NSTA Learning Center Professional Development Tools

Chemical Reactions

7/10/2009 12:00:00 AM

SciPacks are 10 hour online learning experiences teachers can use to enhance their understanding of a particular scientific concept. Teachers access topics "on demand" from the Internet. Topics are based on science literacy goals in the national standards and tied to state standards. Pedagogical Implications also address student misconceptions. Expert content help is available via email as well as a final assessment to demonstrate understanding of the SciPack content. The Chemical Reactions SciPack provides an initial context by describing the abundance of chemical reactions in the surrounding world, then relates chemical reactions to electron configurations, describes bonding, and outlines special bonds among carbon atoms. It describes various types of chemical reactions, outlines the importance of factors such as timescales, concentration, pressure, temperature, molecular configuration and catalysts on chemical reaction rates. Finally, the SciPack relates chemical reactions to energy input and release, and connects reactions to the conservation of matter.

Nature of Light

5/1/2009 12:00:00 AM

SciPacks are 10 hour online learning experiences teachers can use to enhance their understanding of a particular scientific concept. Teachers access topics "on demand" from the Internet. Topics are based on science literacy goals in the national standards and tied to state standards. Pedagogical Implications also address student misconceptions. Expert content help is available via email as well as a final assessment to demonstrate understanding of the SciPack content. The Nature of Light SciPack explains the concept of light as electromagnetic radiation and as waves. It covers the electromagnetic spectrum and the effects of wavelength on the interaction of light with different materials, including some examples of phenomena that can be explained by differences in wavelength. It also covers electromagnetic waves as a form of energy.

Resources and Human Impact

9/30/2008 12:00:00 AM

SciPacks are 10 hour online learning experiences teachers can use to enhance their understanding of a particular scientific concept. Teachers access topics "on demand" from the Internet. Topics are based on science literacy goals in the national standards and tied to state standards. Pedagogical Implications also address student misconceptions. Expert content help is available via email as well as a final assessment to demonstrate understanding of the SciPack content. The Resources and Human Impact SciPack explores the role society plays in environmental degradation, and the technological solutions, including resource management, that arises from environmental issues. Human beings modify all components of Earth's ecosystems as they use and consume available resources. The amount and rate of consumption is affected by the population growth and access to technology. This SciPack is focused on Standards and Benchmarks related to interactions in and between ecosystem; population growth and carrying capacity; resource use; and environmental degradation and changes to Earth's systems.

Earth's Changing Surface

6/10/2008 12:00:00 AM

SciPacks are 10 hour online learning experiences teachers can use to enhance their understanding of a particular scientific concept. Teachers access topics "on demand" from the Internet. Topics are based on science literacy goals in the national standards and tied to state standards. Pedagogical Implications also address student misconceptions. Expert content help is available via email as well as a final assessment to demonstrate understanding of the SciPack content. The Earth's Changing Surface SciPack explores how Earth's ever-changing surface is due to continuous natural processes such as tectonic activity, earthquakes, volcanic activities, weathering and erosion, and sedimentation and the reformation of rock. The focus is on topics supporting Standards and Benchmarks related to how and why these processes occur, and how elements cycle through the land, oceans, and atmosphere as a result of these processes. This SciPack looks at Earth as a system that exists in dynamic equilibrium.

Earth, Sun, and Moon

12/10/2007 12:00:00 AM

SciPacks are 10 hour online learning experiences teachers can use to enhance their understanding of a particular scientific concept. Teachers access topics "on demand" from the Internet. Topics are based on science literacy goals in the national standards and tied to state standards. Pedagogical Implications also address student misconceptions. Expert content help is available via email as well as a final assessment to demonstrate understanding of the SciPack content. The Earth, Sun, and Moon SciPack explores the phenomena that can be explained by the position and motion of Earth, the Moon, and the Sun. The focus is on topics supporting Standards and Benchmarks related to the heating of Earth's surface by the Sun, phases of the Moon, and the apparent changes in the position of objects in the night sky. This SciPack also includes some of the basic details about Earth, including the characteristics that make it unique in our solar system, its composition, and its capacity to support life.

Science of Food Safety

12/10/2007 12:00:00 AM

SciPacks are 10 hour online learning experiences teachers can use to enhance their understanding of a particular scientific concept. Teachers access topics "on demand" from the Internet. Topics are based on science literacy goals in the national standards and tied to state standards. Pedagogical Implications also address student misconceptions. Expert content help is available via email as well as a final assessment to demonstrate understanding of the SciPack content. The Science of Food Safety SciPack explores the science underlying food safety. This SciPack is focused on Standards and Benchmarks related the composition and functioning of cells and viruses; the growth, reproduction, and evolution of bacteria; the fundamentals of the human immune system; and societal precautions against foodborne illness.

Cell Structure and Function

12/10/2007 12:00:00 AM

SciPacks are 10 hour online learning experiences teachers can use to enhance their understanding of a particular scientific concept. Teachers access topics "on demand" from the Internet. Topics are based on science literacy goals in the national standards and tied to state standards. Pedagogical Implications also address student misconceptions. Expert content help is available via email as well as a final assessment to demonstrate understanding of the SciPack content. The Cell Structure and Function SciPack explores how cells, the basic building blocks of all organisms, function as systems of organelles and associated structures in a dynamic equilibrium between its internal and external environment. The focus is on topics related to Standards and Benchmarks related to the structure of various types of cells, the molecular workings inside the cell, and the role of proteins as the main structural and functional molecules of the cell. This SciPack uses the "cell as a system" concept.

