The is a curriculum module from the project Data Sets and Inquiry …
The is a curriculum module from the project Data Sets and Inquiry in Geoscience Education (DIGS). The module consists of a week-long unit and two-day performance assessment in which students apply the inquiry skills to problem-based investigations of urban micro-climates. The unit and performance assessment present semi-parallel tasks but about different cities (Phoenix and Chicago).
Sudents draw conclusions about the extent to which multiple decades of temperature data about Phoenix suggest that a shift in local climate is taking place as opposed to exhibiting nothing more than natural variability. The data are from the Global Climate Historical Network (GHCN) database. GHCN is a large, multi-year, international project to measure temperature, precipitation, and air pressure from near the ground. Each monthly maximum and minimum temperature is the highest and lowest temperature reading for the month, measured in Celsius. In Phoenix and in most other places, the temperature data are collected at local airports. The performance assessment for this module requires that students apply the methods and findings from the investigation of the climate data for Phoenix to climate data for Chicago. The Chicago data shows less evidence of trends in temperature change, and this is most evident comparing the night-time minimum temperature fluctuations between the two cities. Chicago also exhibits less increase in urban development and population growth than does Phoenix. In contrast to the curriculum unit, which primarily uses constructed-response tasks to encourage student explanation and discussion, the climate assessment tasks pose explicit selected- and constructed-response questions to ensure that the items elicit the intended thinking and hence provide evidence of the targeted standards-aligned skills and understandings.
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Students operate mock 3D bioprinters in order to print tissue constructs of …
Students operate mock 3D bioprinters in order to print tissue constructs of bone, muscle and skin for a fictitious trauma patient, Bill. The model bioprinters are made from ordinary materials— cardboard, dowels, wood, spools, duct tape, zip ties and glue (constructed by the teacher or the students)—and use squeeze bags of icing to lay down tissue layers. Student groups apply what they learned about biological tissue composition and tissue engineering in the associated lesson to design and fabricate model replacement tissues. They tangibly learn about the technical aspects and challenges of 3D bioprinting technology, as well as great detail about the complex cellular composition of tissues. At activity end, teams present their prototype designs to the class.
This activity allows students to better understand radiometric dating and absolute dating …
This activity allows students to better understand radiometric dating and absolute dating techniques by calculating radiometric ages of zircon crystals. Their calculated ages then serve as tools to practice creating graphs, interpret analytic data, and reconstruct geologic events.
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In the hierarchical alignment activity, students are given multiple opportunities to align …
In the hierarchical alignment activity, students are given multiple opportunities to align time to space in a linear representation. They begin by scaling a familiar amount of time (e.g. a personal time line) to a spatial representation (e.g. a meter stick), and progressively align increasing/decreasing amounts until completing the target unfamiliar time line (e.g. geologic time). For example, in the hierarchical alignment of geologic time, students can work through 10 time lines: personal, human lifespan, American history, Recorded history, human evolution, Cenozoic, Phanerozoic, Proterozoic, Archean, and then Hadean.
While the amount of time varies, the amount of space remains constant: in this example, students align all new temporal scales to one meter. For each time line, students are asked to locate specific events, hierarchicaly organized divisions of time, and the length of the time line in order to engage the students in thinking about that temporal scale. Additionally, every time students align a new temporal scale to space, they locate all previous scales relative to the current scale.
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Students conduct independent research on metal and metal ores resources, including exploring …
Students conduct independent research on metal and metal ores resources, including exploring the human and environmental costs of metal mining, consumption, disposal, and recycling. A series of worksheets, completed outside of class, guide students in examining their own use and consumption of metals, learn the true importance of metals in their lives, and the impact of resource consumption to the human community.
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How can we Design Cattle to Better Meet Human Needs? In this …
How can we Design Cattle to Better Meet Human Needs?
In this high school Storyline unit on genetics and heredity, students are introduced to ‘SuperCows’. As they explore the vast variety of cattle breeds, students discover that cattle are specialized for different purposes and while similar, the ‘SuperCows’ are clearly unique. Students wonder what caused this diversity and specificity which leads to investigations about the role of inheritance, DNA and proteins.
In this lab, students will use data from real corals collected in …
In this lab, students will use data from real corals collected in Sumatra to track the sea-level and earthquake record of the region over the past century.
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In this lab, students will use data from real corals collected in …
In this lab, students will use data from real corals collected in Sumatra to date historical earthquakes and to track the history of uplift and subsidence of the region over the past century.
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To prepare for this project, students read the chapter on volcanoes in …
To prepare for this project, students read the chapter on volcanoes in Grotzinger et al. In class, students receive specific instructions on what to include in their report, presentation as well as a specific volcanic eruption to investigate. Students individually research the volcanic eruption to learn more about a topic of interest to most students as well as to learn how to do research and how to write a paper. In the group project, they learn how to make an effective presentation. This presentation is self-contained and is supposed to be geared to a middle school audience. Some students do a very good job at explain the basic concepts to a student in that age group which means they really understand it.
