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Asexual reproduction keeps rare orchids around when the pollinators are not.

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Asexual reproduction keeps rare orchids around when the pollinators are not.

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Explore Smithsonian: How do Orchids Attract Pollinators?

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S collect soil samples and send them to a lab for a culture report.

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The University of Oklahoma Citizen Science Soil Collection Program

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The Amazon River in South America is considered the largest river on Earth. With all this water, rainforest plants rarely lack this essential resource; instead, plants regularly release the excess water. This helps keep the forest cool, and water vapor can collect into clouds and eventually fall as rain. The water cycle of the rainforest is an important key to keeping the forests healthy and strong. In this fun role-playing skit your students will be able to describe the various processes of the water cycle in the Amazon. By performing the skit they will understand the changes water goes through throughout the water cycle and that this cycle runs continuously with different processes happening at the same time.

Which type of ice causes a rise in sea level when it melts: glaciers, icebergs, or both?

In this active model, students will simulate sugar molecule production to store energy-using ping pong balls!

Where is all of our planet's water stored?

Appropriate for: 4th Grade - 8th Grade

Standards for: 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, 5th Grade, 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade

Activity Time: 45 minutes

Subjects: Earth & Space Science

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In this role-playing skit your students will describe the various processes of the water cycle in the Amazon.

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Teacher discussion points: https://cleanet.org/resources/42777.html

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Key Concepts

Adding energy (heating) atoms and molecules increases their motion, resulting in an increase in temperature.

Removing energy (cooling) atoms and molecules decreases their motion, resulting in a decrease in temperature.

Energy can be added or removed from a substance through a process called conduction.

In conduction, faster-moving molecules contact slower-moving molecules and transfer energy to them.

During conduction the slower-moving molecules speed up and the faster-moving molecules slow down.

Temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of the atoms or molecules of a substance.

Heat is the transfer of energy from a substance at a higher temperature to a substance at a lower temperature.

Some materials are better conductors of heat than others.

Summary

Students will do an activity in which heat is transferred from hot water to metal washers and then from hot metal washers to water. Students will view a molecular animation to better understand the process of conduction at the molecular level. Students will also draw their own model of the process of conduction.

Objective

Students will be able to describe and draw a model, on the molecular level, showing how energy is transferred from one substance to another through conduction.

Evaluation

Download the student activity sheet, and distribute one per student when specified in the activity. The activity sheet will serve as the "Evaluate" component of each 5-E lesson plan.

Safety

Make sure you and your students wear properly fitting goggles.

Materials for Each Group

2 sets of large metal washers on a string

Styrofoam cup filled with hot water

Room-temperature water

2 thermometers

Graduated cylinder or beaker

Materials for the Teacher

1 Styrofoam cup

Thermometer

Hot plate or coffee maker

Large beaker or coffee pot

Note: Energy can also be transferred through radiation and convection, but this chapter only deals with heat transfer through conduction.

1. Discuss what happens when a spoon is placed in a hot liquid like soup or hot chocolate.

Ask students:

Did you ever put a metal spoon in hot soup or hot chocolate and then touch the spoon to your mouth? What do you think might be happening, between the molecules in the soup and the atoms in the spoon, to make the spoon get hot?

It's not necessary for students to answer these questions completely at this time. It is more important that they begin to think that something is going on at the molecular level that causes one substance to be able to make another hotter.

Students will record their observations and answer questions about the activity on the activity sheet. The Explain It with Atoms & Molecules and Take It Further sections of the activity sheet will either be completed as a class, in groups, or individually depending on your instructions. Look at the teacher version of the activity sheet to find the questions and answers.

2. Have students explore what happens when room-temperature metal is placed in hot water.

If you cannot get the materials for all groups to do this activity, you can do the activity as a demonstration or show students the videos Heating Washers and Cooling Washers.

Question to investigate

Why does the temperature of an object change when it is placed in hot water?

Materials for each group

2 sets of large metal washers on a string

Styrofoam cup filled with hot water

Room-temperature water

2 thermometers

Graduated cylinder or beaker

Materials for the teacher

1 Styrofoam cup

Thermometer

Hot plate or coffee maker

Large beaker or coffee pot

Teacher preparation

Use a string to tie 5 or 6 metal washers together as shown. Each group of students will need two sets of washers, each tied with a string.

Hang one set of washers for each group in hot water on a hot plate or in water in a coffee maker so that the washers can get hot. These washers will need to remain hot until the second half of the activity.

The other set should be left at room-temperature and may be distributed to students along with the materials for the activity.

Immediately before the activity, pour about 30 milliliters (2 tablespoons) of hot water (about 50 °C) into a Styrofoam cup for each group. Be sure to pour one cup of hot water for you to use as a control.

Tell students that they are going to see if the temperature of hot water changes as a result of placing room-temperature metal washers in the water. The only way to tell if the washers cause the temperature to change is to have a cup of hot water without washers. Explain that you will have this cup of hot water, which will be the control.

You will need to place your thermometer in the cup of hot water at the same time the students do. Have students record the initial temperature of the control in their charts on the activity sheet, along with the initial temperature of their own cup of hot water. The temperature of the two samples should be about the same.

Procedure

1. Place a thermometer in your cup to measure the initial temperature of the water. Record the temperature of the water in the "Before" column in the chart on the activity sheet. Be sure to also record the initial temperature of the water in the control cup.

2. Use another thermometer to measure the temperature of the washers. Record this in the "Before" column.

Note: It is a little awkward to take the temperature of the washers with a regular thermometer because there is such a small point of contact between the bulb of the thermometer and the surface of the washers. The washers should be about room-temperature.

Ask students to make a prediction:

What will happen to the temperature of the water and the washers if you place the washers into the hot water?

1. With the thermometer still in the water, hold the string and lower the metal washers all the way into the hot water.

2. Observe any change in the temperature of the water. Leave the washers in the water until the temperature stops changing. Record the temperature of the water in each cup in the "After" column.

Temperature of ...

Before

After

1. Remove the washers from the water. Then take and record the temperature of the washers in the "After" column.

2. Empty the cup in a waste container or sink.

Expected results

The temperature of the water will decrease a bit and the temperature of the washers will increase a bit. The amount of temperature decrease and increase is really not that important. What is important is that there is a temperature decrease in the water and a temperature increase in the washers.
Read more about energy and temperature in the teacher background section.
Note: Eventually two objects at different temperatures that are in contact will come to the same temperature. In the activity, the washers and water will most likely be different temperatures. For the purposes of this activity, the washers and water are only in contact for a short time, so most likely will not come to the same temperature.

Students may ask why the temperature of the water went down by a different amount than the temperature of the washers went up. The same amount of energy left the water as went into the washers, but it takes a different amount of energy to change the temperature of different substances.

3. Have students explore what happens when hot metal is placed in room-temperature water.

Ask students:

How do you think the temperature will change if you place hot washers into room-temperature water?

Pour about 30 milliliters of room-temperature water into the control cup. Place a thermometer in the cup and tell students the temperature of the water.

Pour about 30 milliliters of room-temperature water into your Styrofoam cup.

Place a thermometer into the water and record its temperature in the "Before" column in the chart on the activity sheet. Be sure to also record the initial temperature of the water in the control cup.

Remove the washers from the hot water where they have been heating and quickly use a thermometer to measure the temperature of the washers. Record this in the "Before" column on your activity sheet.

With the thermometer still in the water, hold the string and lower the hot metal washers all the way into the water.

