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Science Object

Plate Tectonics: Layered Earth Grade Level: Elementary School, Middle School, High School Science Objects are two hour on-line interactive inquiry-based content modules that help teachers better understand the science content they teach. This Science Object is the first of five Science Objects in the Plate Tectonics SciPack. It explores the characteristics of the various layers of the Earth, using the way waves travel through the different layers to illustrate the differences in each layer. The interior of the earth is hot, under high...  [view full summary] Science Objects are two hour on-line interactive inquiry-based content modules that help teachers better understand the science content they teach. This Science Object is the first of five Science Objects in the Plate Tectonics SciPack. It explores the characteristics of the various layers of the Earth, using the way waves travel through the different layers to illustrate the differences in each layer. The interior of the earth is hot, under high pressure from gravitational pull, and more dense than its rocky outer crust. The earth is layered with a relatively thin crust; hot, deformable mantle; liquid outer core; and solid, metallic, and dense inner core. [hide full abstract] Member Price: Free      Nonmember Price: Free

Science Object

Ocean's Effect on Climate and Weather: Global Circulation Patterns Grade Level: Elementary School, Middle School Science Objects are two hour on-line interactive inquiry-based content modules that help teachers better understand the science content they teach. This Science Object is the third of four Science Objects in the Ocean’s Effect on Weather and Climate SciPack. It explores ocean circulation patterns and the effect oceans have on climate. Water in the oceans hold a lot of thermal energy (more than an equal amount of land). Throughout the ocean there is...  [view full summary] Science Objects are two hour on-line interactive inquiry-based content modules that help teachers better understand the science content they teach. This Science Object is the third of four Science Objects in the Ocean’s Effect on Weather and Climate SciPack. It explores ocean circulation patterns and the effect oceans have on climate. Water in the oceans hold a lot of thermal energy (more than an equal amount of land). Throughout the ocean there is a global, interconnected circulation system that transfers this thermal energy across Earth. The shape of ocean basins and adjacent land masses influence the path of circulation. As ocean currents transfer thermal energy to various locations, the temperature of the atmosphere above the ocean is affected. For example, the condensation of water that has been evaporated from warm seas provides the energy for hurricanes and cyclones. When the pattern of thermal energy released into the atmosphere changes, global weather patterns are affected. An example of a large-scale change like this is the El Niño Southern Oscillation, which changes the pattern of thermal energy released into the atmosphere in the Pacific. [hide full abstract] Member Price: Free      Nonmember Price: Free

Science Object

Plate Tectonics: Plates Grade Level: Elementary School, Middle School, High School Science Objects are two hour on-line interactive inquiry-based content modules that help teachers better understand the science content they teach. This Science Object is the second of five Science Objects in the Plate Tectonics SciPack. It provides a conceptual understanding of what plates are and how they move, contributing to a constantly changing surface. The Earth’s continents and ocean basins are made up of plates consisting of the crust and...  [view full summary] Science Objects are two hour on-line interactive inquiry-based content modules that help teachers better understand the science content they teach. This Science Object is the second of five Science Objects in the Plate Tectonics SciPack. It provides a conceptual understanding of what plates are and how they move, contributing to a constantly changing surface. The Earth’s continents and ocean basins are made up of plates consisting of the crust and the upper part of the mantle. One plate can consist of both continental and oceanic crust. These plates move very slowly (an inch or so per year) on the hot, deformable layer of the mantle beneath them. The outward transfer of Earth’s internal heat drives convection circulation in the mantle. This convection, together with gravitational pull on the plates themselves, causes the plates to move. [hide full abstract] Member Price: Free      Nonmember Price: Free

Science Object

Resources and Human Impact: Environmental Degradation Grade Level: Elementary School, Middle School Science Objects are two hour on-line interactive inquiry-based content modules that help teachers better understand the science content they teach. This Science Object is the third of four Science Objects in the Resources and Human Impact SciPack. It explores how human activities, such as reducing the amount of forest cover, increasing the amount and variety of chemicals that enter the atmosphere, intensive farming and fishing, and consuming fossil...  [view full summary] Science Objects are two hour on-line interactive inquiry-based content modules that help teachers better understand the science content they teach. This Science Object is the third of four Science Objects in the Resources and Human Impact SciPack. It explores how human activities, such as reducing the amount of forest cover, increasing the amount and variety of chemicals that enter the atmosphere, intensive farming and fishing, and consuming fossil fuels have changed Earth’s land, oceans, and atmosphere. Although the land, atmosphere, and the oceans have a limited capacity to absorb wastes and recycle materials naturally, humans have disrupted these natural cycles. Fresh water, limited in supply, is essential for life and most industrial processes. Overuse and pollution of rivers, lakes, oceans, and groundwater reduces the availability and suitability of these resources for all organisms. Technology used in the extraction and consumption of fossil fuels needed to meet the growing human demand has increased the depletion of nonrenewable energy resources such as fossil fuels, and degraded or altered the environment, both locally and globally. [hide full abstract] Member Price: Free      Nonmember Price: Free

