Group items tagged

Did it sneak up on you again this year? Kidding aside, Richter Scale Day is April 26, the birthday of Charles Richter (1900-1985), inventor of the Richter scale. Most middle school science curricula include earth science studies in plate tectonics and its related phenomena, including earthquakes. Catastrophic events, such as the recent Italian earthquake, provide teachable moments. What better time to integrate a study of the Richter scale technology with science content?

You didn't miss Richter Scale Day, did you?

Lots of fun chemistry-based activities.

Lots of fun chemistry-based holiday activities.

This article from NSTA's middle level science journal looks at the new Framework for K-12 Science Education and provides an explanation of the scientific practice of explanation and argumentation.

"This week, we're looking back at the school year and collecting the lessons we published by subject area. On Tuesday, we published our social studies, history, geography and civics collection; Thursday, look for English language arts, fine arts and journalism. Below, you'll find everything we did that falls into the categories of science, math, health and technology. And if you want even more lessons in these subject areas, you might take a look at our 2010 and 2011 collections as well."

This wiki page provides links to all the Math and Science Explore in Depth wiki pages. Explore in Depth pages provide context to exemplary online math and science resources.

The Wright Center is dedicated to the creation and sharing of novel instructional techniques and interdisciplinary resources for pre-college teachers. Through its fellowships, workshops, seminars, and a variety of public-outreach activities, the Center provides leadership in the training and retraining of science teachers to use innovative methods to stimulate young minds.

Help integrating science and literacy - here is a nonfiction text for students available in a variety of formats including electronic.

This nonfiction article is written for use with upper-elementary students (grades 4-5) but can also be used with middle school students. Students learn about two of Saturn's moons, albedo, the relationship between heat absorption and temperature, and how decreasing sea ice in the Arctic actually contributes to further melting. Modified versions are available for students in grades K-1 and grades 2-3, or any student needing a simplified version. At each grade level, the article is available in text, printable pdf files allowing you to print the story in either text or a foldable book format, and an electronic version. Reading strategy templates and related activities provide tips for integrating this story with your science and literacy instruction.

This publication is all about developing your middle school students' understandings of earths oceans and the major effect they have on climate. Understanding and interpreting local weather data and understanding the relationship between weather and climate are important first steps to understanding larger-scale global climate changes. Activities that ask students to collect and analyze local weather data as well as analyze global data can be found in the Lessons and Activities section. Analyzing and interpreting data is a major focus of this publication. Numerous data sets can be found in the Sources for Real Data section. The Background Information section and the article Tomorrows Forecast will help reinforce your own content knowledge.

More exemplary resources from the Middle School Portal 2: Math & Science Pathways project.

We already know why polar bears don't eat penguins, but what do they eat? In this podcast, we'll share a simple activity that opens a window to understanding a unique ecosystem as one example of a food chain - the Arctic Ocean.

This podcast includes directions for an activity where students build a mobile that represents an Arctic food web.

In this activity, students will collect weather data over several days or weeks, graph temperature data, and compare the temperature data with averaged climate data where they live. Understanding and interpreting local weather data and understanding the relationship between weather and climate are important first steps to understanding larger-scale global climate changes.

Nice activity where students collect, analyze, and compare temperature data and compare the data to local climate data.

Get involved in citizen science.

Lots of useful science resources and links

"How much pressure does the atmosphere exert on a sheet of newspaper? As with the previous experiments, the force exerted by air pressure can be surprisingly powerful."

works for middle school too

An active volcano in Antarctica? No way!

In this podcast, Eric Muller, science educator for the Exploratorium Teacher Institute in San Francisco, California provides a hands-on, "feet-on" way of teaching about volcanoes and the layers of the Earth. Students draw a scale model of the Earth on a ground with a piece of chalk.

What is the environmental impact of summer vacations?

How much thought have you given to the environmental impact of your summer vacation plans and those of everyone else you'll meet there? What kind of carbon emissions are you emitting as you jet to your destination? What about that four-wheel drive vehicle you'll rent? And the convenience meals with their excess packaging you'll eat a greater proportion of?

Seven activities to do with a radiometer. Of course, you need a radiometer - a radiometer is a light bulb-shaped device containing an object that looks like a weather vane (wings arranged in a circle like spokes of a wheel).  Developed to measure the intensity of radiant energy, or heat (from the site)