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  • Geoscience
The Klamath Basin Water Crisis: Water Supply and Demand
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In this case study, students examine global water shortage problems in the context of the current Klamath Basin water crisis. Two main perspectives are addressed, agriculture and the environment, along with multiple other perspectives including Native Americans, hydroelectric dams, and the fishing industry. Students learn about and discuss competing interests for water and analyze and critique scientific data, maps, and graphs. The case was developed for a social sciences track environmental studies course. It could be used in an environmental science, ethics, or policy course as well as in water management or agriculture classes.

Author:
MeghanMarie Fowler-Finn
Life on Mars: A Dilemma Case in Planetary Geology
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This case explores the question of whether there was ever life on Mars and in doing so explores how we define life. The backdrop for the case is the 1996 revelation by NASA of evidence of life on Mars. Through a fictionalized account of the events, the case explores what constitutes life as well as the ethics of announcing scientific discoveries directly to the public instead of following the traditional process of peer review and publication. The protagonist of the story is a young planetary geologist who must decide whether or not to join his colleagues at a press conference announcing the "discovery." Originally designed for a course in planetary geology, where it was used in the last class in the semester as a capstone experience, the case could also be used in a general biology class to discuss the characteristics of life.

Author:
Bruce C. Allen
Clyde Freeman Herreid
Living Downstream: Atrazine and Coliform Bacteria Effects on Water Quality - A Debate Case
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In this case, developed for a course in Issues in Environmental Biology, students learn that water samples collected from a local river show elevated levels of fecal bacteria and atrazine, one of the most commonly used herbicides in the United States. A hearing has been called by the county to investigate the cause of the contamination, possible effects on aquatic life in the river, and what can be done to prevent a recurrence. In the ensuing debate, students must analyze and interpret data as they present the viewpoints of various stakeholders, ranging from the landowners' right to apply atrazine to control weeds, to the responsibility of fisheries biologists and water quality specialists to protect the environment.

Author:
Thomas A. Davis
Looking at Clouds: Identifying Cumulus, Cirrus and Stratus Clouds
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This activity involves student teams classifying clouds into the main categories, making a poster of their findings, having a poster session and learning the vocabulary terms cirrus, stratus and cumulus.

Author:
Jean K. Fairchild
Looking at Minnesota Geology
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This activity is used to help students describe various rock types.

Author:
Suess, Renee
Renee Suess, Kaleidoscope Charter School, Otsego MN used with the Foss Kit, Pebbles,Sand and Silt
Make a Model Fossil
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This activity is a combination outdoor/indoor lab where students will collect natural materials from the environment and use them to create both a mold and cast model of a fossil. Students will learn how a fossil is formed and why scientists use models to help them understand how things work and develop.

Author:
Anne E. Flynn
Man's Best Friend?: Using Animal Bones to Solve an Archaeological Mystery
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In this case, students learn how archaeology operates as an historical science by collecting and analyzing material evidence to make claims about the past. Assuming the role of zooarchaeologists, they evaluate a hypothetical case in which "Dr. Jasper Eraillure" shocks the world by claiming a canid skull he has found at a Neanderthal site is actually that of a domestic dog. Students analyze modern skulls from wild and domestic canids, and develop a set of criteria for determining whether the "unknown" canid skull belonged to a domestic dog. They further explore the reasons behind the divergence between wild and domestic dog populations and evaluate the potential impact of Dr. Eraillure's assertions on our understanding of the past. The case was designed for an introductory course in archaeology, but could be adpated for use in an introductory biology course.

Author:
Elizabeth Scharf
Mapping Your World
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This activity is an investigative introduction to mapping. Students create maps and determine important map features.

Author:
Jennifer Krings
Measuring Lava Flow
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Students learn how volume, viscosity and slope are factors that affect the surface area that lava covers. Using clear transparency grids and liquid soap, students conduct experiments, make measurements and collect data. They also brainstorm possible solutions to lava flow problems as if they were geochemical engineers, and come to understand how the properties of lava are applicable to other liquids.

Author:
TeachEngineering.org
Brittany Enzmann
Science and Engineering of the Environment of Los Angeles (SEE-LA) GK-12 Program,
Marschal Fazio (This lesson was classroom-tested in ninth-grade Integrated Coordinated Science classes at University High School in Los Angeles.)
Measuring Light Pollution
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Students are introduced to the concept of light pollution by investigating the nature, sources and levels of light in their classroom environment. They learn about the adverse effects of artificial light and the resulting consequences on humans, animals and plants: sky glow, direct glare, light trespass, animal disorientation and energy waste. Student teams build light meters using light sensors mounted to LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT intelligent bricks and then record and graph the light intensity emitted in various classroom lighting situations. They are introduced to the engineering concepts of sensors, lux or light meter, and lumen and lux (lx) illuminance units. Through this activity, students also learn how to better use light and save energy as well as some of the technologies designed by engineers to reduce light pollution and energy waste.

