May 17th, 2023

High School Resource: Photosynthesis and Plant Reproduction by ECSDM

Photosynthesis and Plant Reproduction

High School Resource

Photosynthesis and Plant Reproduction

Objective:

To teach students the process and importance of photosynthesis, as well as the necessity of plant reproduction to sustain life.

Activity:

Photosynthesis, including anatomy of the leaf and the basics of the equation, will be discussed. Basic plant parts for reproduction including methods of pollen transfer are included. SMART Board resources, as well as United Streaming, will be utilized.

Related NY State Academic Standards: MST4.C.LE.LE.2.1, MST4.C.LE.LE.4.1, MST4.C.LE.LE.5.3

 

May 12th, 2023

High School Resource: Crisis Management on the Job

High School Resource

Crisis Management on the Job

Objective:

In this activity, students understand the importance of crisis management in the human and public services workplace.

Activity:

In order to demonstrate the importance of crisis management in the workplace and specific steps to apply to crisis situations, students perform the following activities:

  • Identify members of a crisis management team.
  • Describe the generic roles of members of a crisis management team.
    Detail the specific roles of members of a crisis management team in the
    context of a specific crisis.
  • Describe crisis situations that may occur in the workplace, such as:
    • Robbery of a restaurant
    • Client having a seizure attack at a salon
    • Weather emergency at a nursing home
    • Intruder in a child care center
    • Produce a crisis management manual for crisis situations in the
      workplace.

Related NY State Academic Standards: CDOS.C.2.1.A, CDOS.C.2.1.C, CDOS.C.3a.BS.1.A, and more!

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May 5th, 2023

High School Resource: Cinco De Mayo Foods: Tacos by History.com

cinco de mayo

High School Resource

Cinco De Mayo Foods: Tacos by History.com

This video, from History.com’s archives, focuses on Mexican foods that can be eaten on Cinco de Mayo.

Related NY State Academic Standards: LOTE.ML.2.1.B.A!

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April 28th, 2023

High School Resource: Salts & Solubility by PhET

High School Resource

Salts & Solubility by PhET

This simulation will allow students to add different salts to water, then watch them dissolve and achieve a dynamic equilibrium with solid precipitate. They can compare the number of ions in solution for highly soluble NaCl to other slightly soluble salts and then relate the charges on ions to the number of ions in the formula of a salt.

Using the simulation, students will:

  • Rank the solubility of different salts.
  • Determine the ratio of anions and cations that create a neutral compound.
  • Calculate the molarity of saturated solutions, and Ksp values.

Related NY State Academic Standards: S.MS.PS.1.7, MST4.I.PS3.1, and MST4.C.C.PS3.4!

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April 21st, 2023

High School Resource: On the Beach: Wilfred Owen’s poem ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’

poem

High School Resource

On the Beach: Wilfred Owen’s poem ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’

For this activity, read ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ by Wilfred Owen to the students.

Free write: Give students a couple of minutes to write down personal reaction to the poem’s content. Large group, volunteer sharing is recommended as a means to scaffolding and tapping into one’s schema.

The following questions can be used as a guided class discussion or copied and run on dittos for the purpose of using partners or part of a jigsaw activity.

  • Who is the narrator of this poem?
  • What is the physical condition of the man described in the first stanza? His mental condition?
  • Is he having a flashback or is he in the war at the moment? How did the soldier feel about the war?
  • What is his main concern?
  • To what is death by poisoned gas compared?
  • What do they do with the man poisoned by gas?
  • What horrors of life in war does the poem tell us of?
  • Where does the man continually see the sight of the gassed man?
  • How do dreams affect what we believe?
  • Who is the narrator speaking to? Is this a universal poem?
  • What does he tell us about the reality of war?
  • What is the glory in war?
  • Do you think we would be where we are today if there had never been a war?
  • Why/why not?
  • What is the meaning of the quotation that ends the poem?
  • What is its purpose?
  • How does it make you feel?

Related NY State Academic Standards: RL.9-10.11, RI.9-10.4, W.9-10.4, and W.9-10.10!

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April 14th, 2023

High School Resource: The Greenhouse Effect by PhET

greenhouse gas

High School Resource

The Greenhouse Effect by PhET

This simulation will allow students to see how the Earth’s temperature changes due to the Greenhouse Effect. Students can select the level of atmospheric greenhouse gases during an ice age, in the year 1750, today, or at some time in the future. Just how do greenhouse gases change the climate?

Using the simulation, students will:

  • Describe what happens to the temperature, sunlight, and infrared photons as you change the concentration of greenhouse gases.
  • Explore the differences between the ice age and today.
  • What happens when clouds are present?
  • Explain why the temperature increases as the concentration of greenhouse gases increases.

