To conclude their study of the problem solving process and the input/output/store/process model of a computer, students will propose an app designed to solve a real world problem. This project will be completed across multiple days and will result in students creating a poster highlighting the features of their app that they will present to their classmates. A project guide provides step by step instructions for students and helps them organize their thoughts. The project is designed to be completed in pairs though it can be completed individually.

Using a set of symbols in place of code, students will design algorithms to instruct a "robot" to stack cups in different patterns. Students will take turns participating as the robot, responding only to the algorithm defined by their peers. This segment teaches students the connection between symbols and actions, the difference between an algorithm and a program, and the valuable skill of debugging.

Building on the initial "My Robotic Friends" activity, students tackle larger and more complicated designs. In order to program their "robots" to complete these bigger designs, students will need to identify repeated patterns in their instructions that could be replaced with a loop.

This activity has two purposes: challenge the learner to develop a procedure for investigating a research question and to learn more about factors affecting the dynamics of air in motion. It demonstrates that warm air and cold air differ in weight and this difference affects air's vertical movement in the atmospheric column. Resources provided to students for this challenge include a homemade balance beam made of wood, two paper bags, a desk lamp, paper clips, tape and a thermometer. The resource includes background information, teaching tips and questions to guide student discussion. This is the chapter 8 of Meteorology: An Educator's Resource for Inquiry-Based Learning for Grades 5-9. The guide includes a discussion of learning science, the use of inquiry in the classroom, instructions for making simple weather instruments, and more than 20 weather investigations ranging from teacher-centered to guided and open inquiry investigations.

A Career in Sociology was written for introductory undergraduate courses on sociological practice. The book was designed for faculty and students searching for an open educational resource (OER) that provides sociological terms, concepts, and theories in the study of sociological practice. To adapt to the educational needs of individuals using this book, the instructor or learner must understand the underlying content. And, instructional approach may require additional resources and/or other methods to make the learning experience her or his own.

Choose Your Colorado Character. This is the Lesson 2 Understanding Colorado Agriculture activity from Unit 8 Animal Systems, from the DIGS (Developing Individuals, Growing Stewards) AmeriCorps Curriculum from CSU. The curriculum focuses on introducing students in grades 3-5 to Colorado agriculture, industry and environmental issues. The curriculum is matched to State Standards 2021. The curriculum upon request. Visit: https://engagement.colostate.edu/programs-old/developing-individuals-growing-stewards/

The first page of the presentation includes photos of 12 animals. I print this page, cut up the photos, and give a set of photos to each group of students. Working in groups of 2 or 3, the students spend ~10 minutes arranging the photos to depict the evolutionary relationships among the animals. This exercise is followed by 4 clicker questions about relationships that students commonly misconstrue due to convergence or shared primitive features. I use the clicker questions to initiate class discussion of group results. Then we discuss the evidence (anatomy, biochemistry) for current thinking about these relationships. Once we have established a consensus, students are asked to place pictures of a subset of the animals at the tips of the branches on a pre-designed cladogram. The activity gives me insight into students' preconceptions regarding vertebrate phylogeny, encourages students to identify their own misconceptions, promotes peer instruction and highlights problems associated with determining relationships based on shared primitive features. Placing the animals on a pre-designed cladogram allows students to translate their hypothesis about relationships into a visual diagram, an exercise that I hope will help students to extract the phylogenetic hypotheses depicted on cladograms in papers and textbooks. Once we have established a consensus cladogram, students must go one step further and add evidence (synapomorphies) to their cladograms. Students spend ~ 10 minutes brainstorming with their group to place synapormorphies at each node of the diagram. An example is provided for whales and hippos, groups for which the evidence of shared ancestry is difficult to recognize based on the anatomy of living specimens. After adding synapomorphies to their diagrams, students will work together as a class, contributing shared derived features to a group cladogram. If time permits, it would also be possible to complete the exercise with a gallery walk, where each group posts a copy of their cladogram + synapomorphies on the wall for other groups to examine and edit.

