California wildfire
Wildfires are burning in the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Yosemite National Park. In this activity we ask students to examine various maps of this California region, calculate distances us...
Math and Science
Genres
Grade
Bits, bytes, and nibbles
Clicking on the image will show it larger.
I'm not very good at understanding how large my device capacities are and how big the files that I want to download are in comparison. I decid...
Raising the bar
Recovery of the treasure from the 1941 sinking of the S.S. Gairsoppa was recently completed and a huge amount of silver was brought up from the ocean floor. Let your students get a fe...
Methane math
Updated! Carbon dioxide and methane are our two most prevalent human-contributed greenhouse gases. This holstein cow is one of many huge contributors to our methane production. &nb...
My teacher says this stream is parabolic. Is he correct?
Instead of asking students to just believe what you've said, why not ask them to verify your assertions? Students plot the points of the stream, perhaps map them with an equation generated b...
Big gulp
Do you or your students love sugary drinks? What if it were against the law to order a large sugary drink where you lived? On September 13th, 2012 the New York City Health Department ban...
Cicada swarmaggedon
Most of the life cycle of the Magicicada Septendecim is spent underground. Then at 17 year intervals, these cicadas emerge from the ground, climb deciduous trees, molt into a...
Cruising
There have been a lot of cruise ship mishaps and disasters this year. While these are in the news, let your students consider how these floating cities manage their resources and which of their need...
Snow Days
Here is a picture from a recent snowfall at my house. How Much Snow Did I Get?
Have students make an estimate. Ask them for a guess that is probably a little to...
Voyager on the edge
The two Voyager space probes are in the news recently as they approach the edge of our solar system. Scientist can tell that the Voyager's environments are changing. They are receiving m...