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Home energy audit/retrofits allow students to apply thermodynamic principles to planning and …
Home energy audit/retrofits allow students to apply thermodynamic principles to planning and executing a retrofit to make an existing home more energy efficient.
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Students are introduced to concepts in the course that give them the …
Students are introduced to concepts in the course that give them the skills to understand geologic maps. These include structural geology, weathering processes, the geologic time scale, types of rocks and minerals, glacial geology, etc. They also look at several quadrangle maps as lab activities, including the Williamsville Quadrangle from Virginia and the Bright Angel Quadrangle from the Grand Canyon. This independent exercise allows students to further investigate their hometown or other areas of interest, and report on the geologic history. This further prepares them for more advanced courses and also gives them an appreciation of their surroundings, a key part of a geologist's training.
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This homework has two parts. In the first part, the students use …
This homework has two parts. In the first part, the students use Stoke's Law to determine (a) the relative sizes of olivine and plagioclase settling at the same velocity (and relate their answer to observations made on cumulate rocks in the lab, (b) the length of time it would take a xenolith-bearing basalt on Hawaii to reach the surface, and (c) to realize that pumice landing on seawater will float, not sink! In part 2, the students fill out a worksheet to see the effects of simultaneous fractional crystallization of olivine, clinopyroxene, and plagioclase on residual melt composition, and then determine whether the melt follows a tholeiitic or calcalkaline trend. The homework involves simple algebra, but several unit conversions and normalization of the results. After the students hand in the homework, we have a class discussion on the assumptions and problems associated with using Stoke's Law to model magmatic processes. We also work with different colored marbles to see the effects of fractional removal of different "minerals" on residual magma composition. My main goal in assigning this homework is to have students see that they can use simple math to come up with results for themselves, and then to have them think about the significance of those results.
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This homework has 2 main parts: In the first part, students are …
This homework has 2 main parts: In the first part, students are given bulk compositions for 6 volcanic rocks and asked to classify them, think about their normative compositions, and given likely tectonic settings for three of them. In the second part, they work with a complex binary phase diagram. In this part, they must think about components vs. phases, the lever rule, behavior at a peritectic point, and fractional removal of a phase. After completing this homework, I find that students are comfortable working with any binary diagram I give them.
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This activity was an educator created resource to accompany the Hominid skull …
This activity was an educator created resource to accompany the Hominid skull set from CSU's Natural Sciences Education & Outreach Center. This activity focuses on identifying distinct hominid traits and creating a Phylogenitc Tree to map human evolution. The resource can be used with the Hominid Skull Set, The Skull Anatomy Glossary, and the Hominid Evolution Activity from CSU's Natural Sciences Education & Outreach Center. See this link for all associated resources: https://www.cns-eoc.colostate.edu/stem-kits/hominid-skull-set/. At the linked site you can also download a rubric for grading this student activity.
This resource consists of 7 prehistoric hominid descriptions along with modern man …
This resource consists of 7 prehistoric hominid descriptions along with modern man in the form of informational cards, skull illustration and name. They can be used for matching and categorizing.
Hominid Skull Set. This is not an Educational Kit, but rather a …
Hominid Skull Set. This is not an Educational Kit, but rather a collection of Hominid skulls that can be checked out in person for classroom use. Teachers should feel free to combine the artifacts with lessons of their choice or creation. The Natural Sciences Education & Outreach Center collaborates with CSU faculty, National Parks and citizen science programs to translate their current scientific research into unique STEM experiences for students in the form of Educational Kits that can be checked out. Each kit contains just about all of the materials needed (minus common things like water and paper towels) to explore some really interesting scientific research topics.The kits are available for teachers and informal educators in Colorado to check out by submitting a local pickup form at the linked website. This collection is provided free for educational use. This collection is not availably for delivery. This Kit is available in Spanish.
The first part of the project asked students to locate a peer-reviewed …
The first part of the project asked students to locate a peer-reviewed scientific research article found in the bibliography of the 2007 IPCC Working Group II Report. A librarian gave a 30 minute presentation in class on how to locate scholarly journals, government documents, and other materials using the JMU library website. Each student turned in a worksheet on which they listed their resource, provided a brief explanation of the methods and results of the research, and why they chose this paper. Each student was then asked to write a newsletter article that communicated results from a peer-reviewed climate change study in an understandable, interesting way to their fellow students and the general public. Students shared the content of their newsletter articles in small groups in class on the due date.
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Students form groups to work on a assigned hotspot chain. Each group …
Students form groups to work on a assigned hotspot chain. Each group gets to study a seamount trail from around the world and needs to present 15 slides that each have 3 main points and one nice graphical illustration or image.
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This activity provides the students with a data set of ages of …
This activity provides the students with a data set of ages of some of the Hawaiian Volcanoes and seamounts and how far they are from the active volcanism (considered to be the location of the hotspot). By plotting the data on a graph and fitting the data with a line of best fit, the plate velocity can be estimated by taking the slope of the line.
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This lesson introduces the theory of mantle plumes and possible ways of …
This lesson introduces the theory of mantle plumes and possible ways of finding evidence to support the theory.
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