greenhouse gases are commonly attributed to be the cause of climate change, there are in fact many factors that contribute to climate change and global warming, past and present.
Geological evidence indicates that global climate has changed throughout Earth history, including contributions from long-term heat loss from the Earth to the atmosphere, Earth’s orbital behaviour, and a number of plate tectonic processes. In addition, atmospheric and oceanographic dynamics and the way that tectonic plate and continental movements control these, also play a part in changing global climate. Volcanism constantly releases gases to the atmosphere producing contradictory effects on atmospheric temperature and in some cases, global climate.
And then, there is the elephant in the room – human generated greenhouse gases. How does their effect stack up against all the previous causes? All will be revealed!
What are nitrogen fixing plants, and why use them over nitrogen fertilizer? …
What are nitrogen fixing plants, and why use them over nitrogen fertilizer? This video answers this question through an explanation of the nitrogen cycle.Sup...
Students build on their existing air quality knowledge and a description of …
Students build on their existing air quality knowledge and a description of a data set to each develop a hypothesis around how and why air pollutants vary on a daily and seasonal basis. Then they are guided by a worksheet through an Excel-based analysis of the data. This includes entering formulas to calculate statistics and creating plots of the data. As students complete each phase of the analysis, reflection questions guide their understanding of what new information the analysis reveals. At activity end, students evaluate their original hypotheses and “put all of the pieces together.” The activity includes one carbon dioxide worksheet/data set and one ozone worksheet/data set; providing students and/or instructors with a content option. The activity also serves as a good standalone introduction to using Excel.
Flipgrid is now called Flip. "Take your learners on an adventure with …
Flipgrid is now called Flip.
"Take your learners on an adventure with Flip Live Events without ever leaving the comfort of your classroom, home, or wherever you learn! These virtual field trips feature authors, scientists, humanitarians, and creators sharing their passions from all over the world, even from the bottom of the sea!"
An extreme precipitation event in 2008 cost one town more than a …
An extreme precipitation event in 2008 cost one town more than a million dollars in infrastructure repairs. Now, other municipalities can simulate how their homes, businesses, and facilities might fare if they experienced a similar event.
In this lesson, students will first discuss where energy comes from, including …
In this lesson, students will first discuss where energy comes from, including sources such as fossil fuels, nuclear, and such renewable technologies as solar. After this initial exploration, students will investigate the three main types of heat transfer: convection, conduction, and radiation. Students will learn how properties describe the ways different materials behave, for instance whether they are insulators or conductors. Students will complete a crossword puzzle to reinforce their vocabulary in this content area. The class will then focus on the acquisition and storage of energy through the design, construction, and testing of a fully functional solar oven.
This EPA website provides instructions for using Secchi disks and transparency tubes …
This EPA website provides instructions for using Secchi disks and transparency tubes to measure water clarity. The page also features a short description of each device.
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