On the Web: Research in the Science Classroom

SciLinks®

SciLinks® is a web-based service from NSTA that provides online content chosen to augment printed articles and books. It does so through keywords; the keywords for this issue are:

• Plant Adaptations
• Ocean Research

NSTA Calendar

The NSTA Calendar lists the following opportunities relating to Research in the Science Classroom. To learn about other science-education events and opportunities, click here.

• The Amphibian Project
  The Amphibian Project works to generate public awareness and understanding of the threats facing the world’s amphibian population. The organization’s efforts include compiling a curriculum toolkit, which features field projects and hands-on activities to teach K–12 students about amphibians, their importance to the environment, and why their situation is precarious.
• Space Flight Educational Activities
  Richard Garriott, the first second-generation U.S. astronaut, is scheduled to fly to the International Space Station this month. During his 10-day trip, Garriott plans to do educational activities similar to those his father conducted on Skylab in the 1970s. The activities will explore principles of fluid behavior, mechanics, magnetism, electricity, and crystals. Students can try the same activities in their classrooms and then post predictions of what they think Garriott’s results will be.
• Musical Plates Project
  This web-based, multidisciplinary project challenges students to tap into real-time earthquake data, interact with experts online, and publish their investigative work on a special website. Four core activities (45 minutes each) teach students how to access and interpret online earthquake and volcano data and use this information to solve real-world problems.
• Schoolyard Geology
  Schoolyard Geology originated in San Quentin State Prison, where Matthew d’Alessio, a scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Earthquake Hazards Team in Menlo Park, California, taught geology to inmates. After discovering how the prison yard could become a geological field site, d’Alessio developed this website, which explains how to conduct a geologic field trip in a schoolyard or backyard. Activities include mapping a schoolyard using the USGS publication The National Map, locating and identifying rocks, and learning geologic concepts such as glacial striations, layers, and sinkholes.
• Investigating the Ocean
  High school students can investigate oceans and weather through six inquiry-based activities from North Carolina State University’s The Science House. They will explore the underwater world through satellite data and other online resources. The data comes from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service.
• Curriculum Materials and Resources on Environmental Science and Forestry
  The State University of New York’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry offers standards-based educational units for middle and high school teachers and students. Students will investigate sustainable communities, conduct an environmental analysis of watersheds, and explore biomass energy.
• CIESE Collaborative Projects for Students Worldwide
  The Center for Improved Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) website offers collaborative projects on topics ranging from dominant genetic traits to the boiling point of water. Teachers and their classes register to take part in the projects and agree to meet certain deadlines for data collection. Developed and maintained by the center at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey, the projects are designed to enhance math and science learning through compelling use of the internet. Students from 15 or more countries collect and post the data required by their project. Each project has links to the U.S. national math and science standards.
• GLOBE Teacher Training Workshops
  GLOBE is a worldwide network of K–12 students who, under the guidance of trained teachers, make a core set of environmental observations and report their data via the internet. Scientists use GLOBE data in their research and provide feedback to the students. For a school to participate in GLOBE, at least one teacher must be trained in the GLOBE science measurement protocols and education activities by attending a GLOBE Teacher Workshop.
• Great World Wide Star Count
  In the Great World Wide Star Count, an international event, students go outside, look skyward after dark, count the stars they see in certain constellations, and report what they observe online. This Citizen Science Event from the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research is designed to encourage learning in astronomy, and an activity guide is available. This year’s star count takes place October 20–November 3, 2008.
• Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams High School Invention Grants
  This national grants initiative aims to foster inventiveness. InvenTeams composed of high school students, teachers, and mentors are asked to collaboratively identify a problem that they want to solve, research the problem, and then develop a prototype invention as an in-class or extracurricular project. Grants of up to $10,000 support each team’s efforts.