Observe any change in the temperature of the water. Leave the washers in the water until the temperature stops changing. Record the temperature of the water in your cup in the "After" column in the chart below. Also record the temperature of the water in the control cup.

Remove the washers from the water. Take and record the temperature of the washers.

Temperature of ...

Before

After

Expected results

The temperature of the water increases and the temperature of the washers decreases.

4. Discuss student observations and what may have caused the temperature of the metal washers and water to change.

Ask students:

How did the temperature of the washers and water change in both parts of the activity?

Based on their data, students should realize that the temperature of both the washers and water changed.

Knowing what you do about heating and cooling atoms and molecules, why do you think the temperature changed?

If necessary, guide students' thinking about why the temperature of each changed by asking them which were probably moving faster, the atoms in the metal washers or the molecules in the water. Tell students that the molecular model animation you will show next will show them why the temperature of both changed.

5. Show two animations to help students understand how energy is transferred from one substance to another.
Show the molecular model animation Heated Spoon.
Point out to students that the water molecules in the hot water are moving faster than the atoms in the spoon. The water molecules strike the atoms of the spoon and transfer some of their energy to these atoms. This is how the energy from the water is transferred to the spoon. This increases the motion of the atoms in the spoon. Since the motion of the atoms in the spoon increases, the temperature of the spoon increases.

It is not easy to notice, but when the fast-moving water molecules hit the spoon and speed up the atoms in the spoon, the water molecules slow down a little. So when energy is transferred from the water to the spoon, the spoon gets warmer and the water gets cooler.

Explain to students that when fast-moving atoms or molecules hit slower-moving atoms or molecules and increase their speed, energy is transferred. The energy that is transferred is called heat. This energy transfer process is called conduction.
Show the molecular model animation Cooled Spoon.
Point out to students that in this case, the atoms in the spoon are moving faster than the water molecules in the cold water. The faster-moving atoms in the spoon transfer some of their energy to the water molecules. This causes the water molecules to move a little faster and the temperature of the water to increase. Since the atoms in the spoon transfer some of their energy to the water molecules, the atoms in the spoon slow down a little. This causes the temperature of the spoon to decrease.

Ask students:

Describe how the process of conduction caused the temperature of the washers and water to change in the activity.

Room-temperature washers in hot water

When the room-temperature washers are placed in hot water, the faster-moving water molecules hit the slower-moving metal atoms and make the atoms in the washers move a little faster. This causes the temperature of the washers to increase. Since some of the energy from the water was transferred to the metal to speed them up, the motion of the water molecules decreases. This causes the temperature of the water to decrease.

Hot washers in room-temperature water

When the hot metal washers are placed in the room temperature water, the faster-moving metal atoms hit the slower-moving water molecules and make the water molecules move a little faster. This causes the temperature of the water to increase. Since some of the energy from the metal atoms was transferred to the water molecules to speed them up, the motion of the metal atoms decreases. This causes the temperature of the washers to decrease.

6. Discuss the connection between molecular motion, temperature, and conduction.

Ask students:

How does the motion of the atoms or molecules of a substance affect the temperature of the substance?

If the atoms or molecules of a substance are moving faster, the substance has a higher temperature. If its atoms or molecules are moving slower, then it has a lower temperature.

What is conduction?

Conduction occurs when two substances at different temperatures are in contact. Energy is always transferred from the substance with the higher temperature to the one at lower temperature. As energy is transferred from the hotter substance to the colder one, the colder substance gets warmer and the hotter substance gets cooler. Eventually the two substances become the same temperature.

Students tend to understand heating but often have a misconception about how things are cooled. Just like heating a substance, cooling a substance also works by conduction. But instead of focusing on the slower-moving molecules speeding up, you focus on the faster-moving molecules slowing down. The faster-moving atoms or molecules of the hotter substance contact slower-moving atoms or molecules of the cooler substance. The faster-moving atoms and molecules transfer some of their energy to the slower-moving atoms and molecules. The atoms and molecules of the hotter substance slow down, and its temperature decreases. An object or substance can't get colder by adding "coldness" to it. Something can only get colder by having its atoms and molecules transfer their energy to something that is colder.

7. Have students draw molecular models to show conduction between a spoon and water.

Note: In the model you will show students, the change in speed of both the water molecules and the atoms in the spoon is represented with different numbers of motion lines. Students may remember that when atoms or molecules move faster, they get further apart, and when they move slower, they get closer together. For this activity, the change in distance between water molecules or between atoms in the spoon is not the focus, and therefore it is not shown in the model. You could tell students that models can emphasize one feature over another, in order to help focus on the main point being represented.

Room-temperature spoon placed in hot water

Project the illustrations Spoon in Hot Water Before & After from the activity sheet.

Have students look at the motion lines in the "Before" picture on their activity sheet. Then ask students how the motion of the atoms and molecules would change in the "After" picture. The activity sheet, along with the image you are projecting, does not have motion lines drawn in the "After" picture. Putting these in correctly is the students' task.

Tell students to add motion lines to the "After" illustration and add descriptive words like "warmer" or "cooler" to describe the change in temperature of the water and the spoon.

Hot spoon placed in room-temperature water

Project the illustrations Hot spoon in room-temperature water before & after from the activity sheet

Have students look at the second set of "Before" and "After" pictures. Tell students to add motion lines to the "After" illustration and add descriptive words like "warmer" or "cooler" to describe the change in temperature of the water and the spoon.

8. Show a simulation to illustrate that temperature is the average kinetic energy of atoms or molecules.

The following simulation shows that at any temperature, the atoms or molecules of a substance are moving at a variety of speeds. Some molecules are moving faster than others, some slower, but most are in-between.

Note: After pressing "Start", the simulation works best if you cycle through all the buttons before using it for instruction with students..
Show the simulation Temperature.
After cycling through the "Cold", "Medium", and "Hot" buttons, choose "Medium" to begin the discussion with students. Tell students that this simulation shows the relationship between energy, molecular motion, and temperature.

Tell students that anything that has mass and is moving, no matter how big or small, has a certain amount of energy, called kinetic energy. The temperature of a substance gives you information about the kinetic energy of its molecules. The faster the molecules of a substance move, the higher the kinetic energy, and the higher the temperature. The slower the molecules move, the lower the kinetic energy, and the lower the temperature. But at any temperature, the molecules don't all move at the same speed so temperature is actually a measure of the average kinetic energy of the molecules of a substance.

These ideas apply to solids, liquids, and gases. The little balls in the simulation represent molecules and change color to help visualize their speed and kinetic energy. The slow ones are blue, the faster ones are purple or pink, and the fastest are red. Explain also that individual molecules change speed based on their collisions with other molecules. Molecules transfer their kinetic energy to other molecules through conduction. When a fast-moving molecule hits a slower-moving molecule, the slower molecule speeds up (and turns more red) and the faster molecule slows down (and turns more blue).

Explain that at any temperature, most of the molecules are moving at about the same speed and have about the same kinetic energy, but there are always some that are moving slower and some that are moving faster. The temperature is actually a combination, or average, of the kinetic energy of the molecules. If you could place a thermometer in this simulation, it would be struck by molecules going at different speeds so it would register the average kinetic energy of the molecules.

To add energy, start with "Cold" and then press "Medium" and then "Hot".
Ask students:

What do you notice about the molecules as energy is added?

As energy is added, more molecules are moving faster. There are more pink and red molecules but there are still some slower-moving blue ones.

To remove energy, start with "Hot" and then press "Medium" and then "Cold".
Ask students:

What do you notice about the molecules as energy is removed?

As energy is removed, more molecules are moving slower. There are more purple and blue molecules, but a few still change to pink.

