These are homework exercises to accompany Kaiser's "Microbiology" TextMap. Microbiology is the …
These are homework exercises to accompany Kaiser's "Microbiology" TextMap. Microbiology is the study of microorganisms, which are defined as any microscopic organism that comprises either a single cell (unicellular), cell clusters or no cell at all (acellular). This includes eukaryotes, such as fungi and protists, and prokaryotes. Viruses and prions, though not strictly classed as living organisms, are also studied.
This is a series of 5 assignments I assign outside of class …
This is a series of 5 assignments I assign outside of class time, with the purpose of getting students to explore the literature resources that are available for mineralogy. The inspiration for the exercises comes from my exasperation with the repeated questions: "Why do we have to know so many minerals?" and "What about these minerals do we have to know?" Rather than saying "Everything that is important," I hope to show students that what they need to know depends on what questions they hope to answer, and that mineralogy developed in historical context, parallel with other sciences.
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Students read a short paper from the scientific literature on a narrowly …
Students read a short paper from the scientific literature on a narrowly focused mineralogical topic. Reading is guided by a 1-page set of questions and tasks, arranged in sequence with the paper, that make students look at the details of data, arguments, and conclusions. The tangible result is properly answered questions and typically some graphs, but the student gains a less tangible improved understanding of how to read scientific papers in general and an improved understanding of that particular paper in particular.
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1. Instructor identifies an appropriate number of key dates in the Precambrian …
1. Instructor identifies an appropriate number of key dates in the Precambrian to investigate. 2. Students break into groups (method to be determined by instructor) and each group will be assigned a particular time in the Precambrian (one author likes to have groups draw assignments out of hat!). 3. Students investigate their time period using appropriate source materials (we suggest the class notes, textbook and perhaps supplementary materials identified in the form of popular articles (e.g., Scientific American, Smithsonian, National Geographic, etc.) or websites. Questions
Using your prior knowledge of your time period, what scientific equipment might you want to take with you? What will you experience on your time travels? Is there a place to land? What is the temperature? Can you breathe the atmosphere? Do you need a life support system? What is the atmosphere composed of? Is there any water? What is its phase? Can you drink it? Do you see any life, or evidence of its presence? How would you recognize the life? What life do you expect to observe or not observe, and why? What questions were you able to answer with your trip? What questions were you unable to answer? What aspects of the environment at this time most surprised or stuck you?
4. Group presentation a) Create a very simple PowerPoint presentation (10 minutes) for the class. b) Each group member must present part of the information.
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The Externalities Game is a non-cooperative game that teaches students about the …
The Externalities Game is a non-cooperative game that teaches students about the concept of environmental externalities and allows them to directly experience the moral dimensions of collective action problems. It has been particularly effective for teaching students about the moral aspects of the climate change. Grades are used to create the tension between earning individual grade points at the expense of group benefit. This is part of a research project funded by the National Science Foundation.
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The classic physical optics textbook approach to double-refraction starts from Huyghens constructions …
The classic physical optics textbook approach to double-refraction starts from Huyghens constructions of wave fronts and from the optical indicatrix. Optical indicatrices are useful for a systematic description of optical properties in crystals, but students do not usually consider them an easy subject, and, therefore, shy away from optical crystallography. This is unfortunate since a basic understanding of optical crystallography is prerequisite to a correct interpretation of phenomena observed with the polarizing microscope, the most commonly used tool for the detailed study of rocks. Generally, students are comfortable with simple optical terms like reflection and refraction, while it is uncommon that they actually have seen double-refraction and noticed that crystals polarize light. Many have an unnecessarily complicated idea about vibration directions, interference colors, and interference figures; they assume such phenomena always require a microscope to observe. This is not so. Students well trained in thin section microscopy are often surprised that interference figures can be made visible macroscopically. The purpose of the experiments below is to impart an intuitive understanding of the interaction between light and crystals and, thus, of optical crystallography. This will help to demystify what is seen in the polarizing microscope, and will better prepare the student for the introduction of optical indicatrices as 3-D models to describe the directional dependence of light velocities, and thus refractive indices in anisotropic crystals.
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In this experiment, students use a solar cooker to model the greenhouse …
In this experiment, students use a solar cooker to model the greenhouse effect. Students collect, track, and compare data including insolation, ambient temperature, and water temperature with various instruments such as a pyranometer, thermometers, and temperature probes. They also develop their own experiments (incorporating set up, controls, data collection and presentation) to examine the strength of ultraviolet radiation from the sun with various protective materials using uv-sensitive beads. They must then analyze the data, finding correlations and conclusions, and determine the best way to present the results (tables, graphs, write-up).
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This activity is designed to do a number of things. Topically, the …
This activity is designed to do a number of things. Topically, the exercise provides the students with the chance to examine the data from which the diversity curve of marine invertebrates has been constructed. The trends that the students notice both in the overall diversity and which fossil groups are making it up segue into the organismal half of the course. Analytically, the exercise gives students practice with online databases, spreadsheet analysis and display, and hypothesis testing as they compare the diversity histories of different groups.
