Students compare their own tap water use in light of global freshwater access to develop an understanding of water security. They learn how watersheds work, locate their local watershed, then turn their attention to the importance of Mount Everest’s watershed and the people who rely on it. They use a variety of resources to learn about key sources of freshwater. Finally, students collect evidence connecting Mount Everest’s ice to water security by exploring maps, analyzing graphs and infographics, reading articles, and more. This lesson is part of the Peak Water: Mount Everest and Global Water Supply unit.
Join Chris and Martin as they explore the ability of the Diamondback rattlesnake to detect its prey by seeing their body heat. Viewers learn that the Diamondback uses its pit organs as heat-detectors to find their warm-blooded prey.
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Scientists are always working to better understand the world. They use the scientific method to help them. The scientific method includes making observations, developing hypotheses, designing experiments, collecting data, and then drawing conclusions.
The classroom resource provides a video that will introduce students to the scientific method and experimentation. There is a karaoke song that students can learn to help them remember the steps in the scientific method. Students can use the information presented in this video to follow the scientific method as they plan their own investigations. There is also a short test that can be used to assess students' understanding.
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In this lesson, students will help design an experiment to see if adding energy (heating) affects the rate of evaporation. Students will look at molecular animations to help explain why heating water increases the rate of evaporation. Students will be introduced to a more detailed model of the water molecule. Students will create 3-D Styrofoam models of water molecules.
Students will be able to identify and control variables to design a test to see if heating water affects the rate of evaporation. Students will be able to explain, on the molecular level, why adding energy increases the rate of evaporation.
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During this lesson, students will observe and record the various effects of different durations of light on plants. Students will additionally be able to understand the common misconception that constant light on plants will result in constant growth of the plant.
This lesson was created as part of the 2016 NASA STEM Standards of Practice Project, a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.
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Steve Trash teaches kids about science with fun and magic. The show is filmed in Alabama
Join Steve Trash for a deep dive into the world of plants. Learn what goes on inside plants, how they turn sunlight into energy, and why they are SO important. After that, explore how sound moves from one place to another as Steve demonstrates the secrets of sound waves.
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This lesson may be taught as part of the Unit Plan - Solutions to Lessen Human Impact on the Environment. In this lesson, students will explore solutions that would lessen the human impact on the environment. After reading, The Lorax by Dr. Suess, students will discuss ways they can help their environment through the 3R's (reduce, reuse, recycle). Students will create a reduce, reuse, recycle chart from their discussion.
This unit was created as part of the ALEX Interdisciplinary Resource Development.
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Most people have heard Earth referred to as "the water planet." With that name comes the rightful image of a world with plentiful water. In photographs taken from space, we can see that our planet has more water than land. However, of all the water on Earth, more than 99 percent of Earth's water is unusable by humans and many other living things - only about 0.3 percent of our freshwater is found in the surface water of lakes, rivers, and swamps. The teacher guide describes our current understanding of water cycling and freshwater issues that affect natural and human communities.
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The cells of plants include several parts, such as the cell body, cytoplasm, mitochondria, nucleus, vacuole, cell membrane, cell wall, and chloroplasts. Only plant cells have plant walls and chloroplasts.
The classroom resource provides a slide show that will describe the structures of a plant cell. In addition, there is a sing-along video that students can perform karaoke-style that will help them remember the different structures. After utilizing these two resources, the students can complete the short test to assess their understanding.
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In this audio clip, students ask the question: Does air have weight? This is a great clip to engage students in a discussion on mass and density.
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In this lesson, students will observe several phenomena related to the polarity of water molecules. They will observe a demonstration of a paper clip being placed on the surface of the water. Students will place drops of water in an already-filled test tube and on the surface of a penny. They will compare the way water behaves with the less polar liquid isopropyl alcohol and will see how detergent affects water’s surface tension. Students will relate these observations to an explanation of surface tension at the molecular level.
Students will be able to explain, on the molecular level, the effects of polarity on water’s surface tension.
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Students will participate in a discussion of the Moon´s habitability. The students will create a plan for the design and creation of a self-sustaining ecosystem within a lunar station.
This lesson was created as part of the 2016 NASA STEM Standards of Practice Project, a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.
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The students will participate in aerobic and anaerobic exercises. They will record their heart rates before and after the exercises and record the data. They will evaluate their body’s responses to the exercises and analyze the differences in how they feel in each round. The students will be able to easily explain why they would categorize the exercises into aerobic or anaerobic types and explain how the exercise affected their cardiovascular system.
This learning activity was created as a result of the Girls Engaged in Math and Science (GEMS) Resource Development Project, in partnership with Dothan City Schools.
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Students will observe how potential and kinetic energy relate to the transfer of energy from one marble to another when they collide. Students will introduce different variables (mass and height) and investigate the transfer of potential and kinetic energy in a sled collision online simulation. Students will build a ramp, test it, and measure the distance their cars travel caused by the collision. Students will create a presentation to share their findings with the class.
This lesson results from the ALEX Resource Gap Project
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India is home to endangered wildlife like the Asian elephant, tiger, and leopard and approximately 1.3 billion people. Use this set of ideas to engage your classroom in learning about biodiversity and conservation challenges and efforts in India.
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Animal cells have many functions that support the life of the animal. Animal cells also have lots of different parts, including the cell body, cytoplasm, mitochondria, nucleus, vacuole, and cell membrane.
The classroom resource provides a slide show that will describe the structures of an animal cell. After utilizing this resource, the students can complete the short test to assess their understanding.
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In this interactive lesson, students enjoy zaps, flashes, and bad hair days as they read together with a Gray Crowned Crane about static electricity. Learn to use images when reading to help clarify meaning and improve understanding of an informational text.