Related NY State Academic Standards: S.MS.LS.2.5 and MST4.I.LE.7.2!

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April 7th, 2023

High School Resource: Plant Science Research Paper

High School Resource

Plant Science Research Paper

In this activity, students will develop a research paper addressing the international production of a selected crop.

Activity:

  • Students select a plant crop to research, and then they write a paper on their findings. The paper could include information regarding the following:
  • Countries in which the crop is produced
  • Comparison and contrast of the crop production practices of each of the major crop-producing countries
  • Major products produced from the crop
  • Regional, national, and/or international regulations related to the crop

Related NY State Academic Standards: CDOS.C.2.1.B, CDOS.C.2.1.C, CDOS.C.3a.TS.2.A, and more!

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March 31st, 2023

High School Resource: Rain by Books Should Be Free

RainHigh School Resource

Rain by Books Should Be Free

This resource allows users to freely download W. Somerset Maugham’s Rain as an audio book in mp3, iPod, or iTunes format.

Related NY State Academic Standards: SL.9-10.2, SL.9-10.5, SL.11-12.2, and more!

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March 24th, 2023

High School Resource: The Parachute

parachute

High School Resource

The Parachute

The Parachute is an activity in which students design and then conduct an experiment to investigate the effects of various factors on the rate of fall of parachutes.

This learning experience was designed as a variance for the Physics Regents examination (35% Option). In addition to supporting student progress toward meeting the Mathematics, Science, and Technology learning standards, the goal of this experience was to incorporate performance tasks into the examination to assess the skills, processes, and kinds of thinking that are essential in an investigatory science project but are not adequately evaluated in the traditional Regents examination. In this experience, the students were assessed on experimental design, observational skills, graphing and interpretation, critical thinking and synthesis, and error analysis.

A constructivist learning model is implicit in this learning experience, with students first engaged, and then involved in exploring a natural phenomenon, explaining their observations, and then applying the knowledge they have constructed to make predictions. Assessment occurs throughout the experience.

To succeed with this learning experience, students need to have an understanding of the concepts of free fall and gravity as well as skills in solving a problem by designing, conducting, and evaluating a scientific experiment using an appropriate model.
After engaging student interest in parachutes (by referring to Leonardo da Vinci’s plans for such a device, for example, and the effect of free fall on human bodies), students are asked to write a procedure to determine the effect of different size parachutes and different masses on the time it takes the masses to fall. Students are asked to study the nature of a parachute and the factors that affect the time of fall.

The students are divided into groups and each group is given a stopwatch, several masses, a balance, a meter stick, and materials to construct parachutes.

The students work in groups to perform a mutually agreed upon procedure. They record all their data, and repeat steps as needed. From this point on, the students work as individuals consistent with the protocol for an exam. If this were a class activity, they might continue to work in groups.

After completing the experiment, students are asked to write three observations they made, plot a graph, interpret the graph, and evaluate the reliability of the data and sources of error. They also interpret their experimental data to determine the mathematical relationship between time of fall and the parachute mass.

Students are asked to perform the following experiment at home. They push a plastic cup into a sink full of water and observe the resistance to the pushing as they make a hole; and then enlarge the hole in the bottom of the cup. They are then asked to apply their results with the plastic cup to the use of an adjustable hole in the top of a parachute. They are to predict the effect of a hole in the parachute and then cut the hole and actually measure the effect.

Students are presented with a diagram of a parachute with an attached basket, and are asked to draw and label the forces acting on this combination, which causes its vertical motion. They also must calculate the speed with which the parachute hit the ground.

Students are provided with an experimental procedure for measuring the relationship between the diameter of a parachute and the time of fall. They are asked to critique the procedure, indicating if it is clear and if it is adequate to obtain the desired information. They must also compare this procedure to their own procedure.

During the experimental phase, Step 2, the teacher coaches the groups to insure that, for example, they construct a functioning parachute, measure the drop distance, and discard the results if the parachute hits an obstacle.

Related NY State Academic Standards: RST.9-10.1, RST.9-10.8, RST.9-10.9, and more!

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March 17th, 2023

High School Resource: Definition of a Locus by Math Open Reference

High School Resource

Definition of a Locus by Math Open Reference

This resource illustrates the concept of locus. The page shows a model of the plane populated with a large number of points on a grid. Those points equidistant from a point are highlighted forming a circle. The user can drag the point and drag the distance, showing the circle moving and changing size.

There is a description of the locus concept and links to other loci – a straight line and an ellipse.

The page can be enlarged to full screen size for use with a classroom projector. After use in the classroom, students can access it again from any web browser at home or in the library with no login required.

Related NY State Academic Standards: MST3.C.MM4.MA.D, MST3.G.G.22, and MST3.G.G.23!

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