9. Have students try one or more extensions and use conduction to explain these common phenomena.

Compare the actual temperature and how the temperature feels for different objects in the room.

Ask students:

Touch the metal part of your chair or desk leg and then touch the cover of a textbook. Do these surfaces feel like they are the same or a different temperature?

They should feel different.

Why does the metal feel colder even though it is the same temperature as the cardboard?

Tell students that even though the metal feels colder, the metal and the cardboard are actually the same temperature. If students don't believe this, they can use a thermometer to take the temperature of metal and cardboard in the room. After being in the same room with the same air temperature, both surfaces should be at the same temperature.

Show the animation Conducting Energy to help answer the question about why metal feels colder than cardboard.
Tell students to watch the motion of the molecules in the metal, cardboard, and in the finger.

Explain that the molecules in your finger are moving faster than the molecules in the room-temperature metal. Therefore the energy from your finger is transferred to the metal. Because metal is a good conductor, the energy is transferred away from the surface through the metal. The molecules in your skin slow down as your finger continues to lose energy to the metal, so your finger feels cooler.

Like the metal, the molecules in your finger are moving faster than the molecules in the room-temperature cardboard. Energy is transferred from your finger to the surface of the cardboard. But because cardboard is a poor conductor, the energy is not easily transferred away from the surface through the cardboard. The molecules in your skin move at about the same speed. Because your finger does not lose much energy to the cardboard, your finger stays warm.

Compare the actual temperature and how the temperature feels for water and air.

Have students use two thermometers to compare the temperature of room-temperature water and the temperature of the air. They should be about the same.

Ask students:

Put your finger in room-temperature water and another finger in the air. Do the water and the air feel like they are the same or a different temperature?

The finger in the water should feel colder.

Why does the water feel cooler even though it is the same temperature as the air?

Remind students that even though the water feels colder, the water and the air are actually about the same temperature. Students should realize that water is better than air at conducting energy. As energy is drawn more rapidly away from your finger, your skin feels colder.

Consider why cups of cold and hot water both come to room-temperature.

Have students think about and explain the following situation:

Let's say that you put a cup of cold water in one room and a cup of hot water in another room. Both rooms are at the same room-temperature. Why does the cold water get warmer and the hot water get cooler?

In both cases, energy will move from an area of higher temperature to an area of lower temperature. So, the energy from room-temperature air will move into the cold water, which warms the water. And the energy from the hot water will move into the cooler air, which cools the water.

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Adding energy (heating) atoms and molecules increases their motion, resulting in an increase in temperature. Removing energy (cooling) atoms and molecules decreases their motion, resulting in a decrease in temperature. Energy can be added or removed from a substance through a process called conduction. In conduction, faster-moving molecules contact slower-moving molecules and transfer energy to them.

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Introduction

In this activity, students will monitor the temperature of a melting ice cube.
What is the temperature of ice as it melts?

Standards

Physical Science - Properties and Changes of Matter
A substance has characteristic properties, such as density, a boiling point, and solubility, all of which are independent of the amount of the sample. A mixture of substances often can be separated into the original substances using one or more of the characteristic properties.

Physical Science - Transfer of Energy
Energy is a property of many substances and is associated with heat, light, electricity, mechanical motion, sound, nuclei and the nature of a chemical. Energy is transferred in many ways.

Materials

Temperature sensor

Plastic bowl or cup

Refrigerator with freezer compartment

Water

Measuring spoons

Measuring cup

Table salt

Safety

There are no special safety concerns in this activity.

Procedure

Make some ice cubes in the freezer compartment of a refrigerator, using the ice cube tray. This will allow you to do the first part of the experiment.

Have the small bowl ready for adding the ice cube and water. Set up the temperature sensor to record for at least 20 minutes.

When the first two experiments are finished, set up the temperature sensor in the freezer compartment and freeze the sensor tip into the center of an ice cube. This will allow you to do the third part of the experiment.

Prediction I

Suppose you put a temperature sensor in a small cup of water and set the cup in a freezer until the water was frozen solid with the sensor frozen into it. Suppose the freezer compartment is well below freezing, say about -5 °C.

You would then monitor the temperature through the following steps:

Take the ice and sensor out of the freezer and start recording temperature.

Record temperature until the ice is entirely melted.

Draw how you think this temperature graph would look. Label all of the events along the way. If there are steps in the graph, label what happens at each step. Note that 0 °C is the freezing point of water, and draw your graph values accordingly.

Collect Data I

Remove one ice cube from the tray.

Put the ice cube into the bowl and add just enough water to float the ice cube.

Immediately put the temperature sensor into the bowl.

Record the temperature until the ice cube melts completely.

Collect Data II

Repeat the entire experiment, except this time put the ice into salt water. Use the following proportions to make a concentration about the same as seawater: 1 teaspoon (6 g) salt to 3/4 cup (5.7 fl oz, 170 ml) water. If you wish, you can make a more concentrated salt solution to have a more dramatic effect.

Remove one ice cube from the tray.

Put the ice cube into the bowl of salt water.

Immediately put the temperature sensor into the bowl.

Record the temperature until the ice cube melts completely.

Collect Data III

Repeat the entire experiment, except this time freeze the temperature sensor into the center of the ice cube. This will probably take overnight.

When you remove the ice cube from the freezer, start recording temperature as soon as possible.

Put the ice cube into the bowl and add just enough water to float the ice cube.

Record the temperature until the ice cube melts completely.

Analysis

Review your graphs and previous responses to help answer the following questions.

Conclusion

Concluding Career STEM Question

Global warming is a major consideration of climatologists.

Further Investigation

The model below shows a hot liquid next to a cold solid, separated by a wall. The color represents kinetic energy or temperature: red is more energy, white is less energy.

Run the model and write down the differences between a liquid and a solid.

Then remove the barrier and watch what happens to the solid.

Copyright © 2017 The Concord Consortium. All rights reserved. This activity is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License . The software is licensed under Simplified BSD , MIT or Apache 2.0 licenses. Please provide attribution to the Concord Consortium and the URL http://concord.org.

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Introduction In this activity, students will monitor the temperature of a melting ice cube. What is the temperature of ice as it melts? Standards Physical Science - Properties and Changes of Matter A substance has characteristic properties, such as density, a boiling point, and solubility, all of which are independent of the amount of the sample.

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When we touch something that is hot or cold, what are we actually sensing? Is it the temperature of the object, or the rate at which heat flows between the object and our hand?

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Mark an Atom and Trace and Atom Simulation - Gas

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Mark an Atom and Trace and Atom Simulation - Gas

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Mark an Atom and Trace and Atom Simulation - Liquid

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Mark an Atom and Trace and Atom Simulation - Liquid

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Temperature and Particle Motion Simulation

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Temperature and Particle Motion Simulation

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Multimedia: Molecules in Motion | Chapter 1, Lesson 2 | Middle School Chemistry

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Videos and illustrations from Chapter 1, Lesson 2 of the Middle School Chemistry Unit produced by the American Chemical Society

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Storyline Overview: Students explore the evidence for climate change and create a plan to minimize the carbon footprint of their home, school or community

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Storyline Overview: Students explore the evidence for climate change and create a plan to minimize the carbon footprint of their home, school or community

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SCALE Task 2 - Culminating Project Organizer

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SCALE Task 2 - Culminating Project Organizer

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6.4 SCALE Climate Change - Task 2 Culminating Project Organizer.pdf

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6.4 SCALE Climate Change - Task 2 Lesson Plan.pdf

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Our population is expected to grow to over 9 billion by 2050, yet the ability of our environment to provide space, food, and energy are limited. Explore population growth from 1 CE to 2050, see how our numbers impact the environment, and learn about the key advances and events allowing our numbers to grow.

