The course investigates e-Learning systems from a business, policy, technical and legal perspective. The issues presented will be tackled by discussion of the design and structure of the various example systems. The connection between information architectures and the physical workplace of the users will also be examined. The course will be comprised of readings, discussions, guest speakers and group design sessions. Laboratory sessions will be focused on implementation tools and opportunities to create one’s own working prototypes. Students will learn to describe information architectures using the Unified Modeling Language (used to specify, design and structure web applications) and XML (to designate meaningful content).

Students collect a soil near their house or other location, analyze it using grain size, plot the locations and collectively create a soils map of campus or larger area. This exercise can be tailored for many different grade levels. I've used it from 4th grade through Physical Geology classes

Machine Vision provides an intensive introduction to the process of generating a symbolic description of an environment from an image. Lectures describe the physics of image formation, motion vision, and recovering shapes from shading. Binary image processing and filtering are presented as preprocessing steps. Further topics include photogrammetry, object representation alignment, analog VLSI and computational vision. Applications to robotics and intelligent machine interaction are discussed.

In this unit, students learn the very basics of navigation, including the different kinds of navigation and their purposes. The concepts of relative and absolute location, latitude, longitude and cardinal directions are explored, as well as the use and principles of maps and a compass. Students discover the history of navigation and learn the importance of math and how it ties into navigational techniques. Understanding how trilateration can determine one's location leads to a lesson on the global positioning system and how to use a GPS receiver. The unit concludes with an overview of orbits and spacecraft trajectories from Earth to other planets.

In this experiential activity, students demonstrate to themselves the effect of the optic disc, or blind spot, inherent to the optic nerve entering the posterior of the eye (bulbus oculi). This resource is from PUMAS - Practical Uses of Math and Science - a collection of brief examples created by scientists and engineers showing how math and science topics taught in K-12 classes have real world applications.

This unit on American Indians: By studying the regions of the United States and the cultures that live in each region, students are able to compare/contrast within regions and across regions how tribes used their environments, and their cultural and other contributions to American life.

Note that the emphasis here is on broader groups of tribes for each region with some instruction on specific tribes representing each region. In no way is this case study approach to learning about one tribe meant to be generalized to all tribes of that region. We understand that each tribe was and continues to be unique in its culture, practices, lifeways, and traditions.

Find out what solid-state physics has brought to Electromagnetism in the last 20 years. This course surveys the physics and mathematics of nanophotonics—electromagnetic waves in media structured on the scale of the wavelength.
Topics include computational methods combined with high-level algebraic techniques borrowed from solid-state quantum mechanics: linear algebra and eigensystems, group theory, Bloch’s theorem and conservation laws, perturbation methods, and coupled-mode theories, to understand surprising optical phenomena from band gaps to slow light to nonlinear filters.
Note: An earlier version of this course was published on OCW as 18.325 Topics in Applied Mathematics: Mathematical Methods in Nanophotonics, Fall 2005.

An introduction to Specular and Diffuse Reflection, part 2. Created by Sal Khan.

Sal explains the fundamental force that causes charged particles to attract or repel each other.

Using students' step length to understand the relationship between distance, speed and acceleration. Includes graphing of data and interpretation of graphs.

This package, written in 1998, has interactive demonstrations of the link between energy levels and thermodynamic properties of molecules and gases.

It is intended for third or fourth year undergraduates in the physical sciences.

To download, click on View Download and follow the instructions. To uninstall, use the standard Windows option of “Add or Remove Programs”.

This series of ten lessons has been developed to teach students about local and global water issues. They are based on NASA’s Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission. The activities are done largely outdoors and include scientific data collection and analysis and integrate technology. Many of the lessons involve data collected based on protocols from the GLOBE Program. Each lesson is designed to take one hour; the lessons build on each other, but can also be used independently. Each lesson topic includes a lesson plan, PowerPoint presentation, student capture sheet and capture sheet answer guide.

For Iowa History- Unit 6 Powerpoint video Learn about the European Settlement of Iowa Land 1833 to Statehood in 1846• Video narrative written by Sandra Kessler Host rese...

This animation adapted from Garland Science Publishing takes a close look at the DNA double helix and its individual components, describing their chemical structures and how they function together to make the DNA molecule unique.

This Guide, from Mental Health Literacy, includes six interactive web-based classroom-ready modules, a teacher self-study resource, lesson plans, print and video resources, PowerPoint presentations, evaluation options, and supplementary materials.Developers of the Mental Health and High School Curriculum Guide worked with The Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, The Jordan Binion Project, and CHI Franciscan Health  to create a Washington State Version of the materials.

This lesson plan introduces the properties of mixtures and solutions. A class demonstration gives the students the opportunity to compare and contrast the physical characteristics of a few simple mixtures and solutions. Students discuss the separation of mixtures and solutions back into their original components as well as different engineering applications of mixtures and solutions.

This seminar examines the history and legacy of the Cold War on American science. It explores scientist’s new political roles after World War II, ranging from elite policy makers in the nuclear age to victims of domestic anti Communism. It also examines the changing institutions in which the physical sciences and social sciences were conducted during the postwar decades, investigating possible epistemic effects on forms of knowledge. The subject closes by considering the place of science in the post-Cold War era.