Graduate student involvement in GK-12 learning ... · for public school and age appropriateness by...

NCRRGK-12 NIH NIH peer.tamu.eduwww.cvm.tamu.edu

PartnershipforEnvironmentalEducationandRuralHealth DepartmentofVeterinaryIntegrativeBiosciences,

BrittanySanchez,Dr.WilliamKlemm,andDr.LarryJohnson

Graduate student involvement in GK-12 learning, presentation tips, PEER research findings, graduate and undergraduatetestimonials,tipsforgraduatestudentsintheclassroom,andmiddleschoollessonplans.

Letter from the Principal Investigator

� PEERPerspectivesVolumeII

Dr.LarryJohnsondisplaystwosectionsoftheheadofadogtoteachaboutbodysystems.

AboutDr.Johnson:LarryJohnson,professorintheDepartmentofVeterinaryIntegrativeBio-sciences at Texas A&M University, has published over 110 original, peer-reviewed, scientific journal articles; given invited scientific talks on four continents; won a national research award; servedona researchpanel for theUnitedStatesCongress; servedonNIH,NSF,USDA,andNIOSHgrantreviewpanels;receivedNIHand/orNSFfundingforover�5years;servedonedi-torial boards of three scientific journals; and received both college-level and university teaching awardsforhishistologycourses.HealsoreceivedtheTexasA&MUniversityChapterofSigmaXi Science CommunicationAward �001, theAssociation for Former Students DistinguishedAchievementAward�007,andtheBushExcellenceAwardforFacultyinPublicService�009.

In the last six years, we have had two, three-year National Science Foundation (NSF) GK-12 projects. Significant contributions havebeenmadetoFellows’development,teachers’STEM(science,technology,engineering,andmathematics)contentandK-1�interestinSTEMandrelatedcareers.K-1�trainingandexperienceshavebeenprovidedto6�graduateFellows.ThesegraduateFellows acquired mentoring and management skills by supervising 94 Honors undergraduates who helped them prepare lessons and activities. The graduate Fellows served as content resources for 64 Lead Teachers and 110 other teachers and over 13,620 K-12 students in twelve (mostly rural) schools (54% minority students and 59% eligible for reduced lunches).

Fellows significantly improved their ability to teach with inquiry-based methods of Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) evaluations and they increased classroom inquiry levels. On a survey completed at the end of the school year, 90% of graduate Fellows agreed that their GK-12 experience strengthened their career path and provided more opportunities; 80% agreed that it contributed to their understanding of their disciplines; 95% had integrated their STEM knowledge into their K-12 classroom; 85% had presented their own research and research techniques; 65% agreed that their advisor, professor, or colleague noted their presentation/teaching style had improved after GK-12 involvement; and 100% agreed that the GK-12 program made them more completeSTEMscientists/mathematicians.

Fellows had a significant impact on the K-12 students and teachers. Our surveys indicated that the general decline in interest in STEM subjects in grades 6 to 8 was significantly attenuated in classes where our Fellows served. Teachers reported that fewer studentswereabsentfromschoolondaysthatFellowswereinclass.Teachersimprovedtheiruseoftechnology,expandedtheirmathematicsandsciencecapabilities,andreportedthattheyenjoyedpublicschoolteachingbetterwhenhavingaFellowasacon-tentspecialistintheirclassroom.

To extend the impact to more rural schools, we developed a Distance Learning Community of over 4,000 teachers state-wide pro-vidingcommunicationthroughourTeacherRequestedResources(TRR)webpage(seehttp://peer.tamu.edu/DLC/NSF_Resources.asp).TheTRRallowsteachersinremotelocationstorequestlessonplans,activities,andwebsitesastheyinformusoftheirneedsanddirectourdevelopment.OncearesponsehasbeenproducedbytheFellows,itisevaluatedforcontentbySTEMfacultyandforpublicschoolandageappropriatenessbymiddleschoolteachers.TheTRRcontains�79lessonplansthatourgraduateFellowsandthemanagementteamhaveproducedandtestedintheirschools.Thesecustomized,mostly50-minuteschool-testedlessonsareavailabletootherGK-1�programsnationwideandwillbesustainedaftertheproject.

Our group organized and hosted the first and second Southwest Regional NSF GK-12 Conferences which were attended by 10 and 16GK-1�groupsfrom5and8states,respectively,aswellasbyDanCarpenterorKevin Swanson, and Sonia Ortega from NSF. Following the first conference in Oc-tober�005,ourgrouplaunchedtheSouthwestRegionalNSFGK-1�website(http://southwestgk12.tamu.edu/) which enables other GK-12 groups to upload lesson plans fromtheirprograms.Thesiteisdesignedsothatuserscansearchasubstantialcollec-tion of lesson plans. To date, 443 lesson plans have been posted to the site.

Alloftheseactivities,previousandplanned,areconsistentwithTexasA&MUni-versity’sVision�0�0strategicplan.Imperative1�ofVision�0�0statesthatTexasA&MUniversitywill “meetour commitment toTexas.”This includesaddressingdifficult social problems like enhancing public education, environmental protection, andeconomicdevelopment.AlloftheaccomplishmentsofthePEERprogramaremadepossiblebyfundingfromNSFandNIHandtheeffortsofdedicatedstudents(graduateandundergraduate), teachers,staff,andfaculty.For theirdedicationandeffortstoimproveeducation,meetgrantrequests,andhelpmeetourcommitmenttoTexas, I thank them. – Larry Johnson.

PEER Perspectives Volume II 3

Editors: Brittany Sanchez, Virginia Traweek, Larry Johnson Contributors: LouiseAbbott, SaniyaAli, Barclay Bell, Kelly Bowen, Betsy Childs, Barbara Gastel, KyleDamborsky, Tammy Fernandez, Vince Hardy, Trey Holik, Larry Johnson, Natalie Johnson, Bill Klemm, Ruth Mullins,SoniaOrtega,RyanPedrig,AlfredoPerez,ChristopherPrigmore,RebeccaRowntree,BrittanySanchez,Candace Seeve, Lauren Schilling, Carol Tatum, Virginia Traweek, Michele Ward, and Jason Wardlaw.

ThismonographispublishedbythePartnershipforEnvironmentalEducationandRuralHealth(PEER).PEERis funded by grants from the National Science Foundation (Grant # 0338310) and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (Grant # ES 10443, ES 10735), and cost-sharing of Texas A&M University and theDepartmentofVeterinaryIntegrativeBiosciences.SupportforGK-1�UndergraduateFellowscomesfromtheTexasA&MUniversityHonorsProgram.Copyrightpending.

Part I: ResearchFindings

Page Article4 PEEROverview5 TeachingPhilosophyofaScientist6 BringingLocalandExoticOceans IntotheClassroom8 BehindtheSceneswith UndergraduateFellows9 RewardingRemarks10 NationalNSFGK-12AnnualMeeting11 Oh,WhatFunitis!12 KeepingItFresh:BrainstormingHigh SchoolScienceLessonPlans13 LearningtoTeach14 TheMathematicsofMusic15 AdvancingKnowledgeandAttitudes throughNSFGK-12Fellow Involvement17 OnlyTimeWillTell:Transforminga UniversityLectureSeriesintoan Adventure18 TheGK-12MeetsChina18 10TipsforPresentingSciencetothe Public19 ThePEERGraduateStudent EducationalOutreachTeam20 NSFGraduateSTEMFellowsin K12(GK12):ProgramDirectives andaPossiblePlanforMeeting Them21 GK-12:ALife-ChangingExperience

PEER Perspectives22 APEERPerspective:From ScienceFairtoDissertation22 20TipsforBetterGrades,Less Effort23 Scientific Method Used to StudyBehavior24 PEERIntegratedMiddleSchool Curriculum25 PEERWeb-BasedBiologyand EnvironmentalHealthCurricu- lum