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Average inquiry level: Guided inquiry
In this laboratory exercise for introductory geology or environmental science courses, students use data to examine climate change in their local environment. They compare local changes to global data over different time scales. As an assessment, students create an infographic to demonstrate their understanding of how local climate change may affect their region and what people can do to be better prepared. This lab was originally designed for online instruction, but may be used in face-to-face instruction as well.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

Ever look up at the clouds? Sometimes they look like shapes or maybe just spilt milk. During this virtual Read & Seed we will read It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw. Participate in a Movement/Music/Finger Play activity: singing the poem I’m a Little Cloud by Jean Warren, and create a cloud painting. This lesson is aimed at connecting young learners to their natural world and promote school readiness skills. This Read & Seed activity is presented by The Gardens on Spring Creek by the City of Fort Collins. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0fUdm_O2DI

College ESL Writers: Applied Grammar and Composing Strategies for Success is designed as a comprehensive grammar and writing etext for high intermediate and advanced level non-native speakers of English. We open the text with a discussion on the sentence and then break it down into its elemental components, before reconstructing them into effective sentences with paragraphs and larger academic assignments. Following that, we provide instruction in paragraph and essay writing with several opportunities to both review the fundamentals as well as to demonstrate mastery and move on to more challenging assignments.

Colorado BINGO. This is the Lesson 2 Understanding Colorado Agriculture activity, from Unit 1 Introduction to Agriculture, from the DIGS (Developing Individuals, Growing Stewards) AmeriCorps Curriculum from CSU. The curriculum focuses on introducing students in grades 3-5 to Colorado agriculture, industry and environmental issues. The curriculum is matched to State Standards 2021. The curriculum upon request. Visit: https://engagement.colostate.edu/programs-old/developing-individuals-growing-stewards/

Compasses and Codes. This is the Lesson 1 Exposure Activity, from Unit 3 Natural Resources, from the DIGS (Developing Individuals, Growing Stewards) AmeriCorps Curriculum from CSU. The curriculum focuses on introducing students in grades 3-5 to Colorado agriculture, industry and environmental issues. The curriculum upon request. Visit: https://engagement.colostate.edu/programs-old/developing-individuals-growing-stewards/

This is a lesson plan designed for 3rd-5th graders that focuses on the core concepts of robots and what it takes to code them. Students build an understanding of algorithms and how to write a sequence of steps in order to accomplish a task. The lesson plan includes four vocabulary words that are regularly used in the lesson, a group Kahoot game to master these words, and instructions and handouts for a "code your friend" game where students get to pretend to be the robot.

The lesson takes 45 minutes.

Vocabulary:
Algorithm: a list of steps to finish a task
Program: an algorithm that has been coded into something that can be run by a machine
Bug: part of a program that does not work correctly
Debugging: finding and fixing problems in an algorithm or program

Resources (also included in the plan)
Nearpod Presentation
https://share.nearpod.com/qlLTPeI79R
Kahoot Vocab
https://play.kahoot.it/#/k/9d5000e6-5412-4776-8bd8-54a5962ccca1
Stacking Cup Ideas Handout
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nhgt_BfbOmj4lCrcYRC5_QdXsbUbUnNbrMTK9qyFpmE/edit?usp=sharing

Standards:
3-5.DI.2 Develop a simple understanding of an algorithm (e.g., search, sequence of events, or
sorting) using computer-free exercises.

3-5.DI.1 Understand and use the basic steps in algorithmic problem solving (e.g., problem
statement and exploration, examination of sample instances, design, implementation, and
testing).

3-5.CD.2 Understand the pervasiveness of computers and computing in daily life (e.g., voicemail,
downloading videos and audio files, microwave ovens, thermostats, wireless Internet, mobile
computing devices, GPS systems).

The purpose of this course is to cultivate an understanding of modern computing technology through an in-depth study of the interface between hardware and software. The student will study the history of modern computing technology before learning about modern computer architecture, then the recent switch from sequential processing to parallel processing. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: identify important advances that have taken place in the history of modern computing and discuss some of the latest trends in computing industry; explain how programs written in high-level programming language, such as C or Java, can be translated into the language of the hardware; describe the interface between hardware and software and explain how software instructs hardware to accomplish desired functions; demonstrate an understanding of the process of carrying out sequential logic design; demonstrate an understanding of computer arithmetic hardware blocks and floating point representation; explain how a hardware programming language is executed on hardware and how hardware and software design affect performance; demonstrate an understanding of the factors that determine the performance of a program; demonstrate an understanding of the techniques that designers use to improve the performance of programs running on hardware; demonstrate an understanding of the importance of memory hierarchy in computer design and explain how memory design impacts overall hardware performance; demonstrate an understanding of storage and I/O devices, their performance measurement, and redundant array of inexpensive disks (more commonly referred to by the acronym RAID) technology; list the reasons for and the consequences of the recent switch from sequential processing to parallel processing in hardware manufacture and explain the basics of parallel programming. (Computer Science 301)

