Curated OER
Promoting Inquiry Throught Computer-Based Labs
Student Teachers are given the opportunity to examine how to use a computer-based laboratory for inquiry. The practice is done to teach future teachers how to use these tools so they can be ready for use in the classroom environment.
Curated OER
Biosphere
Sixth graders study the earth and show some examples of the way it maintains a life-friendly environment. For this biosphere lesson students complete a lab activity and create their own biosphere.
Curated OER
What Effects Do Trees Have On The Environment?
Students examine the interrelationship between trees, soil and people focusing on urban areas. They collect and analyze data about trees in their research area.
Curated OER
Life in Extreme Environments - Lakes Under Ice
Students collect chemical, physical, and biological data from a local lake throughout the year. In addition, students discuss the design of an experimental structure for water collection at several specific depths as well as assess the...
Curated OER
Memory/Physiology Lab Activity
Students investigate the nervous system and how physical distractions influence mental performance. They work in pairs as a researcher and subject and memorize a series of words with no distractions. After repeating the list of words,...
Curated OER
Biocomplexity Lab Activity: Permeability
Learners identify how water moves through materials such as rocks or sand. Students measure the permeability of water through glass spheres to represent the movement of water in sand, an aquifer, or another sediment. During the...
Curated OER
Mining for Natural Resources
Students discover that mining for nonrenewable natural resources has a dramatic effect on our environment. They gain an understanding of the processes involved in harvesting a natural resource and the impact it has on the earth.
Curated OER
Does Dye Die...? : Foreign Chemicals In Our Environment
Students work as scientists to simulate testing on soil, plants, and water for foreign chemicals through this series of experiments.
Curated OER
Life In Extreme Environments
Students work together to design and participate in experiments to determine the rate rotifers eat. After completing their experiments, they record and analyze their data and identify any challenges faced during the procedure. They...
Curated OER
Gravity
Students perform inquiry in response to the question "Do objects fall at the same rate?", teacher candidates discuss a model experiment for secondary students to discover the answer, including recording and analyzing data.
Curated OER
Light and Starch Production in Photosynthesis
Students are given the unique opportunity to see the contrast between parts of a leaf that have photosynthesized and parts of the leaf that have not. This visual image helps students see the results of this biological process. At the...
Kenan Fellows
Industrial Knowledge of Acids and Bases
Over a 10-year period, EPA regulations cost businesses less than $30 billion, while businesses saved over $82 billion. Scholars experiment with acids and bases to better understand the pH scale. Then they debate environmental regulation...
Beyond Benign
SLS Toxicology Test
Ingredients in your shampoo are toxic enough to kill plants. The 16th installment of the series of 24 tests the toxicity level of various concentrations of SLS, a chemical found in nearly all shampoo. Learners prepare percent solutions...
Curated OER
The Wonders of Water - Biology Teaching Thesis
Students name 3-5 aesthetic values of the Potomac River. They state the importance of water in their own words. Students describe what Earth Day is and why it is important. They list 5-7 ways that they can help minimize water pollution.
Curated OER
Fossils!
Learners explore what fossils are, how they are formed, what different types there are and why they are significant to both our present and past geology history. They participate in a hands on fossil observation of their choice and...
University of Connecticut
Building Your Own Biosphere
On September 26, 1991, four women and four men entered the scientific experiment, Biosphere 2; the doors were sealed for two years in order to study the interactions of a biosphere. In the activity, scholars explore biospheres by...
LABScI
Catapult: Flight of the Marshmallows
Watch your marshmallows fly. The engaging STEM activity has groups create a catapult to launch marshmallows. After testing their prototypes, they consider improvements and redesign their catapults.
Curated OER
Harvesting Energy from Food: How do Plants Help Humans?
Beginning botanists view slides of plant vascular tissue. They watch Magic School Bus Gets Planted, which you can find online, and then write a summary of what they have learned about plants. This lesson plan could be used with upper...
Curated OER
Changing Planet: Withering Plants - Stressing Over Lost Water
Expectant earth scientists examine the bottom side of a leaf and learn the role of the stomata. They consider the gas exchange that occurs through these structures and relate how the climate is changing to its impact on food crops. This...
Curated OER
What Factors Contribute In Attracting Birds To Feeders?
Students develop their own research questions dealing with specific variables provided by the instructor; students conduct bird counts using two kinds of birdseed, and analyze possible effects such as abundance or diversity.
Curated OER
Aerogel
Students identify how technology aids scientists in their research. Through discussion, they explain the various ways scientists use Aerogel to aid in their collection of high-speed particles. Through experimentation, students create...
Curated OER
Light Stick Chemistry
In groups of three with the lights off and the shades drawn, investigators place inactivated light sticks, in three beakers: one filled with ice water, another with lukewarm water, and the other with room temperature water. They wait...
ARKive
Dinner at the Reef
Fine dining can happen anywhere, even in the coral reefs. Budding environmentalists explore marine food chains, predator-prey relationships and the importance of a balanced ecosystem. These important concepts are facilitated through a...