Catching a productive meteor shower can be a stunning experience. On the evenings and mornings of August 11th and 12th there is hope of a good show. A three-quarters moon will make the night sky too light to see the…
After chlorination, it has been hard to measure the quantity of pollutants in pool water. A Canadian chemist, Xing-Fang Li, has found a marker for urine that chlorine doesn’t disguise. In this activity, students calculate volume of several pools, change that…
With the start of summer and wonderful outdoor activities, it might be good to examine the growth of Lyme disease occurrences in the United States. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has published maps for all of the…
Over the past Easter weekend this giant iceberg drifted passed Ferryland, Newfoundland. Its hard to tell how large it actually is but it looks huge. Use some of the data that was supplied and your estimation skills to gauge the…
Green, green river – They’re doing it again. In Chicago, the local plumbers union “dye” the Chicago River emerald green. Students learn what PPM (parts per million) means and attempt to figure out how much dye is used to sufficiently color…
Time lines for life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr. – Two timelines that show the rate and spacing of progress. One timeline about events and accomplisments of Martin Luther King, Jr Second timeline about the progress made in America, so…
What’s your guess as to how fast the number of daylight hours will change each day from now until June 21st? Will the changes be dramatic? Will the lengthening days be only a subtle change? Students make guesses; compute how…
They changed it. That is so not fair … or is it? You can check out a video news story on the delicious shrinking Toblerone bar here. Two sizes of Toblerone bars are now configured differently. How much did they…
Conditions will be favorable for excellent views of the Perseids meteor showers in early to mid-August. Let students read charts, analyze data, work with percent of moon visibility at each phase, and understand apparent magnitude in the night sky with…
Grubs are killing my grass. I don’t want to put poison into the ground. What can I do? There are tiny roundworms called beneficial nematodes. They can kill destructive soil pests in your garden and lawn. They are tiny worms that…
Monday, April 17, Patriot’s Day, is the next running of the Boston Marathon. What do you know about marathons? What do you know about the Boston Marathon? How long do you think the marathon is? Make your best guess. How…
Monday will be the holiday celebrating the life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr. Help students learn about his work towards racial equality as they create one or two time lines. One time line is about the events and…
With the start of summer and wonderful outdoor activities, it might be good to examine the growth of Lyme disease occurrences in the United States. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a wonderful map that you can…
Help your students understand what they are reading or hearing about the California drought. Terms like acre-feet, chains, and furlongs are often used to describe the volume of the reservoirs. Give your class a little practice and appreciation of the…
Because the Cubs just won the World Series, the plumbers have died the river blue. During the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Chicago, the local plumbers union dyes the Chicago River emerald green. Students learn what PPM (parts per million)…