For all intents and purposes, this show is the fourth edition of the textbook Computer Organization and Design Fundamentals by David Tarnoff. Since the first edition came out in 2005, the PDFs have been made free for download to anyone interested in computer organization. With the trend toward audio and video instructional material, it was time for an update.

The presentation of the material in this series will be similar to that of the original textbook. In the first third, we will discuss the mathematical foundation and design tools that address the digital nature of computers. This will include an introduction to the differences between the physical world and the digital world, how those differences affect the way the computer represents and manipulates data, and the use and design of digital logic and logic gates. In the second third, the fundamentals of the digital logic and design will be used to design common circuits such as binary adders, describe checksums and cyclic redundancy checks, network addressing, storage devices, and state machines. The final third will examine the top-level view of the computer. This will include a discussion of the memory hierarchy and its components, the components of a CPU, and maybe even a discussion of assembly language along with some examples.

Effective and relevant computer science education is essential to achieving our vision that “every student is ready for college, career, and life.” While attention to computer science education has increased in recent years, a lack of awareness about its content and potential impact is widespread. The Washington State Computer Science K–12 Learning Standards are designed to enhance teacher understanding and improve student learning so that students are better equipped for college, career, and life.

Washington is committed to implementing high-quality computer science instruction to:

* Increase the opportunity for all students to gain knowledge of computer science.
* Introduce the fundamental concepts and applications of computer science to all students, beginning at the elementary school level.
* Make computer science at the secondary level accessible, worthy of a computer science credit, and/or equivalent to math and science courses as a required graduation credit (see Level 3B of computer science standards).
* Offer additional secondary-level computer science instruction that allows interested students to study facets of computer science in depth and prepare them for entry into a career or college.

Learning standards describe what students need to know and be able to do. Standards are worded broadly to allow flexibility at the district, building, and classroom levels.

Mathematics instructors at Scottsdale Community College in Scottsdale, Arizona originally created this workbook. Faculty from Housatonic Community College and Middlesex Community College collaborated and edited the book to fit Connecticut’s Intermediate Algebra outcomes. The included content is designed to lead students through Intermediate Algebra, from a functions modeling approach, and to develop a deep understanding of the concepts associated with functions,
data and change. The included curriculum is broken into eleven lessons. Each lesson includes the following components:

MINI-LESSON
• The Mini-Lesson is the main instructional component for each lesson.
• Ideas are introduced with practical applications.
• Worked Examples are provided for each topic in the Mini-Lesson. Read through these examples carefully. Use these as a guide for completing similar problems.
• Media Examples can be worked by watching online videos and taking notes/writing down the problem as written by the instructor. Video links can be found within the MyOpenMath (MOM) Online Homework Assessment System.
• You-Try problems help reinforce Lesson concepts and should be worked in the order they appear showing as much work as possible.

Connecting PST. This is the Lesson 2 Understanding Colorado Agriculture activity, from Unit 2 Power, Structure and Technology, from the DIGS (Developing Individuals, Growing Stewards) AmeriCorps Curriculum from CSU. The curriculum focuses on introducing students in grades 3-5 to Colorado agriculture, industry and environmental issues. The curriculum is matched to State Standards 2021. The curriculum upon request. Visit: https://engagement.colostate.edu/programs-old/developing-individuals-growing-stewards/

This experimental activity is designed to develop a basic understanding of the relationship between temperature and pressure and that a barometer can be constructed to detect this relationship. Resources needed to build a simple barometer include a canning jar with metal lid ring, large balloon, a block of wood, ruler, a nail, wood glue, hammer and a screwdriver. The resource includes background information, teaching tips and questions to guide student discussion. This is chapter 6 of Meteorology: An Educator's Resource for Inquiry-Based Learning for Grades 5-9. The guide includes a discussion of learning science, the use of inquiry in the classroom, instructions for making simple weather instruments, and more than 20 weather investigations ranging from teacher-centered to guided and open inquiry investigations.

