This was an assignment for students in two parts:

(1) for a given week, students sign up for a landform that pertains to the processes we’ll be studying (e.g. landslides, streams, volcanoes, etc…). The student will use wikipedia, govt. agency websites, or primary sources to present a “show and tell” of the landform including 4 things:
a) describe the process by which that feature is formed,
b) give an example of where it can be found,
c) find 3 pictures of the landform, &
d) sketch (or find a depiction) of what the feature would look like on a topographic contour map.

(2) Students will take their presentations and use them to create pages on a Google Sites webpage that will become an online textbook. Students will be able to use the book to study for quizzes on the landforms.

(3) Students will read and leave comments on 2 other students’ pages to provide constructive feedback to help improve the textbook’s content and readability.

Learning Objectives: Students gain oral and written communication skills by presenting and documenting/sharing their research. Students will describe the shape of landforms and connect landforms with the processes responsible for their formation by learning from each other and from doing their own research.

In this video segment from NOVA scienceNOW, learn about the effects of gravity as astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson falls through a virtual hole through Earth's center.

The H-R diagram is a scatter graph of stars, a plot of stellar absolute magnitude or luminosity versus temperature or stellar classification. It is an important astronomical tool for understanding how stars evolve over time. Stellar evolution cannot be studied by observing individual stars as most changes occur over millions and billions of years. Astrophysicists observe numerous stars at various stages in their evolutionary history to determine their changing properties and probable evolutionary tracks across the H-R diagram. In this activity, students plot both maxima and minima with corresponding stellar classifications for several variables, and then identify the type of variability: Cepheid, RR Lyrae, Mira or Semiregular. This activity includes background information, a teacher guide, a student activity, and accompanying worksheets. The American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) and The Chandra X-Ray mission have collaborated to develop this activity.

Rating: Example of High Quality NGSS Design if Improved

Science Discipline: Earth & Space Sciences, Physical Sciences

Length: Unit

In Investigating Life on the Third Rock, middle school students work to generate and explore the overarching question of “How does the solar system and its objects affect life on Earth?” Students use modeling and argumentation to explore the lesson-level questions: “What properties of the solar system and its objects help explain why Earth can sustain life?” “Does the Moon affect life on Earth?” and “Why do the solar system and its objects move like they do?”

8th grade student will apply Newton’s Laws to design, test and evaluate materials to create the most protective helmet for an activity of their choice. Students will use force sensors and Vernier software to analyze the force reduction for their helmets. The culmination of this project is for students to write and present a sales pitch to promote their helmet to their peers at an annual "conference."

This lesson introduces the concept of developmental domains.  They are separate concepts but work together to achieve individual growth and development.  This lesson is inquiry-based and will take between 40 and 50 minutes.

Students will memorize the major mountain ranges, rivers and places in the state and identify them on maps. This is important learning prior to learning Wyoming history and the change over time of people across the state. Understanding local geography has life-long benefits, but it is especially useful in understanding the changes over time to our state and will help students build mental pictures of events in Wyoming history.

In this interactive activity from ChemThink, learn how ionic bonds are formed and how an ionic bond structure is represented by its formula.

This unit is designed to reinforce Physical Activity and to help the students learn and understand that being physically active is more than just exercising.  The purpose is to get the students up and moving whether they are in PE at school or at home.

This is a lesson plan to incorporate physical activity into a regular preschool day.

In this geology activity, students investigate the physical property of mineral cleavage by physically trying to break down a block of halite and describing the results. This lab addresses many misunderstandings non-majors have about the physical properties of minerals and includes a brief write up of their conclusions.

SYNOPSIS: In this lesson, students will examine the 2020 Almeda Fire in Oregon and explore the disproportionate impacts of wildfires.

SCIENTIST NOTES: This engaging lesson helps students comprehend what wildfires are, the climatic factors that could start them and speed up their spread, and the potential losses and harm that they could do to vulnerable and marginalized populations. The wildfire simulator has been evaluated and is suitable for use by students. Additionally, the lesson's videos and other supporting resources have been examined, and this lesson has passed our science credibility process.

POSITIVES:
-This lesson clearly explains the connection between climate change and wildfires.
-This lesson allows students to realize how wildfires disproportionately impact different groups of people. It provides space for students to better understand the concept of climate justice.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-Be sensitive to the needs of your students if they have been personally impacted by wildfire. Depending on the circumstances, this lesson may not be appropriate or may need to be adapted for your class.
-This lesson assumes that students have prerequisite knowledge of climate change, including understanding the basic science behind climate change.
-Each student will need access to a device in order to play with the Wildfire Simulation. If each student does not have a device, students may share devices. If there are no devices for students, teacher can project and play with the Wildfire Simulation on an interactive whiteboard.

DIFFERENTIATION:
-Pay close attention to how student groups are formed in the jigsaw activity during the Investigate section. Students will be jointly constructing meaning from reading different parts of the article. Groups of students with varying reading levels will probably work best, as high-achieving peers can model meaning-making for students at lower reading levels.
-It may be best to steer students toward one or more options in the menu in the Inquire section, depending on their ability and preference for demonstrating their knowledge.
-In the Inquire section, it may not be possible for any or all of your students to create a wildfire emergency supply kit. Gathering and paying for all of those items is expensive. Be sensitive to your students. In some cases, it may be best to remove that option from the menu before sharing it with your students.

Students will determine a rule for classifying outdoor objects based on physical properties of matter.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Define genomicsDescribe genetic and physical mapsDescribe genomic mapping methods

Students use two different methods to determine the densities of a variety of materials and objects. The first method involves direct measurement of the volumes of objects that have simple geometric shapes. The second is the water displacement method, used to determine the volumes of irregularly shaped objects. After the densities are determined, students create x-y scatter graphs of mass versus volume, which reveal that objects with densities less than water (floaters) lie above the graph's diagonal (representing the density of water), and those with densities greater than water (sinkers) lie below the diagonal.

These lessons show how to modify and adapt Hiking for a inclusive classroom

This video segment adapted from A Science Odyssey takes a look at the scale of the atom and the tremendous amount of space between the electrons and the nucleus. If all this empty space exists in matter, how can any substance be solid?

Esta es una lección para el aprendizaje a distancia que los alumnos pueden completar en casa.Los estudiantes observarán, clasificarán y examinarán las formas y texturas de las hojas. Individualmente, en grupos y en relación con toda la planta.Esta actividad fue creada por Out Teach (out-teach.org), una organización sin fines de lucro que proporciona aprendizaje experiencial al aire libre, con el objetivo de transformar la educación de las ciencias para los estudiantes en comunidades más desatendidas.

An engineering design project modified to teach the scientific methos, promote team-builing, and engage students at the beginning of a physics course.

In this physics activity, students will review and investigate stability of the nucleus of various elements. They will then determine factors that affect the stability of the nucleus.