Search results for: “car”
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The Blue Bottle Demonstration
Most biology teachers must eventually accept the awful truth that they will need to include chemistry in their biology classes. For years, the only chemistry I had to worry about was the very simple photosynthesis equation which was fairly easy to explain and also presented in an “unbalanced” form. When I started teaching AP…
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A Simple Demonstration for the Scientific Method
A simple demonstration using bromothymol blue to show students how the scientific method can be incorporated to determine why the chemical changed color after you blow into it with a straw.
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How to Put Together Your Classroom Rules
My very first day of school over twenty years ago, I received some very bad advice about classroom rules. For some reason, my education instructors at the time were very into student centered rule making. The first day, they said, should be spent by creating rules with the class so that the students are…
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Investigation: Osmosis and Water Potential
Students models osmosis using dialysis tubes that contain different concentrations of sucrose. The tubes will gain water dependent upon the molarity of solution they are placed in. You can make sucrose solutions with table sugar, and instructions are included in the teacher’s guide to the lab. The second part of the investigation determine the…
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Investigation: What Factors Affect the Heart Rate of Daphnia
This investigation starts with a guided procedure where students gather data on the heart rate of daphnia when the organism is exposed to 1% ethanol. Daphnia are tiny crustaceans that are visible with the naked eye, though a microscope or stereoscope will be needed to see their heart rate.
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Investigation: Photosynthesis and Leaf Discs
As photosynthesis takes place, oxygen is released and causes the leaf to float. The number of floating disk is a measure of the rate of photosynthesis.
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Investigation: Enzymes Activity with Catalase
Have you ever noticed that when you pour hydrogen peroxide on a wound, it bubbles? The reason is that bacteria and your own tissue contains an enzyme that breaks down the peroxide. Peroxide splits into a molecule of water and a molecule of oxygen, which causes the bubbles. In a series of tests, students observe…
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Investigation: How Much Water Is In a Plant?
Students compare the amount of water in three types of plants: a root (carrot), a fruit (grape) and a leaf by weighing samples and dehydrating them overnight.
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Case Study – Are Invading Bullfrogs Harmful?
Students follow a story about an ecologist and a student who are studying the population size of bullfrogs in California. These amphibians are considered an invasive species in that area and have been causing the decline of native species. Students learn concepts related to community interactions and learn one species can cause the decline…
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Investigation: Plop Plop Fizz Fizz
This investigation asks beginning students to develop a hypothesis about how quickly an effervescent tablet will dissolve and then design an experiment.
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How Can the Scientific Method Solve Real-World Problems?
Read short stories about how scientists used the scientific method to solve real problems, such as the discovery of penicillin and the cause of beriberi.
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Student Activities on the Importance of Observation
This activity combines literature with science as a fun way to show students how important it is to make good observations in science.
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Case Study – Cystic Fibrosis
This case study explores the relationship between the cell membrane and breathing difficulties that occur as a result of the genetic disorder cystic fibrosis.
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Scientific Method and the Simpsons
NOTE: This is a new version of this activity, with new stories! Old Version: Scientific Method and the Simpsons This activity requires students to read stories where experiments were performed by members of the Simpson’s family. The stories are intended to be humorous. Students must identify the manipulated and responding variables (independent and dependent), the…
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Case Study: Loggerhead Turtles and Population Models
Students explore population models by focusing on the reproductive strategy of sea turtles.