Part II: LessonPlansandWorksheets

Page Article28 ExplodingPumpkins29 Skittle ex-plosion

32 MysteryWater35 ChemistryinaBag38 ChexMixTaxonomy40 HypertensiveStatistics42 BeakBusiness45 TheMathematicsofMusic48 IntroductiontoEvolution& NaturalSelection52 Shape Up with the Scientific Method55 NoviceTeacherCorner

LarryJohnsonPrincipalInvestigator,[email protected]

JimKrachtCo-PrincipalInvestigator,[email protected]

WilliamKlemmCo-PrincipalInvestigator,[email protected]

G.DonaldAllenCo-PrincipalInvestigator,[email protected]

BarbaraGastelCo-PrincipalInvestigator,[email protected]

JimmyLindnerCo-Investigator,[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

TammyFernandezMiddleSchoolTeacher979-458-0521TjFernandez@hotmail.com

VirginiaTraweekEditor,[email protected]

[email protected]

VolumeII

AboutBrittanySanchez:CurrentlyaGK-12undergraduateFellow,BrittanySanchezhasworkedforPEERsinceSeptember2008creatinglessonandactivityplans,makingpostersforGK-12conferences,andassistinghergraduateFellowbothinandoutoftheclassroom.Brittanyinitiallychosetomajorincommunication/graphicdesign;however,thatchangedaftershedecidedinsteadtorecognizeherstrengthsinmathematicsandscience.ShewillgraduatewithherBachelor’sdegreeinBiomedicalEngineeringinMay2011andplansoncontinuingtograduateschool.

4 PEER Perspectives Volume II

PEER Overview Quick DefinitionsPEER- Partnership For EnvironmentalEducation and Rural Health; outreachcomponent of CERH. Visit peer.tamu.eduformoreinformation.

NSF- the National Science Foundation,whichsuppliespartofPEERgrantfund-ing. Visitwww.nsf.govformore infor-mation.

NIEHS- the National Institute of Envi-ronmentalHealthSciences,whichsup-pliespartofPEERgrantfunding.Visitwww.niehs.nih.gov for more informa-tion.

CERH- the Center for Environmentaland Rural Health, parent organizationofPEER,withthegoalofpromotingru-ral health awareness. Visit cerh.tamu.eduformoreinformation.

NSF GK-12 Graduate Fellow- A TexasA&M University science, technology,engineering, or mathematics graduatestudent who works in a local middleschool classroom assisting math andscienceteachers.KnownasaResidentScientist/Mathematician.

NSF GK-12 Undergraduate Fellow- anundergraduate student at Texas A&MUniversitywhoservesassupportforaResident Scientist/Mathematician andassists in developing activities for useinmiddleschoolclassrooms.

ResidentScientist/Mathematician-NSFGraduateFellowwhoactsasacontentspecialist in his or her middle schoolclassroom.Teachersareaskedtocare-fullydistinguishstudentteachersfromResident Scientists and Mathemati-cians.

STEM-Science,technology,engineering,and mathematics, the areas of educa-tionwhereAmericanchildrenperformbelowtheworldaverage.

LeadTeacher-ateacherwithwhomtheGraduateFellowisassignedtoworkdi-rectlyinhisorherclassroom.

TEKS- Texas Essential Knowledge andSkills, Texas educational standards foreachgradelevel.

TAKS-TexasAssessmentofKnowledgeand Skills, Texas’ benchmark test foracademic proficiency.

Goals and Roles of the PEER GK-12 ProgramLarryJohnsonandBrittanySanchez

Objectives are to:1.HelpGK-1�Fellowsimprovepedagogical,communication, and teamwork skills, thus enhancingfuturecareeropportunities;�.ProvideresourcestoruralschoolsthroughoutTexasviaadistancelearningcommunityandworldwideresourcesthroughthePEERwebsite;3. Assess the short-term and long-term impactsoftheprogramonmiddleschoolstudents,theirteachers,andGK-1�ResidentScientists;4. Assess the educational materials produced andeducationalpartnershipsestablished;5.Facilitatelong-terminteractionsbetweenteachers,teachereducators,industry,anduniversityscientists;6.Facilitatealong-term,sustainableinterfacebetweenTexasA&Mandpublicschools.

Roles of participants in the GK-12 program: ThemainplayersaretheGK-1�graduateFellows(ResidentScientists/Mathematicians)andLeadTeachers.

The GK-12 Graduate Fellow providesSTEMcontentexpertise,demonstrations/presentations,materialsandresources,andactsasaconduittouniversityfacultyandresources.Theyserve as an example of scientific and mathematical thinking and as a role modelofsomeonewhoenjoysandplansto make a career in STEM.

The Lead Teacher assiststheGK-1�Fellowsinmeetingschoolneeds,organizesandobtainsresources,mentorstheFellows,andcommunicatestoprojectmanagershowthingsaregoingintheschoolandwhatismissing.LeadTeachersmentorandprovideteachingopportunitiesforthegraduateFellowsviaclassroominteractionswithK-1�students.n

Toenrichgraduateeducationandprofes-sionaldevelopmentofgraduateFellowsand teachers and to enhance interest inlearning and improve academic perfor-mance of K-1� students. The projecthopes to inspire the next generation ofresearchers in academia, industry, andgovernment to become aware of andsympathetic to challenges and opportu-nitiesinK-1�education,andofhowtheycancontributeandimprovethescience,technology,engineering,andmathemat-ics(STEM)contentandinterestofK-1�studentsandteachers.

Project Goals

Teaching Technique•86%ofourNSFFellowsplanongoing into a career that will in-volveteachingofsomesort.• Over 90% feel that the PEERprogram has helped them reachtheirteachinggoals.• The average proficiency/com-fortwithvariousaspectsofteach-ing was 63% before the PEERprogram.Thatnumberincreasedto82%afterthePEERprogram.

Lead teacher, Sonia Junek, with a group of her middle school students.

LeadteachersandgraduateFellowsgatherforteacher-fellowtrainingbeforethestartoftheschoolyear.

PEERPerspectivesVolumeII 5

TRR is an online interface through whichteachers receive personal assistance withscienceandmathrelatedquestions.

These resources allow teachers in remoteareas of the state and around the world torequest websites, activities, and even cus-tomizedlessonplanswhichourundergradu-ate Fellows create with the assistance oftheir mentoring graduate Fellow. Teachersareabletodirectouractivitytobettermeettheirneedsbothintermsofsubjectareaandlessondepth.Oncearesponsehasbeenpro-duced,itisevaluatedforcontentbySTEMfacultyandforpublicschoolandage-appro-priatenessbymiddleschoolteachers.

(http://peer.tamu.edu/DLC/NSF_Resources.asp)

Driven by curiosity and imagination,humanity distinguishes itself by itsdesiretolearn.Peoplewanttoeluci-date mechanisms, predict outcomes,preventundesirablesituationsorcon-sequences,andplanfor thefutureforthemselves,theirfamilies,andforhu-manity. Young learners quickly realize the power of knowledge to establish and maintain self-esteem, to commu-nicatewithpeersandotherson inter-estingtopics,tosolveproblems,andtoovercomesocioeconomicbarriers.A teacher’s role is to facilitate stu-dents’desire to learn throughhelpingthem develop their knowledge base, their life-long learning skills, and their career choices. Teachers direct think-ingbehavior,motivateandencouragestudents,widenstudents’self-expecta-tionsandself-evaluation,andexpandtheiropportunitiesandcareerchoices.

Teachers can make a difference in the lives of their students. This includesimmediate and life-long learning be-havior, development of learning skills, and direction of careers. How manypeopleinacademiacancitethe“thirdgrade teacher” or “college professor”

Teaching Philosophy of a ScientistLarryJohnson

whowouldnotacceptmediocrity,whodirectedthemtoacertainlife-changingbook, who widened their opportunity, orwhopreventedawrongdecision?