Students measuring elevations in a model map area.

Provenance: Lynne Elkins, University of Nebraska at Lincoln
Reuse: This item is offered under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ You may reuse this item for non-commercial purposes as long as you provide attribution and offer any derivative works under a similar license.
This exercise was designed in a department that has some basic support for developing inexpensive classroom equipment in cooperation with a machine shop. The shop built gridded mapping frames to my specifications using a simple aluminum design (a square frame of aluminum with small pins inserted at one-inch intervals). An even simpler DIY design could use thin but sturdy pieces of wood to create a wooden frame, with steel nails. My initial design called for 2'x2' frames, which turned out to be too large: mapping a 4 sq. ft. space at 1-inch resolution took more than a standard lab period for most students to complete. The attached exercise instructs students to use a smaller portion of the mapping grid; this can be revised for different size grids. Another issue to be aware of when designing mapping grid frames is whether to label the spaces with letters and numbers (as is done on many maps and was thus my original thinking) or to label the lines between the spaces, which is easier for data collection.


At the start of the lab, I typically give my students a few ground rules: they should avoid extremely flat areas, because the elevation rounding they are likely to do will make contouring them very difficult; their highest point should be at least 2 inches and not more than 4-5 inches high; they may not have vertical walls or overhangs (and should really keep the slopes less than 60-70�� at their steepest); the table surface is sea level with zero elevation; and most of their model area must be mappable land (not ocean, i.e. bare table). I give them large sheets of wax paper to construct the model on, for easy cleanup. I also provide large sheets of 1" grid paper so they can create a 1:1 map of their model (and I impose a scale calculation later for the model), and remind them several times not to invert the map labels when setting up their map grid. Typically this is all they need to know to begin creating and mapping a landscape. The mapping tools are pieces of string (to string across the pins on the mapping frames and position the grid points) and wooden skewers labeled with quarter-inch markings.


After an initial attempt to make the playdough for this lab, my department opted to purchase 6-lb. tubs of commercial playdough. It is ultimately relatively inexpensive because it is reusable almost indefinitely, as long as it is stored tightly sealed (we use zip-loc bags inside the commercial containers) and occasionally spritzed with water--once a year usually works fine for keeping it hydrated for storage over the rest of the year, but that may vary with climate and frequency of use. Typically I walk around while they are getting started and make commentary on their landscapes, and then when there are no further questions I go to the board and create an example data set and contour map. While a photocopied paper example map would accomplish the same thing, this approach lets me tailor my examples to what I see they are doing (e.g., including circular depressions, saddles, or ridges). I also have handy and frequently refer the students to USGS quads from around the country when they are mapping, e.g. a very flat quad with depressions in central Florida and a very steep quad from the Grand Canyon.


When they are mapping, I typically advise them to 1) sketch in the shoreline around their zero-elevation values by comparing to the model, 2) add major peaks between grid lines as needed, and 3) map from the highest parts of their map area downward. I also discourage contour intervals smaller than 1/2-inch, particularly when their model contains flat terrain. Many students want to be more precise, and if they have estimated depths to the nearest 1/8-inch it is possible to contour at 1/4-inch intervals, but typically their rounded measurements in flat areas make this quite tricky. It often is necessary for me (and/or TAs) to walk around and give them advice in places they are stuck and remind them how contours work.


Making the profile is usually very quick. The graph provided would need to be adjusted/replaced for different size mapping grids, but works well for a grid that runs from A to O on one side and from 1 to 10+ on the other.


If they are kept on task everyone except the most cautious or disorganized groups can typically finish elevation measurements for about 2 sq. ft. of map area within 1.5 hours. With an introductory spiel, that leaves about an hour for finishing most of the contouring and transferring data for the profile. Faster groups will probably finish all the final details but are well-advised to take the lab home to double check the details. Slower groups may finish coloring and looking at the local topo map on their own. Longer lab periods would permit a more detailed study of the local USGS maps and/or a larger model size--this was written for a 3-hour lab period.

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