This introductory class of computer skills is comprised of units that focus on basic computer hardware and the following applications: Word 2010, Excel 2010, PowerPoint 2010, Photo Gallery, and Audacity. Most units begin with YouTube overviews or 'how to' presentations followed by step by step guides to using aspects of the application and then have assessment exercises and conclude with a final project for evaluation.

Students investigate the property dependence between concentrations and boiling point. In section 1, students first investigate the boiling point of various liquid solutions. In section 2, they analyze data collected by the entire class to generate two boiling point curves, one for salt solutions and one for sugar solutions. Finally, in section 3, students use the data they have analyzed to determine how to create a solution that has a particular boiling point and is a cost-effective design.

A concentration gradient occurs when the concentration of particles is higher in one area than another. In passive transport, particles will diffuse down a concentration gradient, from areas of higher concentration to areas of lower concentration, until they are evenly spaced.

Conditioning affects an animal's behaviour. Learn about classical and operant conditioning in this GCSE / K12 Ecology video from the Virtual School.

A two-day assignment focusing in the melting or Arctic sea ice and the increased global temperature. The lesson involves reading the text Decline in Arctic Sea Ice, reviewing video clips, in depth discussions, and independent research and writing.

This 11-minute video lesson looks at Potassium-Argon (K-Ar) dating and it can be used to date very old volcanic rock and the things that might be buried in between. [Cosmology and Astronomy playlist: Lesson 79 of 85]

Students create silver nanoparticles using a chemical process; however, since these particles are not observable to the naked eye, they use empirical evidence and reasoning to discover them. Students first look for evidence of a chemical reaction by mixing various solutions and observing any reactions that may occur. Students discover that copper and tannic acids from tea reduce silver nitrate, which in turn form silver. They complete the reaction, allow the water to evaporate, and observe the silver nanoparticles they created in plastic dishes using a stereo microscope. Students iterate on their initial process and test to see if they can improve the manufacturing process of silver nanoparticles.

This is a fun interactive way to learn about mixtures and compounds as well as test how much you know about them. Complete the crossword to see how much you know about compounds and mixtures.

In an effort to raise awareness of astronomical developments, I have students search newspapers or online for any recent astronomical-related story and provide a photo and a short summary of the article including why they think it is important and I ask them to identify specially which chapter of the textbook deals with their story. I do this early in the semester as a way of getting students to become more familiar with the textbook and to try to get them to become lifelong learners and be in the habit of looking for current events related to astronomy.

What lessons can we learn about genetically engineered organisms from the example of the jabberjay, a fictional bird in the movie “The Hunger Games”? In this lesson, students discuss the definition of genetically modified organisms, learn about the risks and benefits of research on G.M.O.’s, explore the growing do-it-yourself biology movement, and develop proposals seeking to either restrict or permit research into genetically modifying the avian flu virus.

This lesson is correlated to McREL’s national standards (it can also be aligned to the new Common Core State Standards):

Language Arts
1. Demonstrates competence in the general skills and strategies of the writing process.
4. Gathers and uses information for research purposes.

Life Skills: Life Work
2. Uses various information sources, including those of a technical nature, to accomplish specific tasks.

Life Skills: Working With Others
1. Contributes to the overall effort of a group.
4. Displays effective interpersonal communication skills.

Science
8. Understands the structure and properties of matter
9. Understands the sources and properties of energy
10. Understands forces and motion
11. Understands the nature of scientific knowledge
12. Understands the nature of scientific inquiry
13. Understands the scientific enterprise

Technology
6. Understands the nature and uses of different forms of technology.

What lessons can we learn about genetically engineered organisms from the example of the jabberjay, a fictional bird in the movie “The Hunger Games”? In this lesson, students discuss the definition of genetically modified organisms, learn about the risks and benefits of research on G.M.O.’s, explore the growing do-it-yourself biology movement, and develop proposals seeking to either restrict or permit research into genetically modifying the avian flu virus.

This lesson is correlated to McREL’s national standards (it can also be aligned to the new Common Core State Standards):

Concluding a two-part lab activity, students use triple balance beams and graduated cylinders to take measurements and calculate densities of several household liquids and compare them to the densities of irregularly shaped objects (as determined in Part 1). Then they create density columns with the three liquids and four solid items to test their calculations and predictions of the different densities. Once their density columns are complete, students determine the effect of adding detergent to the columns. After this activity, present the associated Density & Miscibility lesson for a discussion about why the column layers do not mix.

After students conduct the two associated activities, Density Column Lab - Parts 1 and 2, present this lesson to provide them with an understanding of why the density column's oil, water and syrup layers do not mix and how the concepts of density and miscibility relate to water chemistry and remediation. Topics covered include miscibility, immiscibility, hydrogen bonds, hydrophobic and hydrophilic. Through the density column lab activities, students see liquids and solids of different densities interact without an understanding of why the resulting layers do not mix. This lesson gives students insight on some of the most fundamental chemical properties of water and how it interacts with different molecules.

These are sample instructions students can carry out with the projetile simulation (http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/projectile-motion )at PHET. One thing I have noted with students is that whenever they are shown a simulation without specific instructions,they dont do anyting worthwhile. So these instructions are part of a series to help students out of this chalenge..

Learn about how particles move from an area of greater concentration to an area of lesser concentration through the process of diffusion.

Students demonstrate the erythrocyte sedimentation rate test (ESR test) using a blood model composed of tomato juice, petroleum jelly and olive oil. They simulate different disease conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, anemia, leukocytosis and sickle-cell anemia, by making appropriate variations in the particle as well as in the fluid matrix. Students measure the ESR for each sample blood model, correlate the ESR values with disease conditions and confirm that diseases alter blood composition and properties. During the activity, students learn that when non-coagulated blood is let to stand in a tube, the red blood cells separate and fall to the bottom of the tube, resulting in a sediment and a clear liquid called serum. The height in millimeters of the clear liquid on top of the sediment in a time period of one hour is taken as the sedimentation rate. If a disease is present, this ESR value deviates from the normal, disease-free value. Different diseases cause different ESR values because blood composition and properties, such as density and viscosity, are altered differently by different diseases. Thus, the ESR test serves as a real-world diagnostic screening test to identify indications of the presence of any diseases in people.

Students experiment with various ways to naturally dye materials using sources found in nature—roots, leaves, seeds, spices, etc.—as well as the method of extracting dyes. Then they analyze various materials using statistical methods and tackle an engineering design challenge—to find dyes that best suit the needs of a startup sustainable clothing company.

To gain an understanding of mixtures and the concept of separation of mixtures, students use strong magnets to find the element of iron in iron-fortified breakfast cereal flakes. Through this activity, they see how the iron component of this heterogeneous mixture (cereal) retains its properties and can thus be separated by physical means.

Get your students interested in learning about ecological interactions with this One Direction music video parody. The engaging visuals and educational lyrics ensure the subject matter is remembered by all who watch. As part of the Ecology and Environment topic from The Virtual School. Music - ';Live While We're Young' by One Direction. This video is distributed under a Creative Commons License: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs CC BY-NC-ND

Great way for students to explore biomes while using their creativity to show what they have learned, can be adapted for f2f, blended or online learning. Was created as part of the Bio 11 curriculum but could be adapted for lower grades.