Teaching yields “immediate gratifica-tion” for one’s efforts. The evidenceofone’seducationalapproachorpointmadeisimmediateinstudents’facesorbehavioror in thequestions they cannow ask. There are distinct behaviors that indicate students are learning.“Oh, so that’s how it works,” a stu-dent may say. When aresearchdiscoveryismade,thereisat least95% effort on verifica-tion and an expecteddelayinacceptanceofone’sdiscoverybythepublic. In teaching,theclassisthepublic.Teaching allows sci-entists to trydifferentideas or approachesand to hold an inves-tigation of what works with a given group,with students beingthestudysubjects.

In summary, teaching represents aunique opportunity instructors have tomold anddirect academic livesof stu-dents and to facilitate the students’ in-herent desire to learn through stimula-tionof their curiosityand imagination.Inreturn,instructorsstayyoungintheirthoughts,stayinterestedandmotivatedintheirsubject,staycurrent,andenjoyimmediate gratification for having af-fectedasmallpartofhumanity.n

Dr.Johnsonshowsstudentsalungcastillustratinghighlybranchedairwaysinfrontofareallung.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Teacher-Requested Resources - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

6 PEERPerspectivesVolumeII

Bringing Local and Exotic Oceans Into the Classroom

Forthepasttwoyears,Ihavehadtheop-portunity to become involved with theformation of the Odyssey Academy atStephenF.AustinMiddleSchool(SFA).FrommyroleasanNSFGK-1�ResidentScientist,Ihaveinvaluableopportunitiesto impact students’ interest in science,helppromotegeosciencesinBryan,TX,and interact with the greatest teachersin the community! My research field, oceanography, based on first impressions, isoftenperceivedasexoticandnotare-alistic career science. However, the field ofoceanographyencompasseseveryareaof basic science from physics to chem-istry tobiology.Myexperiencesduringmygraduatestudyhavehadanenormousimpact in the classroom and on my skills asasuccessfulscientist.Theyhavealsoallowedme tonotonly teachabout theoceans,but alsocreateandenhance thegeosciencescurriculumforSFA.Beingin the classroom and working with the Odysseyteamhaveimmenselyimpactedmy career path and I have even worked to enhance geosciences outreach withinmy department and in my field.

During my first year as a Fellow, I watched previousFellows introduce lessonsspe-cific for one or two state standards at a time. Topics in the geosciences wererarely introduced and often did not in-cludehands-onexperimentsorexamplestoshowstudents.Idecidedtoprioritizemyexpertisetofocusonenhancinggeo-sciencesactivitiesthatIcouldpresentandactivitiesthattheteachercouldcontinueto use for years to come. One perk of my research is the interdisciplinary nature.Myresearchfocusesonphysicalocean-ography, but I work with a variety of re-searchers specializing inmultipleareas,ranging from topics like squid population dynamicsandhurricanes.Toreallybringlighttomyresearch,Iwantedtodevelopa series of lessons focused on different

aspectsofoceanographyand involveasmanyresearcherspossible.Thoughthisseemed like a daunting task, my teacher wasextremelysupportiveandwestartedbrainstormingimmediately!

My classroom environment is differentthan thestandardclassroom.TheOdys-sey program provides students with alaptop, is designed around block periods (1.5 hours instead of 40 minutes) and hasstudentsandteacherssetupasapermanentteam.ThereforeIhavemore flexibility to design and teach multi-stage and longerinquiry lessons. Additionally,I expand the lessons beyondthe science classroom and intolanguagearts,socialstudies,andmathematics! With this, my les-sonsaredevelopedwithanin-troductiontoanoceanissue,ageographicalfocus,bybring-ing examples of instrumentsusedtostudytheproblem,andbyinvolvingthestudentsintheactualmonitoring of the problem, includingdataanalysisandpresentingconclusions.Two examples of this included the stu-dentsmonitoring theoceans around theGalapagos Islands and in the Gulf ofMexico. The Galapagos Islands experi-encewasavirtualtripofalifetimeforthestudents!TimeatseaisacrucialpartofmyresearchandthiswasamajoraspectIwantedtobringintotheclassroom.

Duringmygraduatestudy,Ihadoppor-tunities to participate in Galapagos Is-landresearchsurveyswiththeEcuador-ian Navy and TAMU oceanographers.Toengage thestudentswith thiscruise,I structured the involvement into threeparts.Beforethecruise,studentslearnedaboutEcuadorandtheGalapagosIslandsinsocialstudies,conductedexperimentsto learn about the oceanographic re-searchinscience,anddesignedresearch

hypotheses for investigating the effectof pressure in the ocean for languagearts. Students learnedabout theroleofocean density, how to calculate it, andhowtoapply it toglobaloceancircula-tion. While on the cruise, I communi-catedbyInternetshowingstudentslifeatsea, culture and ecologyof theGalapa-gosIslands,andresearchprogress.Stu-dents interactedwith researcherson thecruisethroughan interactive blog sitewherestu- dentscouldpose

questions tothe scientists

and

where scientists could post data, video,and pictures from the cruise. This sitewassuchassuccessthatIevenhadpar-ents ask questions about the Islands! At sea,Iranstudents’experimentstestingtheimpact of ocean pressure on Styrofoamcups.Studentsanalyzedtheresultsfromthecruiseandrecordedobservationsintotheir science journals. Throughout thesemester, students continued to analyzethedata,asitwasapplicabletotheTEKScovered, such as identifying differentspecies of phytoplankton and zooplank-ton to learn biology. From the successof this virtual adventure, we developedastrongpartnershipwiththeTAMUandEcuadorian researchers to continue thisprojectonfuturecruises.

Another project that we were able tocomplete directly involved students inmy dissertation research and even con-

RuthMullins

Studentspreparesamplesofwaterwithapipettetotestsalinitiesofdifferentwatersourcesaroundtheglobe.


vinced my graduate advisor to con-tinue this educational outreach in hisresearch efforts. From the successwith theGalapagosproject,myadvi-sor and I collaboratedonbuildinganoutreach component to involve stu-dentsinunderstandingandresearchingthe coastal environment. Our groupfocuses on studying hypoxia in theGulf of Mexico, which is seasonallyoccurringlowoxygenatthebottomofwatersoffLouisianaandTexascausedby physical conditions and the influx of agricultural nutrients. This condi-tioncanseverelyaffectthecoastalen-vironment and ecology, is persistentyear-to-year,andhasextremepoliticalimplications between the coastal andfarming industries. As with the ear-lierexample,westructuredthislessontohavethreecomponents.ThelessonwasintroducedinbothmySFAclass-roomanda5thgradeclassroomatSt.Joseph’s Catholic School in Bryan,Texas. The first part, the pre-cruise, introducedstudentstotheproblemandhowweresearchhypoxia,taughtthemabout designing a cruiseplanandaboutthetypes of instru-mentationweuse.The second

component, the cruise, had students track our daily progress by downloading in-formation,pictures, andvideo fromourwebsites.Thethirdcomponent,thepost-cruise, had students analyze samplesbrought back from the cruise to contrib-utedatatotheproject,includingecologyof mud samples and plankton to measure salinity and analyze graphs of oxygenconcentrationscollectedbyoursensors.After completion, students were recog-nized as ‘Oceanographers in Training’and presented official certificates and

mementosfromthecruisefortheircon-tributionstothescience.

InsteadoffocusingononeortwoTEKS,I worked on building lessons to cover manyscienceTEKSwithoverlapinlan-guagearts,socialstudies,andmathemat-icsstandards.Ialsodesignedtheinquiry

activities to teach introductorysci-entific concepts that would per-

sistentlyappearthroughouttheschool year, such as calculat-

ingdensityandusinglabora-torytools.Therefore,

I could alwaysremind the stu-dents of a pre-vious lesson orexample fromearlier in theyear and helpthe studentsnot only learna concept, but

Students identify species of plankton from the Galapagos.

make connections between scientific concepts.Oceanographywastheperfectplatformtocoveralmostall thescienceTEKSaswellasfromwhichtointroduceland-locked students to science career opportunities beyond the Bryan-Col-lege Station area. Besides the impactin the classroom, I noticed improve-ments in communicating my researchand learned how valuable outreach andeducation are for scientific research. I have had opportunities to present theseactivities at oceanographic meetings

and at theNationalScienceFoundation(NSF).Furthermore,Ihavebroughtmyenthusiasm for middle school outreachback to my department and am motivat-ingprofessorstobuildeducationalcom-ponents into their research activities,furthered my educational outreach withdifferentgovernmentagencies,includingNSF andTexas Sea Grant. All aspectsof this program helped me improve asa science communicator and increasedgeneral public knowledge about Gulf of Mexicoresearchinmylocalcommunity.Furthermore, the opportunities to men-tor students and watch them grow intoyoung scientists have instilled lifetimememoriesthatIwillalwayscherish!n

“The Galapagos Islands experience was a virtual trip of a lifetime for the students!”

