Curated OER
Daisyworld: Stella Mac or PC
Students investigate Daisyworld, a very simple planet that has only two species of life on its surface - white and black daisies, and bare ground. They construct a Stella model of Daisyworld and perform guided experiments to explore the...
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Waves Through Earth: Interactive Online Mac and PC
Students participate in a JAVA activity to vary the seismic P and S wave velocity through each of four concentric regions of Earth. They match "data" for travel times vs. angular distance around Earth's surface from the source to detector.
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Fun with Phylogenetic Trees
Tenth graders differentiate angiosperms and gymnosperms. In this biology lesson, 10th graders construct a musical phylogenetic tree from information they gathered on resource websites. They present their project in class.
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Earth Surface Socratic Questions
Students explore the ways Earth's surface is shaped by hydrologic, climate and tectonic forces by participating in a whole class discussion. They respond to prompts that lead them to conclusions about the relationships between landforms...
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Making a Taxonomic Key
Students work as a team of abalone taxonomists who examine and classify abalones based on their shell characteristics of the four most common species. They also study the visible details of each species shell, make notes and eventually...
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Aphids and Ladybirds
Students record observations of ladybird beetles and aphids. They develop questions concerning the behavior of ladybird beetles and aphids that are testable by a classroom experimentation. Students develop an investigation.
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Sun Spot Analysis
Students use Excel to graph monthly mean Greenwich sunspot numbers from 1749 to 2004. They perform a spectral analysis of the data using the free software program "Spectra". Short answer and thought questions related to the graphical...
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Calibrated Peer Review: Introduction-Why Study Geology?
Students read an article written by Sarah Andrews, a geologist who has written mystery novels featuring a geologist who solves crimes. After reading the article, students write an essay based on a Writing Prompt and begin peer review...
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The Brine Shrimp Project
Tenth graders design and conduct a laboratory investigation to determine how different factors may affect the hatching and development of brine shrimp eggs.
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An Activity to Introduce the Geoscience Perspective
Students examine various rock specimens assuming the viewpoints of various individuals--sculptor, landowner, preacher, etc. They study the rock, and then prepare a list of observations and questions. They summarize and share their...
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Solid Earth Socratic Questions
Learners participate in a whole class discussion to relate what they know about earthquakes to the processes of plate tectonics. They respond to prompts that lead them to conclusions about the layers of the earth.
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Petrology in the Field and Laboratory
Students collect samples in the field, analyze them using various tools and instruments, then present their results and interpretations. They examine igneous and metamorphic rocks in detail and interpret petrologic data.
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Watershed Analysis
Students conduct a regional watershed analysis of an area of their choosing. Using on-line data and their personal knowledge of the area, they determine the annual hydrologic budget and teach the class about "their" watershed.
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Geologic Puzzles: Morrison Formation
Students make observations and present interpretations based on their observations and on their prior knowledge. They use images to answer questions and make formulate hypotheses.
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Sharkland Wiki
Young scholars, while researching the waters around southern Africa and viewing a video of the episode "Sharkland" from Thirteen's series NATURE, critique reliability of online resources and analyze the various components of a wiki. They...
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Thanksgiving: Bird Evolution
Students explore the evolution of birds. In this biology lesson, students research articles that discuss evidence about the ancestry of birds. They discuss their findings with the group and draw a journal magazine cover highlighting...