RocketModeler was developed at the NASA Glenn Research Center in an effort …
RocketModeler was developed at the NASA Glenn Research Center in an effort to foster hands-on, inquiry-based learning in science and math. RocketModeler is a simulator that models the design and flight of a model rocket. The program works in two modes: Design Mode or Flight Mode. In the Design Mode, you can change design variables including the size of the rocket body, the fins, and the nose cone. You can also select different materials for each component. You can select from a variety of standard solid rocket engines. The program computes the center of gravity and pressure for your rocket and determines the stability. When you have a design that you like, you can switch to the Flight Mode (shown below), where you can launch your rocket and observe its flight trajectory. You can pause at any time to record data and then continue the flight through parachute deploy and recovery. This program has recently (Oct 8, 2004) been upgraded to support stomp rockets, bottle rockets, and ballistic shells in addition to solid model rockets. It also supports both English and metric units.
The purpose of this task is to provide an opportunity for students …
The purpose of this task is to provide an opportunity for students to reason about equivalence of equations. The instruction to give reasons that do not depend on solving the equation is intended to focus attention on the transformation of equations as a deductive step.
Student teams are challenged to evaluate the design of several liquid soaps …
Student teams are challenged to evaluate the design of several liquid soaps to answer the question, “Which soap is the best?” Through two simple teacher class demonstrations and the activity investigation, students learn about surface tension and how it is measured, the properties of surfactants (soaps), and how surfactants change the surface properties of liquids. As they evaluate the engineering design of real-world products (different liquid dish washing soap brands), students see the range of design constraints such as cost, reliability, effectiveness and environmental impact. By investigating the critical micelle concentration of various soaps, students determine which requires less volume to be an effective cleaning agent, factors related to both the cost and environmental impact of the surfactant. By investigating the minimum surface tension of the soap, students determine which dissolves dirt and oil most effectively and thus cleans with the least effort. Students evaluate these competing criteria and make their own determination as to which of five liquid soaps make the “best” soap, giving their own evidence and scientific reasoning. They make the connection between gathered data and the real-world experience in using these liquid soaps.
The purpose of this task is to identify the structure in the …
The purpose of this task is to identify the structure in the two algebraic expressions by interpreting them in terms of a geometric context. Students will have likely seen this type of process before, so the principal source of challenge in this task is to encourage a multitude and variety of approaches, both in terms of the geometric argument and in terms of the algebraic manipulation.
Explore your own straight-line motion using a motion sensor to generate distance …
Explore your own straight-line motion using a motion sensor to generate distance versus time graphs of your own motion. Learn how changes in speed and direction affect the graph, and gain an understanding of how motion can be represented on a graph.
This word problem is based estimating the height of a person over …
This word problem is based estimating the height of a person over time. Note that there is a significant amount of rounding in the final answer. This is because people almost never report their heights more precisely than the closest half-inch. If we assume that the heights reported in the task stem are rounded to the nearest half-inch, then we should report the heights given in the solution at the same level of precision.
Build coin expressions, then exchange them for variable expressions. Simplify and evaluate …
Build coin expressions, then exchange them for variable expressions. Simplify and evaluate expressions until you are ready to test your understanding of equivalent expressions in the game!
Algebra students need practice determining equations of lines given a pair of …
Algebra students need practice determining equations of lines given a pair of points, or the line parallel or perpendicular to a given line through a given point. This Demonstration, along with guiding worksheets or a teacher presentation, gives students a chance to see the relationships between these lines and points.
Solar Cars STEM Kit. The Natural Sciences Education & Outreach Center collaborates …
Solar Cars STEM Kit. 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 for a duration of a week by submitting either a local pickup form or a delivery form available at the linked website. This kit is provided free for educational use. This Kit is available in Spanish.
The typical system of equations or inequalities problem gives the system and …
The typical system of equations or inequalities problem gives the system and asks for the graph of the solution. This task turns the problem around. It gives a solution set and asks for the system that corresponds to it. The purpose of this task is to give students a chance to go beyond the typical problem and make the connections between points in the coordinate plane and solutions to inequalities and equations. Students have to focus on what the graph is showing.
Represent inequalities on a number line. Represent inequalities using interval notation. Use …
Represent inequalities on a number line. Represent inequalities using interval notation. Use the addition and multiplication properties to solve algebraic inequalities and express their solutions graphically and with interval notation. Solve inequalities that contain absolute values. Combine properties of inequalities to isolate variables, solve algebraic inequalities, and express their solutions graphically. Simplify and solve algebraic inequalities using the distributive property to clear parentheses and fractions.
This lesson unit is intended to help teachers assess how well students …
This lesson unit is intended to help teachers assess how well students are able to: solve linear equations in one variable with rational number coefficients; collect like terms; expand expressions using the distributive property; and categorize linear equations in one variable as having one, none, or infinitely many solutions. It also aims to encourage discussion on some common misconceptions about algebra.
This lesson unit is intended to help teachers assess how well students …
This lesson unit is intended to help teachers assess how well students are able to formulate and solve problems using algebra and, in particular, to identify and help students who have the following difficulties: solving a problem using two linear equations with two variables; and interpreting the meaning of algebraic expressions.
This lesson unit is intended to help teachers assess how well students …
This lesson unit is intended to help teachers assess how well students are able to: recognize the differences between equations and identities; substitute numbers into algebraic statements in order to test their validity in special cases; resist common errors when manipulating expressions such as 2(x Đ 3) = 2x Đ 3; (x + 3)_ = x_ + 3_; and carry out correct algebraic manipulations. It also aims to encourage discussion on some common misconceptions about algebra.
In this video segment from Cyberchase, Hacker and the CyberSquad race to …
In this video segment from Cyberchase, Hacker and the CyberSquad race to reach the Good Vibration on staircases that grow at different rates and have steps of varying sizes.
This unit is a multidisciplinary unit created for a high school math …
This unit is a multidisciplinary unit created for a high school math classroom, designed to combine statistics and hydrology. In this unit, students will learn about the water cycle and water budgets within the watershed. The unit starts with learning about basic budgeting in a watershed, comparable to financial budgeting, and expands to creating linear regressions based on the relationship between precipitation, discharge, and evapotranspiration in a watershed system. Students will be able to synthesize the information they learn about the watershed to learn about topics such as graphing points, lines, creating scatterplots, and creating linear regressions for the line of best fit. By teaching statistics through the lens of the watershed, the primary objective is to facilitate active, engaged learners who understand how math can be usefully applied to various contexts in the world around us while gaining a deeper appreciation for the water resources on Earth.
This was designed for a Geometry classroom, but could be modified for Pre-Algebra- Statistics based on student needs and interest level.
This lesson unit is intended to help teachers assess how well students …
This lesson unit is intended to help teachers assess how well students are able to: form and solve linear equations involving factorizing and using the distributive law. In particular, this unit aims to help teachers identify and assist students who have difficulties in: using variables to represent quantities in a real-world or mathematical problem and solving word problems leading to equations of the form px + q = r and p(x + q) = r.
This problem provides students with an opportunity to discover algebraic structure in …
This problem provides students with an opportunity to discover algebraic structure in a geometric context. More specifically, the student will need to divide up the given polygons into triangles and then use the fact that the sum of the angles in each triangle is 180_.
Parts (d) and (e) of this task constitute a very advanced application …
Parts (d) and (e) of this task constitute a very advanced application of the skill of making use of structure: in (d) students are being asked to use the defining property of even and odd functions to manipulate expressions involving function notation. In (e) they are asked to see the structure in the system of two equations involving functions.
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