This activity is an introduction to setting up a composting worm bin in the classroom. It is part of a yearlong study on the interaction and influences that living system have on each other.
In this field exploration, student teams (consisting of 3 students) will investigate whetherincandescent, fluorescent or a no light situation will attract the most nocturnal insects.
Dissect an owl pellet to learn more about what they eat. Activity from Weekly STEM in a Bag. Colorado Americorp agents in Araphahoe, Denver, Garfield, Larimer, and Weld Counties. Work supported by the Corporation for National and Community Service under Americorps grant number 18AFHCO0010008. Opinions or points of view expressed in this lesson are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of or a position that is endorsed by the Corporation or the Americorps program. This resource is also available in Spanish in the linked file.
In this video, a team of paleontologists, paleobotanists, soil scientists, and other researchers take to the field in Wyoming's Bighorn Basin to document how the climate, plants, and animals there changed during the Paleocene- Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). During this time a sudden, enormous influx of carbon flooded the ocean and atmosphere for reasons that are still unclear to scientists. The PETM is used as an analog to the current warming. The scientists' research may help inform our understanding of current increases in carbon in the atmosphere and ocean and the resulting impact on ecosystems.
Students use the procedure outlined by Casey Hermoyian and colleagues (2002) to test whether competition played a role in structuring a strophomenid brachiopod community in the Middle Devonian Onondaga limestone of western New York. It is not necessary to use these particular brachiopods; brachs from other localities, ages, and species could work, too, if chosen well. Students sort through a collection of brachiopods, separating them into groups of species defined by mutual agreement. They then use measurements of the commissure length to test two predictions made by Robert MacArthur's (1972) theory of how Hutchinson's (1959) niche partitioning would be evidenced: nonoverlapping resource use among former competitors but with very little distance between them. Students graph results, calculate ratio sums of their measurements and z statistics to test whether their results are significant. Finally, students prepare a conference-type abstract based on their results. The activity gives students practice in observing differences among groups, measurement, graphing, statistical calculation, synthesizing results, and clear presentation of their synthesis. Students also practice group and individual work in this exercise.
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In this activity, students divide into groups of 4-5, choose a hypothesis relating to escalation, and fine-tune it for testing-- using bulk sampled material from the local Yorktown Formation (Pliocene). They select a study organism on which to focus, develop a sampling regime, and decide on approaches to data collection and analyses. As students collect and analyze data, I rotate around the classroom discussing hypotheses, answering questions, and assessing their progress. Students finish the data collection, analyses, and interpretation in class (or lab), then write up the results outside of class.
Students enjoy the activity because:
(1) it is essentially a mini research project-- including developing a hypothesis, collecting data, analyzing and interpreting data, and presenting it (either in writing or orally)
(2) it emphasizes the concept that paleontology can be a hypothesis-driven science,
(3) it provides students with additional experience applying a variety of basic statistical tests (e.g., t-tests, ANOVA, chi-square, regression)
and (4) it includes lots of hands-on experience with fossils.
The activity can be designed as either a lecture or lab activity, and can easily be expanded to include a field component (bulk sampling), additional lab component (sorting and identifying fossils), and/or oral presentation component.
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Students are provided with a dinosaur article from a popular magazine (e.g. Discover or Natural History) or the journal Science. Their task is to dissect the article distinguishing
evidence from interpretation. They need to recognize the various hypotheses presented and also evaluate the strength of these ideas. Then during classroom discussion, they explore the implications of their dissections. For example they would address some of the following questions: Are other interpretations possible? Where have the authors over interpreted the evidence? What are the strongest interpretations? How could the ideas be further tested?
What type of evidence would be sufficient to falsify or further support the interpretations
of the papers?
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Oceans play a significant role in determining and moderating the effects of energy imbalances. Students will begin this lesson by working with temperature data to reinforce the importance of protocols, practice computing statistical measures of data and interpreting their significance. The lesson continues with investigations into daily and annual energy cycles. Using a sea surface environment visualizer, students then identify patterns of sea surface current and temperature data. Note that this is lesson five of five on the Ocean Motion website. Each lesson investigates ocean surface circulation using satellite and model data and can be done independently. See Related URL's for links to the Ocean Motion Website that provide science background information, data resources, teacher material, student guides and a lesson matrix.