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SCALE Task 1 - Teacher Background Knowledge

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6.4 SCALE Climate Change - Task 1 Student Handout "How our Earth system stays not too hot and not too cold.pdf

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6.4 SCALE Climate Change - Task 1 [Student].pdf

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An interactive Punnett Square calculator to work out patterns of inheritance for any autosomal recessive genetic trait or disease.

Use this Punnett square as a tool to work out patterns of autosomal recessive inheritance. Drag and drop an icon from the top for the mother and the father, based on whether they are affected, unaffected, or carriers of a trait or disease. Customize the Punnett square by selecting a letter from the alphabet on the right. Tap MATE and see all possible gene combinations for offspring based on the parents�€™ genes. A recessive trait/disease results when offspring inherit two copies of a recessive gene (a) �€" one from each parent. In this case, 1 of 4 possible gene combinations is aa, so 25% of offspring will have the trait/disease. Aa offspring (50%) have one dominant and one recessive gene; they will not have the trait/disease but are �€œcarriers�€� of the recessive gene. An AA offspring does not have the trait/disease. There is no possibility of passing on a recessive gene (a) to the next generation. An Aa offspring does not have the trait/disease, but is a �€œhealthy carrier�€� with one copy of the recessive gene (a) that may be passed on to the next generation. An aa offspring has the trait/disease, and will pass the recessive gene (a) on to the next generation. Tap OFFSPRING again to see which of the four possible gene combinations may occur for another pregnancy.

Punnett, recessive, inheritance, gene, mutation, offspring, probability, disease, trait, autosomal, calculator, dominant, carrier, risk, Punett, Punnette, Punnet

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Punnett Square Blank :: CSHL DNA Learning Center

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An interactive Punnett Square calculator to work out patterns of inheritance for any autosomal recessive genetic trait or disease. Use this Punnett square as a tool to work out patterns of autosomal recessive inheritance. Drag and drop an icon from the top for the mother and the father, based on whether they are affected, unaffected, or carriers of a trait or disease.

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DCI LS1.B

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Identical twins that look different but act similar. Stop at 2:15 for the purposes of engage, but you can return later for more evidence from the end of the video in the Explain phase.

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Mosa Mack Science Genetics vs. Environment

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What happens when ocean currents and air masses interact? Find out in Weather Lab! Take on the role of a meteorologist by predicting spring weather and how people should dress for it in particular regions of the United States.

Weather Lab is a tool to help visualize how North America's weather is formed. This lab is designed to model the complex interactions between air masses and ocean currents, but like all models it represents probable outcomes. Each prediction you make is for possible outcomes during Spring.

Weather Lab is available as a website for desktop and laptop computers, tablets, and smartphones.
Frequently Asked Questions
This interactive was funded under the Investing in Innovation (i3) validation grant (U396B100097) awarded to the Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC) by the U.S. Department of Education. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations contained in this work do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Education or other funders.

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What happens when ocean currents and air masses interact? Find out in Weather Lab! Take on the role of a meteorologist by predicting spring weather and how people should dress for it in particular regions of the United States. Weather Lab is a tool to help visualize how North America's weather is formed.

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When a front passes over an area, it means a change in the weather. Many fronts cause weather events such as rain, thunderstorms, gusty winds, and tornadoes. At a cold front, there may be dramatic thunderstorms. At a warm front, there may be low stratus clouds. Usually, the skies clear once the front has passed.

A weather front is a transition zone between two different air masses at the Earth's surface. Each air mass has unique temperature and humidity characteristics. Often there is turbulence at a front, which is the borderline where two different air masses come together. The turbulence can cause clouds and storms.

Instead of causing clouds and storms, some fronts just cause a change in temperature. However, some storm fronts start Earth's largest storms. Tropical waves are fronts that develop in the tropical Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. These fronts can develop into tropical storms or hurricanes if conditions allow.

Fronts move across the Earth's surface over multiple days. The direction of movement is often guided by high winds, such as Jet Streams. Landforms like mountains can also change the path of a front.

There are four different types of weather fronts: cold fronts, warm fronts, stationary fronts, and occluded fronts.

Cold Front

A cold front forms when a cold air mass pushes into a warmer air mass. Cold fronts can produce dramatic changes in the weather. They move fast, up to twice as fast as a warm front. As a cold front moves into an area, the heavier (more dense) cool air pushes under the lighter (less dense) warm air, causing it to rise up into the troposphere. Lifted warm air ahead of the front produces cumulus or cumulonimbus clouds and thunderstorms.

As the cold front passes, winds become gusty. There is a sudden drop in temperature, and also heavy rain, sometimes with hail, thunder, and lightning. Atmospheric pressure changes from falling to rising at the front. After a cold front moves through your area, you may notice that the temperature is cooler, the rain has stopped, and the cumulus clouds are replaced by stratus and stratocumulus clouds or clear skies.

On weather maps, a cold front is represented by a solid blue line with filled-in triangles along it, like in the map. The triangles are like arrowheads pointing in the direction that the front is moving. Notice on the map that temperatures at the ground level change from warm to cold as you cross the front line.

Warm Front

A warm front forms when a warm air mass pushes into a cooler air mass, shown in the image to the right (A). Warm fronts often bring stormy weather as the warm air mass at the surface rises above the cool air mass, making clouds and storms. Warm fronts move more slowly than cold fronts because it is more difficult for the warm air to push the cold, dense air across the Earth's surface. Warm fronts often form on the east side of low-pressure systems where warmer air from the south is pushed north.

You will often see high clouds like cirrus, cirrostratus, and middle clouds like altostratus ahead of a warm front. These clouds form in the warm air that is high above the cool air. As the front passes over an area, the clouds become lower, and rain is likely. There can be thunderstorms around the warm front if the air is unstable.

On weather maps, the surface location of a warm front is represented by a solid red line with red, filled-in semicircles along it, like in the map on the right (B). The semicircles indicate the direction that the front is moving. They are on the side of the line where the front is moving. Notice on the map that temperatures at ground level are cooler in front of the front than behind it.

Stationary Front

A stationary front forms when a cold front or warm front stops moving. This happens when two masses of air are pushing against each other, but neither is powerful enough to move the other. Winds blowing parallel to the front instead of perpendicular can help it stay in place.

A stationary front may stay put for days. If the wind direction changes, the front will start moving again, becoming either a cold or warm front. Or the front may break apart.

Because a stationary front marks the boundary between two air masses, there are often differences in air temperature and wind on opposite sides of it. The weather is often cloudy along a stationary front, and rain or snow often falls, especially if the front is in an area of low atmospheric pressure.

On a weather map, a stationary front is shown as alternating red semicircles and blue triangles. Notice how the blue triangles point in one direction, and the red semicircles point in the opposite direction.

Occluded Front

Sometimes a cold front follows right behind a warm front. A warm air mass pushes into a colder air mass (the warm front), and then another cold air mass pushes into the warm air mass (the cold front). Because cold fronts move faster, the cold front is likely to overtake the warm front. This is known as an occluded front.

At an occluded front, the cold air mass from the cold front meets the cool air that was ahead of the warm front. The warm air rises as these air masses come together. Occluded fronts usually form around areas of low atmospheric pressure.

There is often precipitation along an occluded front from cumulonimbus or nimbostratus clouds. Wind changes direction as the front passes and the temperature either warms or cools. After the front passes, the sky is usually clearer, and the air is drier.