Ruth with a Galapagos Giant Tortoise Galapagos cactus flowerPelicans and Sea Lions on Santa Cruz

Ruth Mullins’s research in the Galapagos waschosen by NSF as an international highlighttoshowcaseproductsoftheNSFGK-12totheUnitedStatesCongress..

Saltwater grotto in a lava tube


As I walk around the poster presentation sessionatthe�010NSFGK-1�NationalConference there is one fact that sepa-rates me from any other person at theconference and our program from anyotherGK-1�program in thecountry: Iamanundergraduatestudent.

Although other programs across thenation may have previously had un-dergraduate Fellows, PEER did not letcuts infundingremovesuchavitalas-pect from our program. Instead, PEERsecured an alternate source of fundingtopreserve the continuationof supportfrom the undergraduate Fellows. Butwhatisitexactlythattheundergraduatestudentsdoandhowdootherprogramsfunctionwithoutthem?

The undergraduate Fellows have mul-tiplerolesinourPEERGK-1�program,the first and foremost being a support systemforthegraduateFellows.

We create lesson and activity plans to take into middle school classrooms, search for interesting and engagingwebsites,helpcollectmaterialsandsetuphands-onteachingactivities,andoc-casionally visit the classroom to serve

as positive role models for the middleschoolstudents.

For example, my graduate Fellow asked metocreatealessononprobabilityfor7thgradestudentsthattheycouldcom-pleteontheirown.Idecidedtocreateaninteractive game incorporating Macro-mediaFlashandPowerPointtoprovidestudents with an engaging activity thatwould provide instant feedback for par-ticipatorylearning.

IthenhadtheopportunitytogointotheclassroomwithmygraduateFellow,as-sist with the presentation and observehow the students interacted with thegame. Instead of on computers, theyplayed the game on a SMART board,whichallowed them togetoutof theirseats,movearoundand learn.Thisex-perience taught me the importance ofmaking all lessons and activities very engaging,hands-onandfun.

ButIdidnotcreatethislessonalone;Icollaboratedwith a fellow undergradu-atestudenttoproducethisinnovativeac-tivity.Sincemostofthelesson-creatingis done by undergraduate students, thegraduate students are, as a result, pro-

videdwithmore time to focuson theirresearch or to be in the classroom andthus,providingamoreenjoyableGK-1�experienceforeveryone.

Another aspect of the PEER programthatweserve is theTeacherRequestedResources(TRR)wherewearerespon-sibleforcommunicatingwithandbeingaresourceforteachersinruralareasviathe internet. This provides an opportu-nity for any teacher from any locationto request assistance in their personalclassroom. We have had requests from teachers wanting help teaching a diffi-cult topic to those just looking for a dif-ferentapproachtoacertainsubject.

I received a request from a teacher inSouth Africa wanting “shoestring sci-ence” experiments. Since he did nothave many available resources, heneededexperimentsthatcouldbecom-pletedwithcommonlyfoundhouseholditems. Undergraduate Fellows respondtomany such requests,whichprovidesanotherdimensiontothePEERGK-1�program.

Ourprogramalso frequentlyhostspre-sentations for minority student groupssent by the Financial Aid Office. Under-graduatesassistintheadministrationofthese presentations and with the corre-spondingactivities.Thesestudentshavetheopportunitytolearnaboutcollegebymeetingwithbothgraduate andunder-graduatestudents.

Thegoalofourprogram is toenhanceinterestinlearning,toimproveacadem-icperformanceandtoenricheducation.These objectives may be intended forK-1�studentsbutwiththecollaborationofgraduateandundergraduatestudents,encouragement for undergraduates tocontinuetograduateschool, tobecometeachers in STEM fields, or simply to challenge themselves academically hasbeenaresult.

Our program strives to encourage stu-dent involvementandwehavedonesoatthemiddleschool,highschool,under-graduate,andgraduatelevels.n

ChristopherPrigmore

Behind the Scenes with Undergraduate FellowsTheMakingofGK-12LessonandActivityPlans

UndergraduateFellow,ChristopherPrigmore,teachesmiddleschoolstudentsaboutorgansandsystemsin a dog during a weekend presentation.

2010 PEER Undergraduate Fellow Survey ResultsQuestion PercentAgreementHaveyouhadtheopportunitytoincorporateyourstudiesintothelessonsthatyou’vecreated? 80Did you have positive benefits from participation in this GK-12 program? 100Haveyouhadtheopportunitytogointotheclassroomandinteractwiththestudents? 70DoyoufeelyouhavebeensuccessfulinstimulatingstudentinterestsinSTEM? 100Doyoufeelyouhavehadmoreopportunitiesasaresultofyourinvolvement? 90Haveyouhadtheopportunityofseeingalessonofyoursbeimplementedsuccessfully? 90Wouldyouconsideryourinvolvementwiththeprogramtoberewardingtoyourcollegecareer? 100Doyouthinkyourcontributionhasmadeanimpactintheschools? 90Haveyouhadtheopportunitytointeractwithorlearnfromagraduatestudentwithintheprogram? 100HaveyouenjoyedworkingforthePEERprogram? 100


“It’s rewarding to see that my own enthusiasm for science and engineering helps younger students.”

The undergraduate Fellows are at theheartofthePEERGK-1�programcre-ating lessons and activities to inspireyoung scientists and mathematicians.And although they are not necessarilyat theforefrontof theproject’spursuit,their efforts behind the scenes make for asuccessfulprogram.

PEER collected comments from theundergraduate Fellows about their in-volvement in the program, from whatthey do to how they are influenced. By investigatingboththeirqualitativeexpe-riences and quantified responses, PEER was able to determine how the GK-1�

experience has enhanced undergraduatestudent skills, knowledge, goals, and op-portunities.

The Voice of the Undergraduates“AsanundergraduateFellow,IhavehadtheopportunitytoassistgraduateFellowsin preparing exciting experiments andlessonsformiddleschoolscienceclasses.It’srewardingtoseemyownenthusiasmforscienceandengineeringbeingputtowork to help younger students.”

“Ihadtheopportunitytogointotheclass-roomoneyearrightbeforeHalloweentohelpmygraduatestudentandotherteach-ersputonathemedscienceshowforthekids. We did several demonstrations rep-resenting different scientific properties. It was amazing seeing the sixth-gradersreally get into the presentation and thewholelearningprocess.”

“Iwasoffered thechance topresent thedemonstrationofrunning110Vthroughapickle causing it to glow and I found the interestofthestudentstobeveryreward-ingandencouraging.Asafuturescienceteacher, it offered me the chance to get

“It is inspiring to know that I enhance classrooms all across the nation through the Teacher Requested Resources.”

BrittanySanchez

Rewarding RemarksUndergraduate Students Benefit from GK-12 Interactions

UndergraduateFellow,AaronOsborne,assistsmiddleschoolstudentswithahands-onadaptationactivity.

(Continued on page 14)

hands-on classroom experience and itaffirmed my decision to enter the educa-tionprofession.”

“I was able to work and interact with the differentstudentsandseethemtrulyen-joy learning.Seeing the impact Imadeon the students is one of my favoritememories in working with the PEER program.”

“ThelessonsIhavereallyenjoyedcre-UndergraduateFellow,BrittanySanchez,teachesaboutthedigestivesystemwithahands-onapproach.