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Students conduct a regional seismic hazard analysis of a region of the …
Students conduct a regional seismic hazard analysis of a region of the United States of their choosing*. Using on-line data, they bring together and investigate the interaction of multiple types of data [ground motion (measured by GPS from UNAVCO), historical earthquake data and fault data] to associate rates of deformation and earthquake activity with hazard potential. Students would develop an assessment of seismic hazard potential. This project also introduces the idea of fault loading and qualitative earthquake interaction.
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In this unit, students wonder about the physical drivers of ocean movement, …
In this unit, students wonder about the physical drivers of ocean movement, explore density differences, and take a look at some tiny creatures who struggle to keep their place in the water column in the midst of all that ocean motion. Each unit of the Explore the Salish Sea curriculum contains a detailed unit plan, a slideshow, student journal, and assessments. All elements are adaptable and can be tailored to your local community.
This activity has students work together to summarize regional effects of climate …
This activity has students work together to summarize regional effects of climate change and other environmental issues, which a focus on how these issues may influence agriculture and water availability. Students present a region to the group and create a layperson summary of the effects of climate change and other environmental change on their region.
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Each student will load a database file into ArcGIS software during the …
Each student will load a database file into ArcGIS software during the class period. Following the written instructions, each student will work through various steps necessary to analyze the earthquake hazards. Uses online and/or real-time data Addresses student fear of quantitative aspect and/or inadequate quantitative skills
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Students learn far more from doing than from viewing. By seeing relationships …
Students learn far more from doing than from viewing. By seeing relationships that they have developed themselves, by diagraming those relationships themselves, students learn far more than merely reading over what someone else has done. It is argued that especially for the dynamic problems encountered in environmental and resource economics, Excel has a comparative advantage as a learning aid. We develop a simple, flexible Excel assignment to illustrate the Brander and Taylor (1998) model of the Easter Island economy. Brander and Taylor argue that on Easter Island a crucial natural resource, the island's palm forest, was an open-access (res nullius) resource, leading to over harvesting and eventual societal collapse. Brander and Taylor's simple model showing the interaction of human population with a renewable resource, a forest, mimics what is known about the human population and forest from archaeological evidence.
The open access institutional protection of renewable resources is illustrated by a simple diagram of population and resource stock over centuries, a model much like ordinary predator-prey models in biology. Variations on the basic Brander and Taylor model, such as changes in propoerty rights institutions and/or changes in technology, based on published work in the literature, can be explored and compared to the original Brander and Taylor results of boom and eventual collapse.
Brander, J.A. and M.S. Taylor (1998). The simple economics of Easter Island: A Ricardo -- Malthus model of renewable resource use. American Economic Review
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In this introductory-level lab activity, students first view a 20-minute portion of …
In this introductory-level lab activity, students first view a 20-minute portion of an informative video to learn about the operation of an array of moored buoys that is used to detect changes in the El Ni��o Southern Oscillation (El Ni��o, "normal", and La Ni��a conditions)in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. Students then directly access, display, and work with recent and present data collected from the buoy system using the Tropical Atmosphere Ocean project website. Finally, students examine data from a coral geochemical record to infer past ENSO events.
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This activity requires students to explore a range of datasets that help …
This activity requires students to explore a range of datasets that help substantiate Plate Tectonic Theory. Students investigate plate tectonic environments (convergent, divergent, transform boundaries), topography/bathymetry of continents and ocean basins, the distribution and pattern of earthquakes, the distribution of volcanoes, as well as ages of the sea-floor, and more.
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Average inquiry level: Structured This groundwater lab is designed for online, asynchronous …
Average inquiry level: Structured This groundwater lab is designed for online, asynchronous instruction and uses Google slides (or Powerpoint) so student can use the draw features. Within this lab, students will:
Evaluate and conclude the seasonal and annual trends of the water table from data monitored groundwater wells; Predict and assess the permeability and porosity of different substrates and rocks;�� Create a contour map and cross-section of the water table given data from multiple wells and draw the flow direction of water; Predict and communicate the changes of the water table that could occur in response to different water-related scenarios; Determine solutions for an area experiencing groundwater problems.
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Students are asked to keep a food diary for 24 hours and …
Students are asked to keep a food diary for 24 hours and then asked to analyze the products they consumed in terms of the ocean resources needed to make and deliver that product. This assignment was designed to help develop ocean literacy for students learning oceanography in a landlock classroom.
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Students apply the main research methods in sociology to explore their personal …
Students apply the main research methods in sociology to explore their personal footprints (i.e., the global consequences of their individual actions).
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This 4-H project book includes a series of eight activities, focused on …
This 4-H project book includes a series of eight activities, focused on polar science, that youth can complete with an parent or mentor. Each activity includes a hands-on component and options for communication. The activities featured are appropriate for use outside of 4-H, for instance in science classrooms, with after school programs, or during enrichment camps. Each activity includes links to supplemental materials to extend learning.
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