On a weather map, shown to the right, an occluded front looks like a purple line with alternating triangles and semicircles pointing in the direction that the front is moving. It ends at a low pressure area shown with a large 'L' on the map, begins at the other end when cold and warm fronts connect.

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When a front passes over an area, it means a change in the weather. Many fronts cause weather events such as rain, thunderstorms, gusty winds and tornadoes.

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Meteorologist Ryan Davidson Explains Weather Maps

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ESS2C - The Role of Water in Earth's Surface Processes

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Due to Adobe's decision to stop supporting and updating Flash ® in 2020, browsers such as Chrome, Safari, Edge, Internet Explorer and Firefox will discontinue support for Flash-based content. As a result, this site has been retired.

If you have additional questions please contact Savvas Learning Company to find either your sales rep or the technical support form.

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Due to Adobe's decision to stop supporting and updating Flash ® in 2020, browsers such as Chrome, Safari, Edge, Internet Explorer and Firefox will discontinue support for Flash-based content. As a result, this site has been retired. If you have additional questions please contact Savvas Learning Company to find either your sales rep or the technical support form.

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STEM Encyclopedia of Water

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instant access to thousands of great kids books.

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Instantly access 35,000 high-quality books for kids

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The leading digital library for kids offering unlimited access to 35,000 of the best children's books of all time. Sign up for a free 30 day trial to instantly access high-quality online books for kids, ebooks, audio books, quizzes, videos, and more.

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From Rain Drop to Tap

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instant access to thousands of great kids books.

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Instantly access 35,000 high-quality books for kids

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The leading digital library for kids offering unlimited access to 35,000 of the best children's books of all time. Sign up for a free 30 day trial to instantly access high-quality online books for kids, ebooks, audio books, quizzes, videos, and more.

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Earth's Water Cycle

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instant access to thousands of great kids books.

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Instantly access 40,000 high-quality books for kids

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The leading digital library for kids offering unlimited access to 40,000 of the best children's books of all time. Sign up for a free 30 day trial to instantly access high-quality online books for kids, ebooks, audio books, quizzes, videos, and more.

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Signs of the Times: Collaborating with Communities to Improve Health and Environmental Equity

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6.3.0 SCALE Unit 3 Lift Off Task Cyanobacteria Algae - Nature via Nurture.pdf

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Understanding the Dangers of Blue-Green Algae (Cyanobacteria)

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Detailed Description

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have teamed up to create a water-cycle diagram for schools and kids. It is available in over 30 languages and also in an interactive version made for online viewing and investigating.

This diagram is a small part of USGS's Water Science School, where anyone of any age can learn all about water.

Details

Image Dimensions: 2412 x 1723

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The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have teamed up to create a water-cycle diagram for schools and kids. It is available in over 30 languages and also in an interactive version made for online viewing and investigating.

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Back to the water cycle on the USGS Water Science School.

Atmosphere

The atmosphere truly is the superhighway in the sky that moves water everywhere over the Earth.

The next time you go outside you will be standing in the Earth's atmosphere. The atmosphere is all the air from the bottom of an ant's leg up to where there is no more air-many miles in the sky.

The air outside may look invisible, but it is full of molecules, including water molecules, as water vapor. That big cumulus cloud (full of water) floating in the sky is the water cycle in action.

The water vapor all around you rises up into the sky to become part of a cloud which will float off with the winds, probably looking for a picnic to rain on. A cloud in the atmosphere can move for hundreds of miles before it releases its water as rain or snow. That is how water that evaporates from the ocean one day may end up as rainfall over Ezmerelda's tomato patch in Kansas the next day.

How much does a cloud weigh?

Clouds are made of water, and water has weight, so how can they float? They float because the air below them has weight, too-more weight. Think about oil and water-if you pour oil into water the oil floats to the top of the water. That is because oil is lighter (less dense) than water; the same thing applies to clouds in the sky.

What fools you is that the water vapor in the air in a clear, blue sky is invisible, and there is not enough water vapor to condense into clouds. Water vapor contains water molecules-one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms. You know hydrogen is the lightest of all elements, and, even when combined with an oxygen atom, the hydrogen acts like little "hot air balloons" that makes the vapor lighter than the molecules in the surrounding dry air. Water vapor naturally floats upwards, eventually condensing and forming clouds.

And, a cloud weighs ... According to NOAA, your average cumulus cloud one kilometer (0.62 miles) on a side will weigh about 998 million kilograms (2.2 billion pounds). That is equal to about 22 million (22,000,000) kids weighing 100 pounds each.

Learn more: Atmosphere | Condensation | "Little cloud that could" | Rainbows
(new window)

Fog and dew

Fog contains very tiny liquid water particles, like a cloud, and floats, like a cloud. Actually, fog IS a cloud, but one that swirls around your feet instead of high in the sky.

Fog forms when air containing invisible water vapor encounters cooler temperatures (next to the ground) and some of the water vapor condenses out into liquid water droplets. In this picture, as the day warms the air next to the ground will warm, too, and the fog particles will again evaporate back into invisible water vapor.

In the case of dew, water vapor in the air encounters a substance that has become cooler, such as the grass at night or even your glass of iced tea. The cooler temperatures causes the water vapor in the air to condense into liquid water-dew.

Fog and dew can join forces to become an intricate part on the water cycle in certain locations. On the island of Maui in the Hawaiian Islands, fog condenses into dew and drips onto the ground, contributing a significant amount of water to the forests during the non-rainy months.

Groundwater flow

If you pour a glass of water onto the ground it usually sinks right in ( infiltration), so you can imagine how much water sinks into the ground during a major storm ( Find out here). Here in Atlanta, Ga, USA it rains about 50 inches/year. Over a 100 square mile (10 miles by 10 miles) area, that means 87,000 billion gallons of water falls, with much of it soaking into the ground to become groundwater.

Yes, water below your feet is moving all the time, but, no, if you have heard there are rivers flowing below ground, that is not true. Water underground moves, due to gravity, downward and sideways. Groundwater serves many purposes in nature: keeping plants alive, filling aquifers, from which people can withdraw water, providing water to rivers and lakes, and eventually flowing into the oceans.

You may know that water's chemical composition is H ₂ O. A water molecule contains 2 hydrogen (H) atoms and 1 oxygen (O) atom.

One molecule of water in your glass won't quench your thirst, though. You need LOTS of water molecules, trillions of them. At normal temperatures all those individual water molecules like to stick together and form a liquid (the water in your glass).

Because of the way that the hydrogen and oxygen atoms exist in a water molecule, one water molecule is attracted to another water molecule. The opposite sides of a water molecule stick to each other just as opposite sides (poles) of magnets do.

Like a magnet, one side of the water molecule (the side with the oxygen atom) has a negative electrical charge while the other side, where the hydrogen atoms sit, has a positive charge. Since opposite charges attract each other, water molecules attract each other. So much so that when trillions of them get together, they often start sticking to each other and, thus, you have liquid water.

Ice and snow

Ice and glaciers are part of the water cycle, even though the water in them moves very slowly. The amount of ice on the Earth goes up and down as the world's climate cools and warms over thousands of years.

Lucky for us we're now in a warmer phase of the Earth's history, but the last Ice Age was only 18,000 years ago. At that time, ice covered the northern part of North America.

So much liquid water was locked up in ice back then that the oceans were about 400 feet (122 meters) lower than they are today. If all land ice melted today the seas would rise about 230 feet (70 meters).