National NSF GK-12 Annual MeetingBrittanySanchezThe �010 National Science FoundationGK-1�AnnualMeetingopeneditsdoorstoallGK-1�projectmembers includingPIs and CoPIs, graduate Fellows, K-1�educators, project managers, evaluators,research advisors, university and schooladministrators, and others. The confer-ence was held in Washington D.C. and had numerous objectives: establishing anetwork among colleagues, sharing ways to invent and assess integrative lessons,summerpreparing for successfulGK-1�partnerships, implementing internationalresearch agendas, and recruiting GK-1�Fellows, but the most important objec-tivewasthestrengtheningofpartnershipsbetweenK-1�andgraduateSTEMcom-munities.

The three day meeting, held March 26th – �8th,�010focusedoncollaborationbothwithinauniversity’sownGK-1�projectaswellasbetweenGK-1�projects.Join-ingtheover600attendeesatthemeeting,participants from PEER included the PIDr.LarryJohnson,thePEERcoordinator,twoleadteachers,twoundergraduateFel-lows,amentorteacher,andthreegradu-ateFellows.Everyoneagreedthathavingdifferent project members in attendancewas beneficial to PEER as a team.

“I do feel that I have developed stron-gerrelationshipswiththoseindividualsIspent timewith at the conference,” saidJason Wardlaw, a PEER GK-12 graduate Fellow.

Topics covered during the meeting in-cludeda“BirdsofaFeather”sessionfornetworking, a Plenary Panel on Bringing ResearchtoK-1�classroomswithaFel-low-Teacher-PI Team offering advice,International Research Partnerships,LifeafterNSFFunding,severalpostersessionsforindividualprojectpresenta-tions,IncorporatingTechnologyintoanUrban Middle School Classroom, andclosing remarks by Sonia Ortega, Ping Ge, and Mark Hannum.

Onegoaloftheconferencewastopro-videGK-1�programsanopportunitytohighlight their successes.By showcas-ingthesuccessesofthePEERprogram,thestrengthsofourprogramwerewellrecognized. PEER demonstrated suc-cess in placing more of an emphasisonclassroomparticipation,particularlyonlessondevelopment,thanotherpro-grams. It was also noted that PEERselects Fellows from an interdisciplin-ary set of research and backgrounds and isoneofthefewprogramswithbothamath and science presence. The ben-efits of having a mentor teacher visit the classroomsandprovideencouragementand suggestions in a timely mannerwere an identified advantage unique to the PEER program. When compared to otherprojects,PEERistheonlyGK-1�program that incorporates undergradu-ate Fellows who add a wealth of cre-ativity,resources,andenergy.Anotherbenefit of having undergraduate Fel-lowsistheencouragementtheyreceive

UndergraduateFellows,ChristopherPrigmoreandBrittanySanchez,displaytheirPEERGK-1�Programposter.

PEER PI, Dr. Larry Johnson, takes part in a meeting breakout session.

GraduateFellow,RuthMullins,discussesherposteronbringingtheoceanintotheclassroom.


Bringing Research to the Classroom

Withphysicsresearchintheclassroom,the students were “very attentive be-causeweweredefyinggravity,explodingballoons, liquefying air, smashing rac-quetballs, and spinning on low frictiontables, you know… cool physics stuff.”Trey Holik, Physics

Students learned the importance of ra-tios with a lesson introducing researchwithintegratedcircuits.Thelessondem-onstratedtheuseofmathforpredictingprobability of error and in designingtransducers for specific uses.Alfredo Perez, Electrical Engineering

To introduce a middle school class toprototypingcircuitsusingbreadboards,students were given a kit with different electronic components and were thenleadthroughanactivitywheretheybuilttheirownelectronicmusicalinstrument.“Ithasbeenanextremelyrewardingop-portunity to help introduce these stu-dents to what a real engineer can do.”Jason Wardlaw, Electrical Engineering

forcontinuingtheireducationatthepost-graduatelevel.

“ItwasinterestingtohearwhatotherGK-1�programsofferandencouragingtore-alize that ourGK-1�programhashigherexpectationsthansimilarprogramsatoth-eruniversities.Afterlisteningtopresenta-tionsfromotherprograms,itwillbeeasy


Forthepastthreeyears, ithasbeenmyprivilegetovisiteachmid-dleschoolclassroomwhereFellows from the PEERGK-1� program spend tenhours a week enriching the mathandsciencecurricula.While the Fellows have not received formal train-ing in the field of educa-tion, theyhavedisplayedareal knack for reaching the sixth through eighth gradestudents.Theirlessonshaveaddressedsomeofthemostchallengingareasofthecur-riculum.TheFellowsaresocompetent in their own fields of study that they quickly be-come the “experts” at their schools.Spendingfromonetothreeclassperiodsduringeachvisitgivesmeaperspectiveof their teaching skills and areas where there’sroomforimprovement.It’sexcit-ingtoseethestudentsgraspthevariousconcepts through the inquiry-based andinteractivelessonspresentedbytheFel-lows. The Fellows’ computer skills used tocreateeffectivePowerPointpresenta-tions greatly enhance many of the les-sons. The classroom teachers work with theFellowstogearthelessonstoalevelappropriate for the maturity of the stu-dentswhilestillallowingtheFellowstochallengeandenrichthelearningexperi-ence.Duringmyvisitstotheclassrooms,

Iwatchforteachingtechniquessuchasattention-grabbingintroductions,relationship to real-life situations,

statementsoflessonobjectives,thoroughexplanationsofactivities,useofinquiry

whenappropriatetothelesson,organiza-tionofthelesson,interactionsbetweentheFellowsandthestudents,effectivenessofthe teachers’disciplineplantoallowforan optimum learning experience duringthe Fellows’ lessons, fairness in studentparticipation,andclosure.Followingeachclassroom visit, I send an email to theFellowrelatingallthatwasobservedandmaking suggestions. The e-mails serve as a positive means of encouraging theFellowsbyrelatingtothemall thegreatlearning experiences they provided fortheirstudents.Iincludegentleremindersand suggestions when certain elementshavebeen forgotten.Theclassroomvis-itsalsoserve toallowanotherperson to

share in some of the frustrations theFellows experience in the classrooms-- student misbehavior, lack of respect towardstheclassroomteacher,classpe-riodstooshortforlabexperiences,too

muchemphasisontheTAKStests,activitiesusingfoodasateachingtoolnotallowedatsomeschools,and inadequate lab supplies, justtomentionafew.FortunatelytherelationshipstheFellowsdevelopwith their students outweigh anyofthefrustrations.Theserelation-ships are demonstrated when thestudents enter the classroom anddelightedlygreettheFellowsandsharesomeofwhathasgoneonintheir lives since the last time theFellowswerethere.Oh,whatfunitistoseeallthishappeningwithan age group that is often difficult

toreach.n

•UsehighqualityPowerPointpresentationswithappealingandappropriategraphics.• Create an attention grab-bing introduction to the les-sonoractivity.•Reviewtheskillsneededforsuccessfulparticipation• Show the relationship ofthelesson/activitytoreallifesituations.•Demonstrateapersonalin-terest in students and theirlives, for example, attendingasportingeventstudentsareparticipating in or helpingwith an after-school activitysuchasthescienceclub.

• Demonstrate fairness incalling on students for re-sponses.• Allow students a glimpseinto one’s own personal life(hobbies, wife/husband,children, research towardsdegree,specialinterests).• Provide clear/concise in-structions.• Recognize that certaindays/weeks are not primetimes for instruction/learn-ingandgearingthelessonac-cordingly (for example, daysrightbeforeholidaysandFri-dayafternoons).•Planhands-onlessonsthat

Tips on Maintaining a Positive Classroom

to garner the best ideas and tweak ours,” mentioned Carol Tatum,mentorteacher.