Author:
AMPS GK-12 Program,
TeachEngineering.org
Violet Mwaffo, Jerib Carson and Qianqian Lin at the Madiba Prep Middle School
Measuring Noise Pollution
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Through investigating the nature, sources and level of noise produced in their environment, students are introduced to the concept of noise pollution. They learn about the undesirable and disturbing effects of noise and the resulting consequences on people's health, as well as on the health of the environment. They use a sound level meter that consists of a sound sensor attached to the LEGO® NXT Intelligent Brick to record the noise level emitted by various sources. They are introduced to engineering concepts such as sensors, decibel (dB) measurements, and sound pressure used to measure the noise level. Students are introduced to impairments resulting from noise exposure such as speech interference, hearing loss, sleep disruption and reduced productivity. They identify potential noise pollution sources, and based on recorded data, they classify these sources into levels of annoyance. Students also explore the technologies designed by engineers to protect against the harmful effects of noise pollution.

Author:
AMPS GK-12 Program,
TeachEngineering.org
Jerib Carson and Qianqian Lin at the Madiba Prep Middle School
Violet Mwaffo
Measuring and recording the weather around us using a science notebook in second grade.
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This activity is a field investigation where students measure, record and describe weather conditions using common tools (rain gauge, thermometer, and barometer). They will compare their observations to Weather.com (online) and the local newspapers to compare their findings, and record these observations.

Minnesota Watersheds
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This unit is to be taught as an extension to the FOSS WATER INVESTIGATION 1, Part 3, WATER ON A SLOPE. After learning that water flows down a slope, students will understand that this concept determines how our watersheds flow. It will also explain why some rivers (such as the Red River) appear to be flowing "up" on a map. They will then create a landform map of Minnesota accurately representing the higher elevations (our RIDGELINES) and the location of our major rivers and bodies of water. This unit can also be extended by many of the activities in the Project Wild and the MinnAqua Lesson Books.

Author:
Stafford Gutknecht
The Missing Link
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The setting for this case study is a paleontological dig in East Africa, where "Sam," an American undergraduate student, has unearthed part of what appears to be an ancestral human skull. Students read the case story and then, in the lab, they examine a number of primate skulls and are asked to make up a phylogeny based on their observations. The is case study is designed for a lower division, general education laboratory course that accompanies a lecture course in physical (biological) anthropology.

Author:
M. Elizabeth Strasser
My Brother's Keeper: A Case Study in Evolutionary Biology and Animal Behavior
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In this interrupted case study, students work in teams to interpret behavioral data with respect to evolutionary biology. Specifically, the case examines the behavior of alarm calling in a certain type of squirrel, Belding's ground squirrel, which was first reported by Paul Sherman in Science magazine in 1977. The case is appropriate for use in animal behavior, ecology, evolutionary biology, or introductory biology courses.

Author:
Kari E. Benson
Mystery in Alaska: Why Have All the Sea Lions Gone?
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This interrupted case study highlights the importance of energy considerations within food chains by examining the population decline of Steller sea lions along the western Alaskan coast. A ban on commercial fishing of pollock in the 1970s caused a shift in the availability of the sea lions' prey. Sea lions have an overall negative net energy balance when consuming pollock, but an overall positive net energy balance when consuming the fattier, easier to catch and digest herring. Could an increase in pollock and a decrease in herring be responsible for sea lion decline? Originally designed for an environmental science course, the case could easily be adapted for an introductory level chemistry or biology course by stressing quantitative, energy balance aspects.

Author:
Renee Larson
Thomas R. Stabler
Frank J. Dinan
Natural Frequency and Buildings
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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.

Author:
TeachEngineering.org
Jake Moravec
GK-12 Program, School of Engineering and Applied Science,
Navigating by the Numbers
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In this lesson, students will learn that math is important in navigation and engineering. Ancient land and sea navigators started with the most basic of navigation equations (Speed x Time = Distance). Today, navigational satellites use equations that take into account the relative effects of space and time. However, even these high-tech wonders cannot be built without pure and simple math concepts basic geometry and trigonometry that have been used for thousands of years. In this lesson, these basic concepts are discussed and illustrated in the associated activities.

Author:
Janet Yowell
Malinda Schaefer Zarske
Penny Axelrad
Integrated Teaching and Learning Program,
Jeff White
TeachEngineering.org
Nutrient Cycles and Pollution, Lake Michigan Style
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This "clicker case" introduces students to the basics of nutrient cycling using a recent example of the expansion of a refinery on Lake Michigan. The story is told through a series of news clips from Chicago's National Public Radio affiliate, WBEZ, which covers the northeastern Illinois and northwestern Indiana region. The case is presented in class using a series of PowerPoint slides (~3.7MB) punctuated by questions that the students answer using electronic personal response systems, or "clickers." The case was designed for use in an upper-level introductory ecology course. It would be equally well suited in lower-level ecology courses as well as environmental science courses, and in an introductory biology course that covers nutrient cycles and/or pollution.

Author:
Cheryl A. Heinz