Ice and glaciers are still very prevalent today, as you can see by looking at a satellite image of Greenland (now, why is it called "Green"land?). Glacial ice covers 10-11 percent of all land. In fact, most of the world's freshwater, about 68 percent, is locked up in ice, snow, and glaciers.

Ice caps influence the weather, too. The color white reflects sunlight (heat) more than darker colors, and as ice is so white, sunlight is reflected back out to the sky, which helps to create weather patterns.

Sublimation

When rain falls where you live, much of it disappears from evaporation, right? But what about at the top of Mt. Everest? The elevation is over 29,000 feet and temperatures at the peak are never above freezing, so it never rains there. It does snow a lot. We all know that snow melts, but if it never rises above freezing, how does snow not build up forever on Mt. Everest?

As this picture shows, winds, often at hurricane force, blow tons of snow off the peak. But a part of the water cycle called "sublimation" is also at work. Just as evaporation turns liquid water into water vapor gas, sublimation turns frozen water directly into water vapor gas, skipping the melting phase into a liquid.

Also, as with evaporation, the sun's heat causes sublimation to work, and on top of Mt. Everest on a clear day, the sun is very strong and provides energy for sublimation, even though it is below freezing.

Sublimation doesn't just occur on mountain peaks. If there is snow and ice buildup in your neighborhood then on a sunny and dry day sublimation is happening there, too.

Sunbathing - evaporation

If this drip sitting on a desert island is hoping to get a tan, she'd better hurry because the water cycle is not going to let her hang around here very long. A water drop laying in the sun on a hot day is just asking to be evaporated by the sun.

As soon as she sat down in her chair, the sun's heat began to evaporate her into water vapor gas, and so she will float off as millions of vapor particles up into the sky. The drip won't be upset, though, as her water vapor will eventually recombine to form clouds and then rain which will runoff the land into rivers which flow into the oceans, again. She can be back sunbathing by the next day.

Volcanic steam

Volcanoes cannot exactly get angry, but as this picture of Mt. St. Helens, USA in 2005 shows, they really do "blow off steam". It may not be a big component of the world's water cycle, but volcanoes and geysers do release steam into the air, steam which rises and becomes clouds.

What is interesting about the steam coming from a volcano is that the components of water are coming out from deep inside the earth, which is on the far edges of the water cycle. At a certain depth below the land surface you won't find liquid water, due to the tremendous temperatures and pressures. But the molten rock and material making up magma deep in the earth contains chemicals that later do form water molecules.

The World's Water

Where is Earth's Water?

In the first bar, notice how only 2.5% of all Earth's water is freshwater, which is what life needs to survive. Over 96% of all water is found in the oceans.

The middle bar shows the breakdown on that 2.5% which is freshwater. Almost all of it is locked up in ice and in the ground. Only 1.3% of all freshwater (which was only 2.5% of all water) is surface water, such as lakes and rivers, which serves most of life's needs.

The right side bar shows the breakdown of only the surface freshwater, which was only 1.3% of all freshwater. Most of surface freshwater is locked up in ice, and another 20% is in lakes. Notice the 0.46% of surface freshwater that is in rivers. Sounds like a tiny amount, but rivers are where humans get a large portion of their water from.

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Interactive Water Cycle Diagram for Kids (Advanced)

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The Water Cycle for Kids, from the USGS Water Science School.

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The folks at National Geographic just did a solid favor for all the adventurous outdoor photographers out there. They put every US Geological Survey (USGS) topographical map from across the United States on one easy-to-navigate site and made them easy to print out at home.

If you've ever gone hunting topo maps via the USGS, you know that it can be a bit of a pain because, not only is finding the quad you're looking for more difficult, the PDFs they have available aren't formatted for standard printer paper.

The National Geographic website solves both of these issues. First, the homepage greets you with a searchable, interactive map: all you have to do is search for or zoom in on the area you're looking for. Then, once you find your quad, just click on it and a printable PDF loads right up.

It's incredibly easy. I pulled this one up in a matter of seconds.

The printable PDF you get from Nat Geo is broken down into 5 pages. Page 1 (seen above) is the quad in context; Pages 2-5 are the USGS Quads with one quarter on each page so you can print the whole thing on your office printer instead of going to a print shop.

Finally, National Geographic added one more touch to their version: hill shading was added to each quarter so you can better visualize the topography.

This isn't going to be useful for all photographers, but if you're a landscape or nature photographer in the United States who likes to rough it, it makes finding and printing these incredibly detailed USGS maps a breeze.

Check out the website for yourself here.

(via Reddit via Fstoppers)

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Nat Geo Launched a Free Website for Printing Detailed Topographical Maps

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The folks at National Geographic just did a solid favor for all the adventurous outdoor photographers out there. They put every US Geological Survey (USGS) topographical map from across the United States on one easy-to-navigate site and made them easy to print out at home.

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Please ensure you have JavaScript enabled in your browser. If you leave JavaScript disabled, you will only access a portion of the content we are providing. Here's how.

Oceanic circulation, convection, climate, density, temperature

Understand the ocean's impact on global climate.

Investigate and describe how temperature differences drive oceanic water movement.

Explain how climate change can affect oceanic circulation systems.

Overview

Why is the ocean vital to our planet? There are many reasons, but one important one is that the ocean is a major player in regulating our weather and climate through currents. In this lesson plan, your students will model ocean currents with cups, water, and food coloring, and explore how temperature and density differences set deep ocean waters in motion to create a global oceanic circulation system.

NGSS Alignment

This lesson helps students prepare for these Next Generation Science Standards Performance Expectations:

MS-ESS2-6. Develop and use a model to describe how unequal heating and rotation of the Earth cause patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates.

This lesson focuses on these aspects of NGSS Three Dimensional Learning:

Science & Engineering Practices

Disciplinary Core Ideas

Crosscutting Concepts

Developing and Using Models. Develop and use a model to describe phenomena.

Planning and Carrying Out Investigations. Collect data to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence to answer scientific questions or test design solutions under a range of conditions.

Analyzing and Interpreting Data. Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for phenomena.

ESS2.C: The Roles of Water in Earth's Surface Processes. Variations in density due to variations in temperature and salinity drive a global pattern of interconnected ocean currents.

ESS2.D: Weather and Climate. The ocean exerts a major influence on weather and climate by absorbing energy from the sun, releasing it over time, and globally redistributing it through ocean currents.

Energy and Matter. Within a natural or designed system, the transfer of energy drives the motion and/or cycling of matter.

Systems and System Models. Models can be used to represent systems and their interactions-such as inputs, processes and outputs-and energy, matter, and information flows within systems.

Scale Proportion and Quantity. Time, space, and energy phenomena can be observed at various scales using models to study systems that are too large or too small.

Credits

Svenja Lohner, PhD, Science Buddies

Materials

Materials per group of 3-4 students:

Plastic cups, 9 oz. (2 of the same size)

CD

Laminated paper or stiff plastic sheet; available from Amazon.com. Plastic strips cut from the lid of clamshell boxes for fresh produce also work well.

Food coloring (dark colors such as blue and green work better than light colors)

Hot water

Ice water

Spoon for mixing

Small flashlight

Immersion thermometer; available from Amazon.com

Aluminum tray

Smartphone or tablet with Google's Science Journal app, available for free on Google Play for Android devices (version 4.4 or newer) or from the App Store for iOS devices (iOS 9.3 or newer).

