Purdue University
The Scientific Process of Conservation Biology: Analyze, Design, Debate
Scientists use data to learn about species survival—and your classes can too! A set of four lessons guides learners through a process to draw conclusions about the fluctuations in the population of the Hellbender species. They read...
Purdue University
The Great Clearcut Controversy
Urban development and habitat retention are often at odds. A three-part lesson examines the pros and cons of forest clearcutting. Learners review data and characteristics of a specific mammal to make conclusions about the effect...
Purdue University
Discovering the Watershed
Human impact on watersheds can make or break an ecosystem. Learners use a game to learn about the impact human choices have on water quality and the organisms that depend on it. The activity includes a game board and game cards that tell...
Purdue University
Healthy Water, Happy Home
Clear water does not mean clean water. A collaborative lesson has groups play a board game to identify sources of water pollution and develop strategies for improving water quality. Their investigations include reference to the water...
Purdue University
Mammal Food Webs
You are what you eat—or at least a part of what you eat. Budding scientists examine owl pellets to develop their own food webs. They use tooth and skull identification techniques to classify what they find.
Purdue University
Animal Diversity and Tracking
What exactly are those glowing eyes in the night? Learners run an experiment to attract local wildlife and then document the number of visitors by identifying their tracks. They then analyze the data to draw conclusions about the types...
Purdue University
Tree Talk
Examining tree rings shows more than just age. The third installment of a five-part Family Nature Program unit has learners examine all parts of trees including tree rings to tell stories about the life of the tree. They then use their...
Radford University
Danger! – An Analysis of the Death Toll of Natural Disasters
Decipher the danger of natural disasters. Using researched data, scholars work in groups to create data displays on the number of deaths from different types of natural disasters. They share their graphical representations with the class...
Radford University
Mathematical Modeling: Lesson 1
Will more deer result in more big game licenses? Scholars first research data on the number of deer and the number of big game licenses in Virginia between 1990 to 2009. They apply polynomial, exponential, and logarithmic regression to...
Radford University
Are Kitchen Cabinets at the Correct Height? Lesson 6
Don't hit your head on the kitchen cabinet. Using previously collected female height data, scholars apply confidence intervals and tests of significance to perform a data analysis. They connect the data to the height
of kitchen cabinets...
Radford University
Are Kitchen Cabinets at the Correct Height? Lessons 1-5
Here's a not-so-normal unit on normal heights. Future statisticians anonymously collect class data on female heights, weights, and shoe sizes. They then analyze the data using normal distributions, z-scores, percentiles, and the...
Radford University
The Puppy’s Empire
Dogs can't do math ... but people sure can! A set of five lessons has scholars apply math concepts to solve problems related to buying a new dog, such as designing a fence and a dog house, estimating how large the dog will become, and...
Radford University
Pollution and Curves of Best Fit
Don't put the resource on curves of best fit out on the curb. Using researched data on trash and recycling, scholars create scatter plots and regression curves to analyze the information. As a culminating activity, they complete projects...
Radford University
Big Future - How SAT Scores Play a Role in College Acceptance
Understanding the importance of SAT scores is as easy as ABC. A set of three statistics lessons teaches scholars about normal distributions, the Empirical Rule, and z-scores. They apply their newfound knowledge to investigate data...
Radford University
Transformational Graphing in the Real World: Building Bridges
No suspension here, the resource is good to go. Using graphing calculators, scholars explore how transformations affect the graphs of quadratic functions. They consider how the changes relate to the context of suspension bridges.
Pardee Home Museum
Geography of Alaska
A unit on the 49th state covers a variety of topics from the geography of Alaska to Native American myths. Academics work to analyze information found in primary source materials including old newspaper articles and artifacts. Young...
Learning Games Lab
Nitrogen in Pollutants
Responsible farming is important for maintaining natural resources. Eager scientists complete a WebQuest to explore what happens to nitrogen when it enters the soil. They learn about the chemical makeup of nitrogen-based molecules and...
Learning Games Lab
Cattle Feeding
Finding a balance between too much protein and not enough doesn't have to be a guessing game. Young scientists use an interactive lesson to learn how to calculate protein content in cattle feed and how to mix feed to create the ideal...
Learning Games Lab
Fertilizing Chile
Fertilizer can mean the difference between a profit and a loss. Scholars use an online interactive to explore the effects of fertilizing in agriculture. Given information about the nitrogen levels in the soil, they decide the fertilizer...
Learning Games Lab
Water Sampling
Scientific procedures ensure valid data and valid results. Use a water sampling interactive to teach learners the procedures for collecting water samples. The interactive takes users through the process step-by-step with notes of...
Science Matters
Motors
It's time to get moving! The 13th lesson in a 14-part unit on electricity and magnetism explores the relationship between electricity and mechanical energy. Budding scientists build motors and experiment with different components to...
Science Matters
Hot Wire S’mores
The proof is in the marshmallows. Believing that electric energy can transform into heat energy can be abstract, but a hands-on lesson gives pupils a concrete example. Young scientists cut marshmallows with copper wires before and...
Science Matters
Electromagnets
Classes are sure to get all wrapped up in an attractive lesson! Young scientists learn how to combine electricity and magnetism as they create electromagnets. They create their own electromagnets and collect data on their strength as...
Science Matters
Parallel Circuits
The lights don't always go out when the switch is flipped. The 10th lesson in a series of 14 helps learners build a conceptual understanding of the flow of electricity through a parallel circuit. They then build their own parallel...