In this activity, students pose several hypotheses for what will happen if you continue heating or supplying energy to the hot and cold planet models (Mercury, Mars, Venus, and Earth) and then test their hypotheses using a spreadsheet based radiation balance model. The activity supports investigation of a real world challenge, experimenting with life support conditions for Mars at an Arctic outpost. The interactive model runs are conducted using a Java applet. This resource includes student worksheets, assessment questions and a teacher's guide. This is Activity B in module 2, Modeling hot and cold planets, of the resource, Earth Climate Course: What Determines a Planet's Climate? The course aims to help students to develop an understanding of our environment as a system of human and natural processes that result in changes that occur over various space and time scales.

What determines the concentration of a solution? Learn about the relationships between moles, liters, and molarity by adjusting the amount of solute and solution volume. Change solutes to compare different chemical compounds in water.

Discover what controls how fast tiny molecular motors in our body pull through a single strand of DNA. How hard can the motor pull in a tug of war with the optical tweezers? Discover what helps it pull harder. Do all molecular motors behave the same?

Students will predict bond polarity using electron negativity values; indicate polarity with a polar arrow or partial charges; rank bonds in order of polarity; and predict molecular polarity using bond polarity and molecular shape.

Do you ever wonder how a greenhouse gas affects the climate, or why the ozone layer is important? Use the sim to explore how light interacts with molecules in our atmosphere.

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.

This 4-lesson unit assumes student understanding of multiplication; it uses patterns, properties of the operation, and games to develop fact fluency. The unit included student recording sheets, questions for students and teachers, links to online applets, and suggestions for assessment and extension.

Students decompose 2-digit numbers, model area representations using the distributive property and partial product arrays, and align paper-and-pencil calculations with the arrays. The lessons provide conceptual understanding of what occurs in a 2-digit multiplication problem. Partial product models serve as transitions to understanding the standard multiplication algorithm.

This activity is a longer project that involves using inquiry to find out what kinds of aquatic animals live in our school pond. Students use direct observation, journaling, outdoor classroom techniques, research skills, collaboration, and service learning to learn about their question.

Students learn about frequency and period, particularly natural frequency using springs. They learn that the natural frequency of a system depends on two things: the stiffness and mass of the system. Students see how the natural frequency of a structure plays a big role in the building surviving an earthquake or high winds.

This activity uses a cultural story to excite kinesthetic homework, nature journaling and daily adventure in a child's own back yard or kitchen flower pot.

Unit Title: Near Nature Exploration Developed by Tiffany Lodholz, High Marq Environmental Charter School Grade Level:6-12 Content Area(s): Environmental Science, Science, ELAOver the course of a semester students in grades 6-12 engaged in various nature journaling activities that allowed them to connect, explore, and engage with the environment around them. Students participated in monthly phenological observations, discovered ways to use nature journaling for scientific study, and developed new techniques for looking closer and making deeper, more meaningful observations.A series of five outdoor nature journaling lessons are described:Qualitative PhenologyNature JournalingSAUNTERBug RadnessFrog Fest!

This activity allows students to figure out how they can negatively impact wildlife without trying.

Stimulate a neuron and monitor what happens. Pause, rewind, and move forward in time in order to observe the ions as they move across the neuron membrane.

Nitrogen, one of the most abundant elements in the universe, is essential to life. This interactive activity adapted from the University of Alberta provides an overview of the nitrogen cycle.

Start a chain reaction, or introduce non-radioactive isotopes to prevent one. Control energy production in a nuclear reactor! (Previously part of the Nuclear Physics simulation - now there are separate Alpha Decay and Nuclear Fission sims.)

In this six lesson unit, students recognize and explore the relationships among pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. They estimate and count sets of mixed coins, create equivalent sets, write story problems that involve money, and use coins to make patterns. Within the unit there is a link to US Mint. http://www.usmint.gov/kids/teachers/