PEERalsolearnedfromotherpro-grams and was able to take notes for futurereference.FromthePIlevel,LarryJohnsonandotherPI’sgainedknowledge about how to success-fully write a grant. Summer plan-ningwasmentionedfordevelopingmore inquiry and research-basedlessonsduringuninterruptedtime.Itwasalsonotedthatotherprogramshave a more focused set of goalsfortheirprogram,whichisvaluablefor making a greater impact in one area rather thanseveralsmaller in-fluences. For example, it would be constructivetohaveacentralthemeon which all Fellows could focuson,whetherthatfocusisonsustain-ability, conservation, engineering,orbiomedicalsciences.

The PEER program participantsgainedmuchinsightfromthiscon-ference and deemed it time andmoneywellspent.Theyconcludedthat PEER is educationally benefi-cialyetatthesametimefoundwaystoimprove.n

(GK-12 Meeting, cont’d from page 10)

activelyinvolvestudents.• Show enthusiasm for thesubjectandthelesson.•Monitoractivitiestoensuresuccessforeveryone.•Practicetheactivitybeforehavingclassesdoit.•Haveallmaterialsreadybe-foreeachclassperiod.•Closethelessonratherthanending abruptly when thebellrings.• Establish a comfortablerapport and working rela-tionship with the classroomteacher. Students are quickto pick up on any animositybetweenadults.

Oh What Fun it is!CarolTatum

Mentorteacher,CarolTatum,displaysherPEERGK-1�posterwith“TipsonMaintainingaPositiveClassroom”forencouragingthegraduateFellows.

My first step in coming up with a les-son was always finding out where I wouldbemosthelpful in thecomingweeks. If Catherine had a great lesson, whyshouldIreinventthewheel?

Most weeks, she was more than happy to point out a weakness in her curricu-lum.Maybeitwasanoddballstandardthat was hard to address, like relating the wavelengths of light to atomictransitions, or coming up with a labactivity demonstrating nuclear reac-tions.Regardlessofthecircumstance,a teacher always knows where they have room for improvement. Cath-erinewouldalsoprovidevaluablead-vice, including what DID NOT work the year before, and what studentsstruggled with on a particular topic.Allofthisinformationwouldcombinetoformthebasisforthenewlesson.

So, at this point, the challenge hasbeen defined and you have a starting point.Nowwhat?Iusedmyownex-periencesasafoundationforcreatingmy lessons. First, I looked for a way tointegratemyresearchintothetopic.Since I work with superconducting ac-celeratormagnets,whenCatherinepre-sentedmewithopportunitiestocreatelessons on conduc-tivity inmetals oron com-mon usesof mag-nets, itwas easyfor me to

Keeping It FreshAttheonsetof thePEERProgram,Irealized thatmy responsibility tomylead teacher and her students wasbased around three major objectives:Presenting lessons that: 1. studentshave never seen before; �. were bet-terthanthosethatmyleadteacherhadused last year; and 3. were entertain-ing.Andbytheway,Iwasresponsiblefor at least one lesson every week. No pressure!

The process of designing and imple-menting these lessons was probablythemostchallengingpartofmyexpe-rience, but the first time a classroom full of freshman stared back at me with genuineinterestandalittlebitofawe,the hard work was worthwhile. Ad-mittedly,thisdidnotoccurduringmyfirst presentation, a slideshow speck-led with what I thought was humorbut freshmen saw as lame jokes. After thatdiscouragingexperience,myleadteacher and I refined our creative pro-cessandbegananewwithexceptionalresults.

Anygoodlessonbeginswiththeleadteacher. They are the gatekeepers of thescopeandsequenceforthecourse.They have also done this before andhavevaluableinsightintowhattypesof activities work well, which ones are difficult, and when a lesson would be flat out ridiculous. Without some seri-ousguidancefromCatherine,myleadteacher,mytenurewiththePEERpro-gramwouldhavebeenlongandardu-ous.

grabsomeofmyresearchtoolsfromlab,bringthemtotheclassroom,andwowthestudents.

Mostofthetime,myresearchwasinacompletely different field than the top-icCatherine suggested.Forexample,exothermic reactions are not part ofmydailylabactivities.Inthesecases,there was little hope for me to inte-grate my work into the lesson. Now, insteadofpullingfromresearchexpe-rience, I looked back at my own high school education for inspiration. If ademooractivitystillstoodoutinmymind after that much time (well, notTHATmuchtime),ithadtobeworthrepeating!

Asking friends, classmates, my as-signed undergraduate, and even mywife, a graduate student studyingneuroscience,forinputalwaysledtofruitful options. Everyone has a fa-

vorite moment in science, and ifyou talk to enough people, you’ll find something that stood out to eachandeveryoneofthem.One

ofmyfavoritemomentsfromhighschoolchemistrywasavideomy

KyleDamborsky

“A good lesson begins with the lead teacher.”

Brainstorming High School Science Lesson Plans

1� PEERPerspectivesVolumeII

teacher showed of sodium reactingwithwater.SinceIhadthetechnicalexperienceandthemeanstodemon-stratethisclassicreactiontomyclass,weusedthismildexplosionasadem-onstrationofexothermicreactions!

Once I had a firm idea of the lesson I wanted todevelop,Catherinewouldsitdownwithmeduringherconfer-ence period and I would pitch myidea. Good, bad, or ugly, Catherinedelicately let me know her opinion. Most of the time, she would ask me to tonedownthelessonsothatitwouldbepracticalforstudentstocompletein a 48 minute period or cut out some of the math to make the topic more approachable. The entire point ofthese meetings was to make sure my activity would be realistic. Could itbe completed in the allotted time?Would students have enough back-ground knowledge to complete the assignment? Would they find it as ex-

citingasagraduatestudentandself-proclaimed science nerd? Catherinealways knew the answers to these questions and was my inside track to the student’s psyche. She always kept me focused on the ultimate goal ofteachingthetopicwithanimpact.

After a few misfires and some trial and error, I came to enjoy the chal-lengeofcomingupwithnewandex-citing lessons.Pushing theenvelopewith exploding pumpkins, flames in the classroom (intentional only, ofcourse), and liquid nitrogen, let thestudents experience the rewards ofourcreativity. Icanonlyhope theseexperimentsanddemonstrationswillbeasmemorable for thestudentsasthe time we spent together was forme.n


Fellow AdviceTipsforcommunication:•Collaborate!Workwithyourteacher.Heorshemayhaveideasoftheirown.• Incorporate common characters inpop culture and TV media as well asreal-lifeapplicationsineverylesson.• Make sure to acknowledge varyinglearning styles within the same class-room.• Be flexible. Sometimes things change and you have to be able to adjust ac-cordingly.• Initiate conversations with studentsoncareerchoices.An interest in themwillsparkaninterestinyou.•Donotbeafraidtolearnfromthestu-dents. Enhance your communicationandorganizationalskillsandyourabil-itytothinkfast!• Make friends. With the time beforeand after class, talk to the students, find outwhotheyaresothatyoucanteachtothempersonally.•Getthemostoutofyourstudents.Tryto get even the shy ones to speak upandanswerquestions.

Formostofmypre-collegeeducation,Iwasunawareofhowmucheffortwentintobeingagoodteacher.IdidnotunderstandhowmuchactivitywentintoteachingandIwasunawareofhowateacherevenbe-

came a teacher and how much effort that entailed. Needless to say, when I first entered the classroomasagraduateFellow,itwasasifIwaspracticingmyvocabularywordsandread-ing to my teacher in first grade all over again… I had no idea what I was doing! Luckily, I

havebeenpairedwithtwoteachersduringmytenureasaFellowintheprogramwhohavebeenmorethanwillingtoshare,discuss,listen,andteach me what it actually takes to teach and shape young minds. They helpedmeunderstandhowtodealwithstudentswhodon’twantto

learnandtochallengeeverystudentintheirownway.Ihavebegunto understand the concept of clear definitions, leading others, and transferring my own knowledge to others so they can apply it to

new and great tasks. I did not realize so much went into explaining integers and polynomials. At least now, though, I can look back at myowntimeinschoolandrememberhowtheteachersIhadwereabletodowhatIhavestruggledwithandshapemeintowhoIam

today.n

“I have begun to understand the concept of clear definitions, leading others, and transferring my own knowledge to others so they can apply it to new and great tasks.”