Science Object

Plate Tectonics: Consequences of Plate Interactions Grade Level: Elementary School, Middle School, High School Science Objects are two hour on-line interactive inquiry-based content modules that help teachers better understand the science content they teach. This Science Object is the fourth of five Science Objects in the Plate Tectonic SciPack. It identifies the events that may occur and landscapes that form as a result of different plate interactions. The areas along plate margins are active. Plates pushing against one another can cause earthquakes, volcanoes,...  [view full summary] Science Objects are two hour on-line interactive inquiry-based content modules that help teachers better understand the science content they teach. This Science Object is the fourth of five Science Objects in the Plate Tectonic SciPack. It identifies the events that may occur and landscapes that form as a result of different plate interactions. The areas along plate margins are active. Plates pushing against one another can cause earthquakes, volcanoes, mountain formation, and very deep ocean trenches. Plates pulling apart from one another can cause smaller earthquakes, magma rising to the surface, volcanoes, and oceanic valleys and mountains from sea-floor spreading. Plates sliding past one another can cause earthquakes and rock deformation. [hide full abstract] Member Price: Free      Nonmember Price: Free

Science Object

Flow of Matter and Energy in Ecosystems: Does Matter Matter? Grade Level: Elementary School, Middle School, High School Science Objects are two hour on-line interactive inquiry-based content modules that help teachers better understand the science content they teach. This Science Object is the first of three Science Objects in the Flow of Matter and Energy in Ecosystems SciPack. It explores the structure of the biomass in an ecosystem and overall cycling of matter. However complex the workings of living organisms, they share with all other systems the same physical...  [view full summary] Science Objects are two hour on-line interactive inquiry-based content modules that help teachers better understand the science content they teach. This Science Object is the first of three Science Objects in the Flow of Matter and Energy in Ecosystems SciPack. It explores the structure of the biomass in an ecosystem and overall cycling of matter. However complex the workings of living organisms, they share with all other systems the same physical principles that describe the conservation and transformation of matter. Ecosystems are a community of interdependent organisms and the chemical and physical factors making up the environment with which they interact. For every ecosystem on Earth there is a particular biomass (matter) distribution among organisms in its populations. While the specific biomass distribution in any given ecosystem is unique because of resource availability, there is a common overall biomass distribution pattern in all ecosystems. Greater biomass exists in populations that obtain matter from the physical environment than in populations that obtain matter from other living organisms. As matter flows through different levels of organization in living systems—cells, organs, organisms, communities—and between living systems and the physical environment, chemical elements are recombined in different ways. Matter is conserved through each change. Learning Outcomes: Define an ecosystem and understand how it comprises an interdependent community of organisms along with their interactions with the chemical and physical components of the environment Categorize organisms in a community based on their sources of matter/biomass and nutrients as one of the following: producers, herbivores (primary consumers), carnivores (secondary consumers; tertiary or top-consumers), omnivores, and decomposers Predict the relative biomass for different levels in a biomass pyramid for a typical ecosystem Explain how matter is conserved in the interactions between consumers and producers, but that in a biomass pyramid there is less biomass at the consumer level compared to the producer level [hide full abstract] Member Price: Free      Nonmember Price: Free

Science Object

Earth's Changing Surface: Changing Earth From Within Grade Level: Elementary School, Middle School Science Objects are two hour on-line interactive inquiry-based content modules that help teachers better understand the science content they teach. This Science Object is the first of three Science Objects in the Earth’s Changing Surface SciPack. It explores the forces within Earth that cause continual changes on its surface. Heat flow from the decay of radioactive isotopes and the gravitational energy from Earth’s original formation produce movement...  [view full summary] Science Objects are two hour on-line interactive inquiry-based content modules that help teachers better understand the science content they teach. This Science Object is the first of three Science Objects in the Earth’s Changing Surface SciPack. It explores the forces within Earth that cause continual changes on its surface. Heat flow from the decay of radioactive isotopes and the gravitational energy from Earth’s original formation produce movement of the tectonic plates, which cause earthquakes and volcanic eruptions and create mountains and ocean basins. [hide full abstract] Member Price: Free      Nonmember Price: Free