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In this lesson, the teacher models and describes the kinds of information students will be looking for in their research project on a synthetic product. This is done by using an example of a synthetic product that students make in the classroom: a gel worm (not for eating.) Students make it by combining a sodium alginate solution with a calcium chloride solution. The teacher uses this product to model answers to the three questions students need to answer in their research:
- What natural resources are used to make the synthetic product?
- What chemical processes are used to make the synthetic product?
- What are the negative and positive impacts to society of making and using the synthetic product, compared to making and using a more natural product with a similar function?
Students choose or are assigned a synthetic product to research. They investigate the product to answer the three questions. Students apply their learning to make an advertisement, poster, short video, or article about their synthetic product.
Students will be able to find and analyze information to describe that chemical processes are used to convert natural resources into synthetic materials and products. They will also be able to give examples of how the production of synthetic products has impacts, both positive and negative, on society.
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Students will develop a scale model of the sun, Earth, and moon system based on a one-meter sun. Students will first interact with a technology-based scaled model and view a video clip on scaling the solar system. Students will then scale the diameter of the Earth and moon, as well as the distance from the Earth to the sun, and from the Earth to moon. Students will be required to utilize mathematical skills, such as division, rounding, and metric system conversions. After scaling the diameters and distances, students will create the scaled model.
This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.
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In this learning experience, students will gather information on an index card during a gallery walk to distinguish between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Students will describe the characteristics and structures unique to prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Additionally, students will explain the visual representations of different cells and determine whether they are prokaryotic or eukaryotic.
This learning activity was created as a result of the ALEX - Alabama Virtual Library (AVL) Resource Development Summit.
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This is an inquiry-based lesson that allows students to investigate different ways animals receive information through the senses, process that information, and respond to it. Students will place earthworms in a lighted area and see if they move toward a dark environment or stay in the lighted environment. Students will observe the behavior of the earthworms and use data from the investigation to conclude how an earthworm uses its senses to affect its behavior.
This lesson results from the ALEX Resource Gap Project.
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In this activity, students make a meerkat model while identifying unique body characteristics. Students learn how adaptations are crucial to a meerkat's survival.
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Humans and animals share some common features. We use our eyes to see, our nose to smell, and our ears to hear. Animals use those same features to help them survive by finding food and sense danger. A Tail Like This will help children learn more about the features of a few common animals they may see every day.
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In this Martha Speaks interactive story students discover how plants and animals depend on each other in an ecosystem. Fallen leaves decay; earthworms eat the leaves and fertilize the dirt. Then trees use the fertilized soil to grow. When used as a part of Martha’s True Stories Buddies Program, buddy pairs engage with the interactive story and then talk and write as they draw a habitat they have seen that includes an ecosystem. To familiarize yourself with the program, begin by reading the Martha's True Stories Buddies Program: Overview.
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ReadWorks Digital provides free reading resources on many different topics. In this learning activity, students will read about different bridges around the world to compare and contrast materials used. Students will then use one material to create three different bridges based off of the bridges they read about in the text.
This learning activity was created as a result of the Girls Engaged in Math and Science University, GEMS-U Project.
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In the urban dictionary, “on fleek” is currently a popular slang term that describes something that is “flawlessly styled or groomed.” In this lesson, the students will explore the concept of evolution by using their engineering skills to “build” various bird beaks that are “flawlessly styled,” or “on fleek,” for capturing different types of food. Finally, the students will use argument-driven inquiry to design an experiment and use claim, evidence, and reasoning to justify which “bird” is best adapted to survive during conditions of limited resources.
This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.
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Students may observe and describe the phases of the moon using this online tool. Furthermore, they may select their ZIP code and month to see the phases of the moon in their own location. By returning to the site’s homepage, students may learn more about these predicted moon phases.
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The teacher will present an informational text from the website, ReadWorks. Students will interact with this non-fiction text by annotating the text digitally. The students will answer the questions associated with the article as an assessment. This learning activity can introduce students to the concept of constructive and destructive forces on Earth's surface, serve as reinforcement after students have already learned this concept, or be used as an assessment at the conclusion of a lesson.
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In this video, Dr. Shini discusses centripetal force, centrifugal force, and a few other bits of physics to help us understand uniform circular motion.
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Ecosystems are constantly going through gradual changes. Sometimes those changes are natural, and sometimes they are caused by humans.
The classroom resource provides a video that will describe how ecosystems can change over time due to natural and human activity. There is also a short test that can be used to assess students' understanding.
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In this lesson, students learn about the life cycle of plants by watching a time-lapse video. This activity provides students with further evidence that all living things grow and change as they progress through their life cycle. Two optional video segments show students how to set up a germination experiment and how to grow seeds they collect on their socks.
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Students and teacher collaboratively collect and organize data on the length of days throughout the year and analyze patterns that they see. Students and teacher will create a digital spreadsheet and a connected chart in order to reflect and make observations while analyzing the data represented in chart format.
This activity was created as a result of the DLCS COS Resource Development Summit.
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This lesson is the first part of a series of lessons based on Newton's Three Laws of Motion. This lesson introduces the laws and specifically centers on developing a video as a model for students to demonstrate and explain Newton's First Law of Motion.
This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.
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The teacher will present an informational text from the website, ReadWorks. The students and teacher can interact with this non-fiction text by annotating the text digitally. The students will answer the questions associated with the article as an assessment. This learning activity can be used as an introduction to transparent, translucent, opaque, and reflective materials, serve as reinforcement after students have already learned these concepts, or be used as an assessment at the conclusion of a lesson. This informational text could provide background knowledge before students investigate materials that are transparent, translucent, opaque, or reflective.
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One of the greatest inventions is the steam engine. But why? What makes it so useful? And how does it work? In this episode of Crash Course Physics, Dr. Shini talks to us about how engines work, what makes them efficient, and why they're pretty cool.