Learning to Teach byJasonWardlaw


Teachers today face challenging ob-stacles.To overcome these barriers, wemustgettotheheartandmotivationsofthe students. We must show how math is ever-present around them and in all as-pectsof life thatare important to them.Music is influential and is a priority among most youth. Music, when broken downtoitsbasicforms,canteachprinci-palsofbothmathandscience.

Music is largely the art of combiningfrequenciesofsoundinasystematicandmathematicalway.Forexample,thebe-ginningofBeethoven’s5thsymphonyisarguably the most well known motif of anyscoreofmusicwritten.Itbeginswith3 short G’s followed by a long Eb. With this simple 3-short then 1-long pattern, he composed the whole 1st movement.Hecreatedhismasterpiecebyfollowingandrepeatingthispatterninbrilliantnewways.

Patternsandrepetitionareverypopularin

modern music. The 1-5-6-4 (C,G,Am,F) chord progression is currently used innolessthan150popsongs.AnInternetsearch for 1-5-6-4 chord progression will give you a taste for what mathematicalrepetitionexistsinbetweensongs.

Ourownspiritscantestifytotheinnaterhythm of some music. Why is it that when we hear some songs for the first time,wecanalmostguesswhatthenextsoundornotewillbe?Perhapsourearshave picked up the mathematical pattern ofthemusicandarefollowingittoourownenjoyment.Perhapswehavecaughtourselves singing in the shower or tap-pingoutarhythmonourthighorwithourfeet. Dancers evencount to the beat sothattheycanremem-ber the math patternof the song. Maybewe have caught ourstudents “beatbox-ing” a tune. Theseactivities may bedescribed by math-ematicalmusicalfor-mulae.

In addition to pat-terns, fractions mayalso be taught withmusic. The typesof notes (quarter,eighth, half, whole),themeterandtempo(beats per measure

The Mathematics of MusicTreyHolik

ating were made using non-traditionalwaysofteaching.Myfavoritelessonwasinteractiveandonthecomputerallowingthestudentstotypeanswersandgetfeed-back. Kids love computers and interac-tivelessonssoIthoughtthiswasagreatfusionofboth.”

“IntegerlandwasagameIcreatedthatin-corporatedamathematicslessononinte-

gers.Thepointofthegamewastotravelfrom start to finish first, moving forward onlyonspacesthathadintegersonthem.I was able to go into the classroom theday the kids played Integerland and it was sotouching.Iwasabletoseethemlearnalotaboutintegersanddoitwithasmileontheirfaces!”

“Working with PEER, I am able to coordi-

(Rewarding Remarks, cont’d from page 9)

natewithfellowstudentstocreatehands-onlearningactivities,butIamalsoabletogointotheclassroomsandwatchmyles-sonsbeimplemented.Itisveryrewardingto me to see the work we put forth actually influencing the way students learn. I know thatwithout the resources that thePEERprogram provides, many students wouldnot have the opportunity to take part in theseexperiences.”n

and beats per minute), triplets (3 notes played in � beats) and tuplets, and theratios of frequency between notes of achord (1/1, 5/4, 3/2, 2/1) may each be usedintandemtointroducefractionstoaclass.

Thereismuchtolearnandteachregard-ingthemathinmusic.Numberscanandhave been appropriately assigned to al-mosteveryaspectofmusic.PerhapsthisiswhythefronttworowsatTexasA&MUniversitysymphonyconcertsareoftentaken by professors in the department of mathematicsandphysics.Enjoytheles-son (page 45) and enjoy the music! n

Graduate Fellow, Trey Holik, takes music into the classroomtoteachpatternsandfractions.

fulness and importance of STEM in theeverydayworld.

MethodologyStudents (n = 7�5 science students; n =176mathstudents)inclassroomsofelev-en graduate Fellows contributed to thisstudy.EachFellowtaughtinthesameclassroomthroughouttheyear.OneFel-

low taught two different groups of stu-dents over the course of two years. While thePEERprogramhashadmorethan11graduateFellowsintheprogrambetweenFall�006andSpring�009,datawasonlyusediftheFellowprovidedstudentswiththe opportunity to take both a pre- and post-test. Students were from five differ-entmiddleschoolsinTexas,allofwhichcan be classified as being in suburban or ruralcommunitiesandwhichwerelocat-edwithintenmilesoftheBryan/CollegeStation area whereTexasA&M Univer-sityislocated.Allstudentswereingrades6ththrough8th.

Eightmiddleschoolteachers(n=8)ac-tive in the�009-�010PEERGK1�pro-


Advancing Knowledge and Attitudes through NSF GK-12 Fellow InvolvementRebeccaV.RowntreeandBrittanySanchezRecently, concern for science and matheducationhas risen as theUnitedStatesstruggles to keep up with other countries initsperformanceoninternationalmath-ematics and science assessments. In re-sponse,theNationalCouncilofTeachersofMathematics(NCTM)callsfor:class-rooms to incorporate relevant material,teachers tohaveadequateaccess topro-fessionaldevelopment,acurriculumthatallows students to learn and understandmathematical concepts and procedures,theincorporationoftechnologiesthatwillenhancemathematicsunderstanding,andthe encouragement of more students topursuefurthereducationinmathematics.

TheNationalScienceFoundation(NSF)hasrespondedbyprovidingfundstouni-versitiesaspartoftheGK-1�programtosend graduate students in science, tech-nology, engineering, and mathematics(STEM) fields into K-12 classrooms to “integrateresearchandteaching,aswellas enhance teaching and curriculum se-lection/development skills for all partici-pants through collaboration” (in Knapp,�006).

AtTexasA&M,thePartnershipsforEdu-cation Enhancement Resources (PEER)program includes a GK-1� componentthat sends Fellows in STEM disciplinesinto6-8thgradeclassrooms in ruralandsuburbanareasofCentralTexas.Thera-tionale for targeting these specific grades liesinresearchindicatingthatitisduringthesepivotalyearsinstudents’educationthat they tend to lose interest in math-ematics and science. “An initial step toincrease student performance in an areaof study is to first develop an increased interest in the subject and potentiallydevelop an understanding of the useful-ness of the subject” (Hulett, et al., pg. 4). The PEER program introduces graduateFellowsintotheclassroomasthisinitialstep--awaytoencourageinterestinandpositiveattitudestowardSTEMsubjectsthrough engaging and entertaining les-sonsandactivitiesthathighlighttheuse-

gramweregivensurveysregardingtheirexperiencesintheprogram.Thenumberofyearsofteachingrangedfrom�to�6with a median of 16 years.All teacherstaughtmiddleschoolmathorscienceinasuburbanorruralschoolwithintenmilesofTexasA&MUniversityandspent thepast school year interacting on a weekly basiswithaGK-1�graduateFellowbothinandoutoftheclassroom.

Students were given a survey specific to thesubjecttheirgraduateFellowwasre-sponsibleforteaching--eitherscienceormathematics. Each survey asked students to identify whether they strongly dis-agreed,disagreed,wereuncertainabout,agreed, or strongly agreed with a givenstatement. Each student was assigned auniqueIDnumbertouseonboththepre-andpost-surveysothathisorheridentitycouldremainanonymous.

Teachers with graduate Fellows duringthe �009-�010 schools year were givensurveysregardingtheeffecthavingaFel-low in their class had on their teachingpractices, content knowledge, and stu-dents.Thesurveyconsistedof10ques-tions to which teachers were instructedto record a number from one to five in-dicatingtheirlevelofagreement,1beingstrongly disagree and 5 being stronglyagree. Teachers were also instructed toanswer at least one of five free-response questions about their experiences in theGK-1�PEERprogram.

Results and AnalysisOn the science student survey, studentsindicated a strong agreement and in-creasedtheiragreementfrompre-topost-testwiththestatement“Igettodoexperi-mentsinmyscienceclass.”Thestudents’responsesonthepost-testwereexpectedasoneof thegoalsof thePEERGK-1�Fellowsistointroduceengaging,hands-onlessonsintoscienceclassrooms.