Note: This project was tested with the Android version of Science Journal in which light intensity is measured using the ambient light sensor and given in lux. The iOS version uses the phone's camera to measure brightness resulting in data expressed in EV (Exposure Value). Lux values and Exposure Values are not the same. Whereas Exposure Value is a base-2 logarithmic scale, the lux scale is linear. This might affect your data and result in different values and graphs when you are using an iOS version of the app-both versions will work for this project though. The graph examples given in the procedure show light intensity in lux.

Materials for teacher preparation and demonstration:

Scissors

World map or globe

Plastic cup

Food coloring

Teaspoon

Oceanic circulation, convection, climate, density, temperature

Understand the ocean's impact on global climate.

Investigate and describe how temperature differences drive oceanic water movement.

Explain how climate change can affect oceanic circulation systems.

Explore Our Science Videos

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Oceanic Circulation: What Keeps the Ocean in Motion? | Lesson Plan

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Please ensure you have JavaScript enabled in your browser. If you leave JavaScript disabled, you will only access a portion of the content we are providing. Here's how. Oceanic circulation, convection, climate, density, temperature Understand the ocean's impact on global climate. Investigate and describe how temperature differences drive oceanic water movement.

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We teamed up with Esri to create a reimagined version of National Geographic MapMaker that is more accessible, more flexible and more relevant. The new MapMaker 4.0 is available now for you to rebuild your maps and access all of the exciting new features.

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MapMaker Launch Guide - National Geographic Society

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Curious Crew | Thermal Energy | Season 1 | Episode 107 | PBS

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An unpoppable balloon, spinning soda, a simple steamboat.

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Inheritance Calculator: Blank Punnett Square

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How Do Eggs Become Chickens or Other Living Things? - Next Generation science storylines

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This middle school unit on the structure of living organisms and their growth, development, and reproduction starts off with students encountering a series of news reports about the growing prevalence of backyard chicken coops across the country.

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Will the air be clean enough to breathe?

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Watch with sound off, stop at 3:30

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This Vibrating Bumblebee Unlocks a Flower's Hidden Treasure |  Deep Look

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Understanding a Punnett Square Interactive

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Take learning to the next level and transform the way you teach with a vast library of ready-to-use, standards-aligned, adaptable curriculum resources.

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The page you are trying to reach has been decommissioned. At McGraw Hill, we are committed to constantly improving our technology to meet the ever-changing needs of the educators and students we serve. As we focus on our new development efforts, it is time to say goodbye to some of our legacy sites and products.

If you have any questions or need product support, please contact us.

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The page you are trying to reach has been decommissioned. At McGraw Hill, we are committed to constantly improving our technology to meet the ever-changing needs of the educators and students we serve. As we focus on our new development efforts, it is time to say goodbye to some of our legacy sites and products.

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Develop a pollinator garden for your school which will attract the greatest number of pollinators while taking into consideration the plants and animals interaction with the environment.

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Animals Reproduce

I want you to take a minute and think about some of the animals on Earth. Some familiar ones probably come to mind: dogs and cats, elephants, insects, fish, polar bears, monkeys and things like that. But what about some that might not be as familiar to you? Things like sponges, worms and even corals are also animals, just like you, me and Fido.

Animals on Earth are a diverse and complex group. They come in all different shapes, sizes, forms and colors. And they live just about everywhere you can imagine. But one thing they do have in common is that they don't live forever, and instead have to reproduce to ensure that their genes get passed on to the next generation.

We're going to delve a little deeper into the two ways animals reproduce: sexually and asexually. And gain a better understanding of these two very different processes that have the same end goal: creating the next generation.

Sexual Reproduction

The most common way animals reproduce is through a process called sexual reproduction. This involves the exchange of genetic information between two different individuals. This is exactly how you came to be you. The key with sexual reproduction is that offspring are produced through fertilization, which is the fusion of two gametes, or sex cells. Your father's sperm fertilized your mother's egg and voila! You were given a combination of cells from both of them that created you as a unique individual. You can see how unique you are by comparing yourself to you siblings. Same parents; very different kids.

And this is why sexual reproduction is so cool in terms of evolution. Sexual reproduction increases genetic variability in offspring, which leads to a greater ability for a population to adapt to changing environments. Basically, the more diverse a group of animals is, the better able they are to deal with the crazy world we live in.

Let's look at an example to see just how important the enormous amount of genetic variation provided by sexual reproduction is to the survival of a species. Let's say that you are an elephant, and that you live among a group of other elephants. You and these other elephants all have very short trunks that can only reap the leaves of lower hanging branches on trees. Luckily for you, there's plenty of those around for you to munch on. But then, one day, someone comes by and cuts down all of those lower branches. Now you and your elephant buddies are stuck, staring up at the taller branches, wishing you could somehow climb up there to get your dinner. This group of elephants is in bad shape, because everyone is the same. There's no variation in trunk length, so when the low branches are gone, so are your meals.

But now, let's say that in your group of elephants there are individuals with all different lengths of trunks. Some are short, some are long and some are in-between. With this group, even if someone comes by and chops off all the lower branches, some of the elephants in your group will still survive, because there are individuals who can still reach the higher branches. This variation in a population's genetic makeup is exactly what will allow that population to survive, even if not all of the individual members do.

Asexual Reproduction

In contrast to sexual reproduction, asexual reproduction is when genetically identical individuals are produced from a single parent. The term literally means 'without sex'. The 'a' prefix means 'without'. There's no exchange of genetic information, no unique individual created and no fertilization of one sex cell by the other. In fact, the offspring is an exact copy of the parent. Sound familiar? It may be, because this is also known as cloning, where the offspring has the same genetic makeup as the parent.

Now, as we just saw, this clearly puts animals that reproduce this way at a disadvantage, at least in terms of their genetic diversity. There's no way for variety to enter the population, because there's no genetic mixing. But there are some upsides to asexual reproduction that may have you thinking twice about feeling badly for these guys.

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asexual & sexual reproduction in animals - video & lesson transcript | study.com

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Asexual & Sexual Reproduction in Animals - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

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I want you to take a minute and think about some of the animals on Earth. Some familiar ones probably come to mind: dogs and cats, elephants, insects, fish, polar bears, monkeys and things like that. But what about some that might not be as familiar to you?

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Sexual Reproduction: Inheriting Genes from Each Parent

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Sexual Reproduction: Inheriting Genes from Each Parent

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Sexual Reproduction

All living things, whether it's a one-celled amoeba or a trillion-celled puppy, want to reproduce. Reproduction is the process of making offspring. If organisms didn't reproduce, there would be no baby organisms and entire species would be lost. Some organisms can multiply through asexual reproduction. That's a type of reproduction that requires only one parent. We see this ability in one-celled organisms, like amoebas, as well as some plants and lesser species of animals. When organisms reproduce asexually, Junior looks just like his parent; in fact, he is genetically identical to his parent.

More complex organisms, like puppies, produce offspring through sexual reproduction. This is a type of reproduction that requires two parents. Junior gets a mix of genes from mom and dad, so with sexual reproduction we see that offspring are genetically unique. If we look at this family of dogs, we see that mom has brown ears and dad has white ears. Junior is born with one brown and one white ear. He looks like mom and dad in many ways, but he is not identical to either.

Gametes & Fertilization

In sexual reproduction, male and female reproductive cells come together. These cells are called gametes, but you might know them as sperm and egg. Each gamete contains half the number of chromosomes, or genetic material, of the organism. So, each sperm contains 50% of the father's genes and each egg contains 50% of the mother's genes. This makes gametes different from other cells in the body. A basic human body cell contains 46 chromosomes, but the egg and sperm only contain half that number, or 23 chromosomes. Why? Well, when an egg and a sperm come together, which is a process called fertilization, they contribute 23 chromosomes each. Add 23 and 23 together, and you get one happy 46-chromosome-containing fertilized egg that can now develop into a new human.

