SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS: USING PLANTS TO SOLVE ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (FREE LESSON)
From the food that we eat to the clothes that we wear, and even the gas that powers our cars, plants are all around us. In this lesson students will work in small groups to study the process of fermentation and measure the sugars held in different plant matter. Students will investigate plant cell structure with microscopes and use scientific equipment to measure alcohol production as they collaborate and share data to find solutions to real world problems. This lesson is funded by a generous grant from the Center for BioEnergy Innovation and will come to your school at no cost.
TOTALLY TECTONIC
Where do rocks come from? What is a rock cycle? Students investigate and categorize rocks according to their attributes. They investigate crystals and, build a model of a crystal. They explore tectonic plates and the relationship between plate movements, earthquakes, and mountain building.
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This Outreach Lesson is sponsored by Vulcan Materials Company.
FORCES OF PHYSICS
Students engineer complex machines using all six simple machines, use equations to solve problems pertaining to distance, time, speed, and velocity, and check their computations with a speed detection device. Waves will be investigated by using a vibration generator and Chladni plate. Students will construct an experiment using balloons and string to identify and explain how Newton’s laws of motion relate to movement.
BIO-BASICS: A CELL-ABRATION!
Compare and contrast plant and animal cells. Students dissect beans to see the basic structures of a plant. They use microscopes to observe the stages of mitosis in progression and then sequence a series of diagrams to coincide with what they observed. Included in this lesson is an overview of the systems of the human body.
THE MYSTERY OF ELECTRO-MAGNETS
Work in groups to build an electromagnet and conduct a series of tests comparing their results with other groups in the room. They’ll use that data to improve their magnet and better understand how the magnetic fields of the earth work.
ATOMS ALL AROUND
Use the periodic table to determine the properties of elements, identify acids and bases and test for PH using litmus paper. Students will collaborate to conduct an experiment and use an equation to determine the density of an object based on its mass and volume.
WHAT DOES IT TAKE FOR LIFE?
Explore the oxygen/carbon cycle. Students extract and explore DNA, dissect a flower to look at reproductive organs, use a Punnett Square to think about heredity in live snakes, and look at the parts of a giant leaf to understand how photosynthesis takes place.
BIODIVERSITY AND ADAPTATION
This lesson will help students explore adaptations and variations in populations. They will use a key to classify organisms and examine fossils to determine their relative age.
ENERGY TRANSFORMATIONS
Students explore different kinds of potential energy while they learn about heat transfer and the effects of forces on an object.
SYSTEMS ON EARTH
Students will investigate oceanic currents to explain how atmospheric flow and Earth’s features affect climate. This lesson explores the relationship between the interaction of air masses and weather conditions.
PRICING
Full payment is due at the time of presentation. To reserve a program and for more information, call Sheila at (423) 648-6040.
CDM's Outreach Lessons serve an area within a 35-mile radius of the Museum. An additional fuel charge will be added for areas outside this radius.
