One video clip, with embedded graphs, can be used to help students understand the mathematical relationships that describe simple harmonic motion.
This exercise contains two interrelated modules that introduce students to modern biological techniques in the area of Bioinformatics, which is the application of computer technology to the management of biological information. The need for Bioinformatics has arisen from the recent explosion of publicly available genomic information, such as that resulting from the Human Genome Project.
The Coke vs. Pepsi Taste Test Challenge has students design and carry out an experiment to determine whether or not students are able to correctly identify two brands of cola in a blind taste test. In the first stage of the activity students design and conduct the experiment. In the second part of the activity students use Sampling SIM software (freely downloadable from http://www.tc.umn.edu/~delma001/stat_tools/) to simulate and gather information on what would be expected under chance conditions (i.e., if students obtained correct answers only by guessing). The students then compare the observed results to the chance results and make an inference about whether a given student can in fact correctly identify Coke and Pepsi in a blind taste test. Finally, the experiment is critiqued in terms of how well it met the standards for a good experiment. This activity allows students to gain a better understanding of the experimental process and causality through considering control, random assignment, and possible confounding variables. The activity also allows students to begin to understand the process of hypothesis testing by comparing their observed results of the taste test to the results obtained through Sampling SIM (which model would be obtained by chance). Students make an inference about whether particular students in their class can truly tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi by reasoning about how surprising the observed results are compared to the simulated distribution of correct identifications by guessing. The activity also provides an opportunity for discussing generalizability to a population.
Carbon calculators, no matter how well intended as tools to help measure energy footprints, tend to be black boxes and can produce wildly different results, depending on the calculations used to weigh various energy factors. By comparing different calculators, learners can analyze which ones are the most accurate and relevant, and which are the most transparent.
Students analyze video clips of kids rolling down a hill on skates, scooters, and bikes to determine whether mechanical energy is conserved.
A high speed video clip of a roller coaster is used as an example of conservation of mechanical energy. Students use the video to determine whether mechanical energy is conserved while the roller coaster rolls up, and then back down a hil.
For this experiment, students use a DC motor as a generator and various shaped turbine designs to test which design produces the most electrical power. Using a fan to generate the "wind", students attach different blades made of folded paper or card stock to the motor to see how much power is generated.
ELL students create and share a botanic field guide incorporating depiction, measurement, description, and classification of common Minnesota trees, shrubs, wildflowers, and plants.
An activity designed to enable the students to access the impact of oil-development on environmentin Alaska. Students will draw conclusion based on various data and reading various views.
In this computer lab, students use satellite imagery, daylength information, and phytoplankton physiology models to calculate annual primary production for an assigned ocean region.Satellite data is obtained from the NASA Earth Observation website. Students use the analysis tool to determine chlorophyll concentration and sea surface temperature. They also receive a day-length calculator and are asked to model light transmission through the water column. Using step-by-step instructions and proviede equations relating phytoplankton physiology to irradiance and temperature students calculate carbon uptake at discreet locations in the water column. The second half of the exercise involves scaling up to the entire water column, region, and season. Students present their work to the class and evaluate their result using scientific literature. Differences between regions are then discussed by the class.
Students will discover their personal political leanings through a website and express their opinion on their perceived accuracy of those findings
In this activity, students are split into groups and assigned different ocean regions. These include the Arabian Sea, Equatorial Pacific, North Atantic, and Southern Ocean. Each group uses Google Earth to view NASA satellite chlorophyll imagery and the cruise track of data collected as part of the U.S. Joint Global Ocean Flux Study. At three locations along each cruise track, chlorophyll-temperature-depth (CTD) and bottle data collected as part of the study can be downloaded. Students work with the data to identify oceanographic features as a function of depth and then make simple calculations.
Students analyze data on temperature and precipitation collected from 26 different Long Term Ecological Research sites and compare them with annual net primary productivity. The students then form an ecological rule to explain their results.
Students learn to determine the velocity of moving objects by doing simple analysis of video clips.
In this activity, we will explore how the dosage and frequency of a medicine taken affect the amount of medicine present in the blood.
This assignment walks students through the creation of an Excel spreadsheet, step by step. It includes numerical fills via copy, creation of fixed and relative formulas, formula fill via copy, and some summary functions.
This assignment uses a computer simulation of fruit fly genetics to have students design and interpret monohybrid crosses of a trait with simple dominant and recessive alleles. Detailed instructions with animated examples, background material, a sample report and a rubric are included.
In this activity, students are assigned different alleles of the gene for phenylalanine hydroxylase to research using OMIM (Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man). They are then asked to both explain and illustrate how this mutation may cause the disease phenylketonuria (PKU).
This learning experience introduces participants to scientific inquiry, hypothesis formation, experimental design, data analysis, and interpretation.
In this activity students explore the evolution of proteins by comparing 2D and 3D alignments of orthologs and paralogs.