Meiosis

Gametes are produced by a type of cell division known as meiosis. It's meiosis that reduces the number of chromosomes in the cell down to 23. It's also meiosis that makes gametes genetically different from one another. After the cell division takes place, each sperm and each egg has its own unique genetic makeup. In other words, meiosis can be thanked for giving Junior his cute mismatched ears.

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sexual reproduction: inheriting genes from each parent - video & lesson transcript | study.com

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Sexual Reproduction: Inheriting Genes from Each Parent - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

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All living things, whether it's a one-celled amoeba or a trillion-celled puppy, want to reproduce. Reproduction is the process of making offspring. If organisms didn't reproduce, there would be no baby organisms and entire species would be lost. Some organisms can multiply through asexual reproduction. That's a type of reproduction that requires only one parent.

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In this activity, students learn about plant reproduction and use real data to construct explanations about which flowers are the most attractive to different pollinators.

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In this activity, students learn about plant reproduction and use real data to construct explanations about which flowers are the most attractive to different pollinators.

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6.3.1 Seeing the Invisible: Mutualism and Plant Reproduction.pdf

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The American Phytopathological Society (APS) is the premier scientific society dedicated to high-quality, innovative plant pathology research. For more than a century, members of APS have been making and sharing significant breakthroughs, both for the science and society. APS is driven by a distinctive community of scientists, whose energy and commitment ensure the global advancement of this critical science.

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Plants need a way to get the pollen - basically sperm - to the female parts of another flower. Most plants lure animal pollinators to spread these male gametes by producing sugary nectar. The bee laps up the sweet reward, is dusted with pollen and passively delivers it to the next bloom.

In contrast, buzz-pollinated flowers encourage bees to eat the pollen directly and hope some grains will make it to another flower. The evolutionary strategy is baffling to scientists.

"The flower is almost like playing hard to get," says Anne Leonard, a biologist at the University of Nevada, Reno who studies buzz pollination. "It's intriguing because these buzz-pollinated plants ask for a huge energy investment from the bees, but don't give much back."

Buzz Breakdown

Bumblebees forage for two food sources: nectar for a quick sugar rush to power their flights and pollen for protein. Most buzz-pollinated flowers are specialists that only offer pollen and they hide the grains at the bottom of tall, skinny anthers.

The bee bites down at the base of the anther, leaving little marks called bee kisses. She "unhooks" her flying muscles from her wings so she can contract them without taking flight. Then she begins to vibrate violently, a behavior scientists call sonication.

The vibrations travel through her soft body to the flower and shake up the pollen grains trapped inside anthers. When she buzzes hard enough, the pollen shoots out of the top and covers the bee. The bumblebee grooms herself, combing the pollen down and mixing it with saliva. She stores the pollen in sacs stuck to her legs as she makes her rounds.

What's the Buzz?

Buzz pollination is an unlikely evolutionary strategy because the plants are banking on bees working extra hard for a modest reward. Despite the risk of being ignored, buzz pollination has popped up in 20,000 flowering plants across a smattering of unrelated species. Leonard and her team are investigating what the strategy is all about. What are the evolutionary pressures that led so many buzz-pollinated plants to lose their nectar and to specialize in pollen? How do pollinators forage for pollen?

Leonard and her graduate student Jacob Francis search for answers from the bee's point of view. They dosed fake flowers with different amounts of sugar water to see if the bee works harder to get pollen and nectar. To measure the bee's effort, Francis rigged a mini-accelerometer to the base of the flowers with some structural wax, the kind you put on braces as a lip protectant.

"If the plant also offers nectar, for example, are the bees on a sugar high and buzz more vigorously?" asks Francis. Does this extra "buzz-thusiasm," as he calls it, remove too much pollen and actually harm the plant?

Previous research shows that the harder the bee buzzes, the more pollen it gets. The flower could be selecting for the bigger stronger buzzers that can fly longer distances and spread the flower's genes farther. The bee may be willing to put in the extra work because the buzz technique reduces competition - even honeybees are barred from access.

Reaping the Rewards

You may never have heard of buzz pollination, but chances are you've enjoyed blueberries, cranberries and peppers - just a few of the many crops that require a healthy population of wild bumblebees and other buzz-pollinators to produce fruit. Not only do these bees help buzz-pollinated plants, research shows that the presence of wild bumblebees improves the success of honeybee-managed crops.

Despite their importance to human agriculture, we are just beginning to understand what makes buzz-pollinators tick. Wild bumblebee populations are in wide decline partially because humans are messing with their pollen sources by replacing habitats with gardens or agricultural fields, Leonard says. She hopes her research will help reveal what will keep bee populations healthy.

"They pollinate lots of crops that can't be pollinated by honeybees," says Leonard. "People will be shocked about how little we know about the bee's most important resource."

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This Vibrating Bumblebee Unlocks a Flower's Hidden Treasure

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Plants need a way to get the pollen - basically sperm - to the female parts of another flower. Most plants lure animal pollinators to spread these male gametes by producing sugary nectar. The bee laps up the sweet reward, is dusted with pollen and passively delivers it to the next bloom.

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Calliope Hummingbird (Selasphorus calliope) A bird feeding on monkeyflower nectar. | the Internet Bird Collection | HBW Alive

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hbw.com/ibc/1226331. Extended version Paul Clarke, IBC1226331. Video of Calliope Hummingbird Selasphorus calliope at Evey Canyon, USA (United States). Accessible at hbw.com/ibc/1226331. ← Click inside, copy the code and then paste it into your web page code.Show me the embed as it will appear

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Water, which covers the majority of the earth's surface, circulates through the crust, oceans, and atmosphere in what is known as the "water cycle." Water evaporates from the earth's surface, rises and cools as it moves to higher elevations, condenses as rain or snow, and falls to the surface where it collects in lakes, oceans, soil, and in rocks underground.

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Water, which covers the majority of the earth's surface, circulates through the crust, oceans, and atmosphere in what is known as the "water cycle." Water evaporates from the earth's surface, rises and cools as it moves to higher elevations, condenses as rain or snow, and falls to the surface where it collects in lakes, oceans, soil, and in rocks underground.

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Mountains and Rain Shadows | Interactive Lesson | PBS LearningMedia

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Students explore how climate conditions can be completely different on either side of a mountain range in this interactive lesson from WGBH. Through satellite images, graphics, and video, they learn how winds, the ocean, and landforms interact to form clouds, precipitation, and rain shadows.

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Teaching Genetics with Dragons

Our newest dragon genetics game, Geniventure, engages students in exploring heredity, genetics, and the protein-to-trait relationship by breeding and studying virtual dragons.

Try Geniventure!

Are you a diehard fan of Geniverse, Genigames, GENIQUEST, GenScope, or BioLogica?

Unfortunately, it is getting more and more difficult to support this antiquated software. While we appreciate your loyalty to the prequels, we recommend Geniventure. It's awesome. We promise! Questions? Get in touch!

Email dragons@concord.org

Learn how students achieve a multilevel understanding of genetics with Geniventure in Science Scope.

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Learn how we integrated an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) into Geniventure in @Concord.

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Read our latest blog posts about all things related to dragon genetics.

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The Concord Consortium's educational dragon genetics software engages students in exploring heredity, genetics, and the protein-to-trait relationship by breeding and studying virtual dragons.

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See current wind, weather, ocean, and pollution conditions, as forecast by supercomputers, on an interactive animated map. Updated every three hours.

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