Oceans Effect on Weather and Climate

3/28/2007 12:00:00 AM

SciPacks are 10 hour online learning experiences teachers can use to enhance their understanding of a particular scientific concept. Teachers access topics "on demand" from the Internet. Topics are based on science literacy goals in the national standards and tied to state standards. Pedagogical Implications also address student misconceptions. Expert content help is available via email as well as a final assessment to demonstrate understanding of the SciPack content. The Ocean's Effect on Weather and Climate SciPack explores concepts related to Earth's weather and climate. The focus is on Standards and Benchmarks related to weather and climate, the water cycle, climate change, and the role of solar energy and its affect on the atmosphere and oceans. The unique role oceans play in defining Earth's weather and climate patterns is also specifically addressed.

Coral Reef Ecosystems

3/28/2007 12:00:00 AM

SciPacks are 10 hour online learning experiences teachers can use to enhance their understanding of a particular scientific concept. Teachers access topics "on demand" from the Internet. Topics are based on science literacy goals in the national standards and tied to state standards. Pedagogical Implications also address student misconceptions. Expert content help is available via email as well as a final assessment to demonstrate understanding of the SciPack content. The Coral Reef Ecosystems SciPack explores the unique and diverse ecosystem of the coral reef. The focus is on Standards and Benchmarks related to populations and ecosystems using coral reefs and their immediate environment as an example. Because the Standards and Benchmarks present the concepts of populations and ecosystems generically, without reference to a specific ecosystem or the organisms in the system, coral reefs are used to provide the context through which concepts in a marine ecosystem are explored.

Gravity and Orbits

3/21/2007 12:00:00 AM

SciPacks are 10 hour online learning experiences teachers can use to enhance their understanding of a particular scientific concept. Teachers access topics "on demand" from the Internet. Topics are based on science literacy goals in the national standards and tied to state standards. Pedagogical Implications also address student misconceptions. Expert content help is available via email as well as a final assessment to demonstrate understanding of the SciPack content. The Gravity and Orbits SciPack explores concepts related to Earth's universal gravitation and how gravity affects the universe around us. The focus is on Standards and Benchmarks related to universal gravitation including variables that influence the amount of gravitational force and how gravity governs the motion of the solar system.

The Solar System

3/21/2007 12:00:00 AM

SciPacks are 10 hour online learning experiences teachers can use to enhance their understanding of a particular scientific concept. Teachers access topics "on demand" from the Internet. Topics are based on science literacy goals in the national standards and tied to state standards. Pedagogical Implications also address student misconceptions. Expert content help is available via email as well as a final assessment to demonstrate understanding of the SciPack content. The Solar System SciPack explores the solar system and the various bodies within it. The focus in on the Standards and Benchmarks related to how we have learned about the solar system and what we know about the planets, moons, and other bodies in the solar system. Special focus is also given to how the solar system and its bodies formed.

Plate Tectonics

3/21/2007 12:00:00 AM

SciPacks are 10 hour online learning experiences teachers can use to enhance their understanding of a particular scientific concept. Teachers access topics "on demand" from the Internet. Topics are based on science literacy goals in the national standards and tied to state standards. Pedagogical Implications also address student misconceptions. Expert content help is available via email as well as a final assessment to demonstrate understanding of the SciPack content. The Plate Tectonics SciPack explores the various materials that make up Earth and the processes they undergo to provide a framework for understanding how continents are created and change over time. The focus is on Standards and Benchmarks related to Earth's layers, oceanic and continental plates and the interactions between plates.

Universe

3/21/2007 12:00:00 AM

SciPacks are 10 hour online learning experiences teachers can use to enhance their understanding of a particular scientific concept. Teachers access topics "on demand" from the Internet. Topics are based on science literacy goals in the national standards and tied to state standards. Pedagogical Implications also address student misconceptions. Expert content help is available via email as well as a final assessment to demonstrate understanding of the SciPack content. The Universe SciPack explores the ways scientists learn about the universe and the current ideas about the origins and formation of the universe. The focus is on Standards and Benchmarks related to the universe including how the universe was formed, formation and destruction of stars and characteristics of the sun and stars in terms of size and composition.

Energy

3/21/2007 12:00:00 AM

SciPacks are 10 hour online learning experiences teachers can use to enhance their understanding of a particular scientific concept. Teachers access topics "on demand" from the Internet. Topics are based on science literacy goals in the national standards and tied to state standards. Pedagogical Implications also address student misconceptions. Expert content help is available via email as well as a final assessment to demonstrate understanding of the SciPack content. The Energy SciPack explores the many forms of energy and the concept that energy can change from one form to another. The focus is on Standards and Benchmarks related to energy, energy transfer, and the conservation of energy. Work and simple machines are used throughout the SciPack to explain energy transformations.

Rock Cycle

3/21/2007 12:00:00 AM

SciPacks are 10 hour online learning experiences teachers can use to enhance their understanding of a particular scientific concept. Teachers access topics "on demand" from the Internet. Topics are based on science literacy goals in the national standards and tied to state standards. Pedagogical Implications also address student misconceptions. Expert content help is available via email as well as a final assessment to demonstrate understanding of the SciPack content. The Rock Cycle SciPack explores different kinds and categories of rocks, the major processes through which they form and the cyclical nature of the formation and transformation of rock materials. The focus is on topics supporting Standards and Benchmarks related to the rock cycle as part of the transfer and transformation of matter and energy in Earth's system as well as a sense of the time scales involved and how rocks provide information about their own development and the history of Earth.

Force and Motion

3/21/2007 12:00:00 AM