Science Object

Flow of Matter and Energy in Ecosystems: Carbon, Carbon Everywhere Grade Level: Elementary School, Middle School, High School Science Objects are two hour on-line interactive inquiry-based content modules that help teachers better understand the science content they teach. This Science Object is the second of three Science Objects in the Flow of Matter and Energy in Ecosystems SciPack. It explores how the cycling of carbon and other nutrients from non-living to living components and back is one of the most important of ecosystem functions and is representative of the cycling...  [view full summary] Science Objects are two hour on-line interactive inquiry-based content modules that help teachers better understand the science content they teach. This Science Object is the second of three Science Objects in the Flow of Matter and Energy in Ecosystems SciPack. It explores how the cycling of carbon and other nutrients from non-living to living components and back is one of the most important of ecosystem functions and is representative of the cycling of other elements. All matter that comprises organic molecules, including hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorous and others are transferred cyclically among living organisms and their non-living environment. The cycling of elements from non-living to living components and back is one of the most important ecosystem characteristics. For example, carbon, an essential element in organic molecules, is conserved as it is transferred from inorganic carbon in an ecosystem to organic molecules in living organisms of the ecosystem and back as inorganic carbon to the environment. The carbon cycle, in the following description, serves as an example of one of the essential biogeochemical cycles. Learning Outcomes: Trace the path of a carbon atom from the atmosphere through a biomass pyramid and ultimately back to the atmosphere Describe how photosynthesis and consumer respiration affect the flow of carbon through an ecosystem Predict the biological effects of increasing levels of atmospheric carbon due to the massive combustion of fossil fuels Identify the process that emits carbon to the atmosphere from producers, consumers and decomposers [hide full abstract] Member Price: Free      Nonmember Price: Free

Science Object

Nature of Light: Light as Waves Grade Level: Elementary School, Middle School Science Objects are two hour on-line interactive inquiry-based content modules that help teachers better understand the science content they teach. This Science Object is the second of four Science Objects in the Nature of Light SciPack. It provides conceptual and real world understanding of the idea that waves (including sound and seismic waves, waves on water, and light waves) have energy and can transfer energy when they interact with matter....  [view full summary] Science Objects are two hour on-line interactive inquiry-based content modules that help teachers better understand the science content they teach. This Science Object is the second of four Science Objects in the Nature of Light SciPack. It provides conceptual and real world understanding of the idea that waves (including sound and seismic waves, waves on water, and light waves) have energy and can transfer energy when they interact with matter. Wave behavior can be described in terms of how fast the disturbance propagates, and of the distance between successive crests or troughs of the wave (the wavelength). Accelerating electric charges produce electromagnetic waves which can be organized into a spectrum of varying wavelengths (and frequencies): radio waves, microwaves, radiant heat or infrared radiation, visible light, ultraviolet radiation, x-rays, and gamma rays. These wavelengths vary from radio waves (the longest) to gamma rays (the shortest). Human eyes only respond to a narrow range of wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation—what we call visible light. In empty space, electromagnetic waves of all wavelengths move at the same speed—the "speed of light." [hide full abstract] Member Price: Free      Nonmember Price: Free

Science Object

Interdependence of Life: Species Relationships Grade Level: Elementary School, Middle School, High School Science Objects are two hour on-line interactive inquiry-based content modules that help teachers better understand the science content they teach. This Science Object is the second of four Science Objects in the Interdependence of Life SciPack. It explores species relationships. All organisms, both land-based and aquatic, are interrelated by their need for resources. One example of a network of interconnections is called a food web;...  [view full summary] Science Objects are two hour on-line interactive inquiry-based content modules that help teachers better understand the science content they teach. This Science Object is the second of four Science Objects in the Interdependence of Life SciPack. It explores species relationships. All organisms, both land-based and aquatic, are interrelated by their need for resources. One example of a network of interconnections is called a food web; it is a model of the interdependence among the organisms in populations of different species. Predator-prey and parasitic relationships are examples of interspecies relationships, interdependence that occurs among organisms in different species in a food web. Interspecies relationships can be categorized as positive, negative, or neutral for the fitness of the individuals and their populations who are involved. A change in the population of one species can affect the population of another species. Intra-species relationships, or interdependence among organisms of the same species, can also affect a population. Learning Outcomes: Given the specific nature of an interspecies relationship, categorize the relationship between two interrelated populations as positive, negative or neutral for each population. Given a description of a change to one population depicted in a food web, predict changes that might occur in the size and rate of growth for other populations depicted in the food web. Given a line graph displaying changes in population sizes and rates of growth for a number of populations in a community, along with a description of the trophic relationships among populations, generate plausible hypotheses about causes of the changes depicted in the graph. [hide full abstract] Member Price: Free      Nonmember Price: Free