In this activity, students will learn how water can be polluted by algal blooms. They will grow algae with different concentrations of fertilizer or nutrients and analyze their results as environmental engineers working to protect a local water resource.
This collection of learning activities allows students to explore phenology, phenological changes over time, and how these changes fit into the larger context of climate change. Students explore patterns of solar radiation and seasons as well as phenological cycles and ecological affects of these patterns.
In this module, students will practice answering a specific question about how climate change has affected the flowering date in American elm trees. After students learn to manipulate the elm data set, build graphs, and analyze the data with a regression, they can then practice on a species of their own interest. Students can then share their species' information with the class for a larger discussion about what types of species may be affected by climate change.
Students explore the life of pikas, tiny mammals that live in alpine areas, and how they are being impacted by climate change. After a brief introduction which includes a reading, a short video, and a story that includes a mathematical model, students engage in a kinesthetic simulation to gain first-hand experience of life as a pika and how the animals can be impacted by shrinking habitat. Students then create line graphs with data from the simulation and analyze them.
Piscinas Anquialinas Equipo STEM. Este equipo proporciona recursos para socios del Parque Histórico Nacional Kaloko-Honokōhau en Hawái. El equipo incluye referencias al idioma nativo hawaiano y la ecología con una entrevista con el tío Fred Cachola, un ambientalista local. El Centro de Extensión y Educación en Ciencias Naturales colabora con la facultad de CSU, los Parques Nacionales y los programas de ciencia ciudadana para traducir su investigación científica actual en experiencias STEM únicas para los estudiantes en forma de kits educativos que se pueden prestar. Cada kit contiene casi todos los materiales necesarios (menos cosas comunes como agua y toallas de papel) para explorar algunos temas de investigación científica realmente interesantes. enviando un formulario de recogida local o un formulario de entrega disponible en el sitio web vinculado. Utilice la información de contacto en la página de descripción general del kit STEM para obtener más información. https://www.cns-eoc.colostate.edu/stem-kits/ Este kit se proporciona de forma gratuita para uso educativo.
Plankton to Plastic Pollution 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. Please use the contact information on the STEM Kit overview page to learn more. https://www.cns-eoc.colostate.edu/stem-kits/ This kit is provided free for educational use. This resource is also available in Spanish in the linked file.
In this media-rich, self-paced lesson, students explore the industries that produce and rely on advanced technology and assess how their goals and interests may make them well suited for a career in this cutting-edge sector.
Create a poster showing the anatomy of a plant. Also learn how a plant's stem works by adding food color droplets to a flower to look for a color change. Activity from Weekly STEM in a Bag. Colorado Americorp agents in Araphahoe, Denver, Garfield, Larimer, and Weld Counties. Work supported by the Corporation for National and Community Service under Americorps grant number 18AFHCO0010008. Opinions or points of view expressed in this lesson are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of or a position that is endorsed by the Corporation or the Americorps program. This resource is also available in Spanish in the linked file.
The unit is designed to be completed in six or more sessions. The comprehensive curriculum materials contain information for teachers, including activity tips and an overview of the many varied reasons that plant life flourishes in one plot but not another. Students speculate on why plants are more abundant in some areas of the site than others. They list factors that might account for the differences, such as temperature, humidity, light, soil, rainfall, wind, and human or animal activity, and figure out how they can collect more data on these factors. They discuss why it might be important to take a count of all the individual plants in each plot and develop a plan for conducting the field study. A reading selection describes how scientists count plants and gives students tips for conducting their own survey. Students then count plants and record their data. Several optional activities are provided.
This list of 12 investigative questions is designed to help students observe how insects interact with plants in their habitat. The one-page printable PDF list includes questions about the insect behavior and the plant characteristics.
Plant water relations are presented in this learning activity to help participants understand the components of water potential, explain how water moves through plants, provide examples of plant adaptations to water stress, and have a general understanding of how water potential can be measured.
Earth contains a variety of plants to provide food, medicine and, most importantly, energy sources for humans. In this lesson, students will categorize plants by their components and shapes. Additionally, they will learn the mechanisms behind the making of medicines and bio-fuels. It is important that the students have prior knowledge of the plant cell structures and functions. The video duration is 21 minutes, during which the students will use skills such as classification and experimentation. The students must therefore be supplied with various samples of plants. In Arabic with English subtitles.