GraduateFellow,SunnyScobell,assistsamiddleschoolstudentwithahands-onactivityinvolvingthedigestivesystem.


The Fellows typically try to avoid “book-work” or use of the text without a comple-mentary demonstration or activity. Thismightexplainsciencestudents’decreaseintheirlevelsofagreementfrompre-topost-testregardingtheirenjoymentofus-ing the science book to learn science and mathstudents’decreasedagreementwiththe statement “I like to use math books to learn math.” When presented with the alternativeofgettingtoactuallyperformexperiments and learn from demonstra-tionsratherthanreadingtexts,itispos-siblethatstudentswouldbelessinclinedto enjoy the science or math textbooks. Similarly,Fellows’useofhands-onteach-ing methods may also explain students’increasedagreementwiththestatements“I like to use science equipment to study science” and “I like to use math equip-menttostudymath.”

The science students’ increased agree-ment with wanting to take more science classes could have been sparked by the Fellows’ descriptions of their own re-search, possible careers in science, andthe importance of taking higher courses inscienceto thestudents’futureeduca-tional opportunities. Math students’ in-creased agreement with “I like being in school” might also have been influenced byincreasedopportunitiestobefullyen-gagedinactivitiesand tohave therele-vanceofmathtrulyexplainedinthecon-textoftheFellows’ownresearch.

Results of theteachersurveywere mostlyas expected.The Fellows’task is to bring new and en-gaging activi-ties for mathand scienceinto the class-room to helpstudents bet-ter understandand enjoy thesubjects.

Because of this goal, it makes sense that teacherswouldbeabletoincorporatetheFellows’ lessons easily into their ownplans. One teacher verified this by writ-ing, “[The Fellow] has given me freshideasandinspiredmetocreatemyownlessons that utilize self-discovery meth-ods.”

Becauseoftheextentofengagementthatisrequired,theFellowsundoubtedlyes-tablishacloserelationshipwiththeirstu-dents leading to a liking and approval of theFellowintheclassroom.Oneteacherwrote about her students’ relationshipwith the Fellow, “Students are alwaysupbeatwhentheFellowvisits.Theyarepositiveandanxioustoseewhatactivityhehasplanned!”

Fellows are also encouraged to bringtheircurrentresearchintotheclassroomandtosharetheiruniversityexperienceswith the students. Most Fellows withinthePEERGK-1� programplay a videoatthebeginningoftheschoolyearwhichshowstheFellowathisorherlab,enjoy-ingextracurricularactivities,andengag-inginafterschoolactivities.Thesevid-eosandtheFellows’presenceingeneral,provide the opportunity for discussionsby the teacher with his or her studentsabout college. When asked what has beenthemostrewardingpartofhavingaFellowintheclassroom,oneteacherre-sponded, “Seeing the students really talk about college and get excited by thinking abouttheirfuture.”

The majority of PEER GK-1� Fellows

have never been in a classroom settingasan instructorbefore.Thismeans thattheyoftenrequireguidancebytheteach-er about what types of lessons are ap-propriateforthestudents.Bytheendoftheyear,mostFellowsindicatethattheyfeelthattheyhavelearnedhowtocom-municatetheirlessonsandresearchinanorganized,clearwaythatmiddleschoolstudents, and even the general public,canunderstand.Ontheopen-endedques-tions of the teacher survey, one teacherindicated increased content knowledge asaresultoftheFellow’spresence;“Mybank of content knowledge and lesson ideashasbeennurtured, andmyabilityto think outside the box and challenge my students has grown.” From this, itfollowsthatteachers’jobsatisfactionin-creasedasa resultof theirparticipationinPEER.

ConclusionThe middle school students obviouslyheld more positive attitudes towardSTEM areas in classrooms where Fel-lowswerepresent.Theteachers’surveyresults were helpful in that they indi-cated the strengths and weaknesses of the program, and confirmed areas of im-provementforboththeteachersandtheFellows because of their collaborativeworkings. n

(Advancing Know..., cont’d from page 15)

Leadteacher,CatherineJohnston,assistsagroupofmiddleschoolstudentswithanassignmentonconductingresearch.

References• Ball, D.L., Lubienski, S., and Mewborn, D. (�001). Research on teaching mathematics:Theunsolvedproblemofteachers’mathemati-cal knowledge. In V. Richardson (Ed.), Hand-book of research on teaching (4th ed.). New York: Macmillan.• Hulett, L. D., Williams, T. L., Twitty, L. L.,Turner, R. C., Salamo, G., & Hobson,A.(2004). Inquiry-based classrooms and middle school student perceptions about science andmath. Proceedings from AERA ’04: The An-nualMeetingoftheAmericanEducationalResearchAssociation.SanDiego.•Knapp,A.K.(�006)Activitiesinalgebra:IsGK-1� effective for high school algebra stu-dents?Presentationmadeattheregionalmeet-ing of the National Council of Teachers ofMathematics.Chicago.•NationalCouncilofTeachersofMathematics[NCTM].(�000).PrinciplesandStandardsforSchoolMathematics,Reston,VA.• National Science Teachers Association[NSTA].(�010).Overview.RetrievedMay10,�010, from http://www.nsta.org/about/over-view.aspx?lid=tnavhp


Oneyear,middle school studentswroteabout undersea adventures. Anotheryear, they drew pictures demon-strating their ideas for sustain-ablehousingmaterials.

But, this year, students took science into their ownhands.

For several years now,PEERhasparticipatedinthe TexasA&M Univer-sity Distinguished Lec-tureSeriesbyconductingdrawingandessaycontestsrelatedtooneofthelecturetopics.

Middle school students fromaround the state of Texas submitentries in hopes of winning dinnerwiththeirfamilyandteacherbeforethelecture as well as a token of appreciation andcongratulationsfromtheUniversity.Thisyear’scontestfeaturedatopicbasedon research conducted by Dr. DeborahBell-Pedersen,amemberof theFacultyof Genetics, the Program in MicrobialGeneticsandGenomics,theProgramforthe Biology of Filamentous Fungi, andthe Biological Clocks Program. Her lec-turewasentitled,“HowOrganismsTellTime.” Students could enter a drawing,essay,or,newthisyear,ascienceexperi-ment.

Sigma Xi, the Research Society, spon-soredthecontestandPEERcoordinatedthejudgingandcontestsubmissions.Thecontest goal was to promote researchamongyouth.

Thedrawingcompetitionallowsstudentstobebothcreativeandaccurateintheirendeavors to illustrate the scientific topic oftheLectureSerieswithroomforstu-dent imaginations to take their course.

Theessaycontestgivesstudentstheop-portunity to be both scientifically accu-rateand innovative in theirdescriptions

of current scientific findings and possi-bilities for theirown future researchac-complishments.

Dr. Bell-Pedersen said, “Once studentsbegintounderstandalittlebitabout thetopicandbecomeengaged,theywillwantto learn more and more. This is wheretheygetintroducedtoresearch.”

With this year’s challenging and research-orientedLectureSeriestopiconbiologi-cal clocks, the PEER program decided to challenge students to create an experi-mentpertainingtothesubjectmatter.

Over the course of five days, students chose an area outside of their homes tomake observations about nature both in themorningandagainintheevening.

Thisallowedthestudentstocometotheirownconclusionsabouthowtimeofdayaffectsthenaturalenvironmentandcon-tributedtostudentunderstandingofasci-entifically rigorous topic.

Dr. Bell-Pedersen helped to judge the

Only Time Will TellTransforming a University Lecture Series into an AdventureBrittanySanchez

contest entries prior to her lecture andevenincorporatedthewinningdrawings

intoherpresentation.Thiswasanex-ceptionalexpressionof the interac-

tionbetweenstudentwinnersandLectureSeriesscholars.

“Iwasexcitedtoseethedraw-ingsandthetypesofexperi-ments the students wouldcomeupwith.Ibelievethatchallenged young mindscan do amazing, creativethings,” said Bell-Pedersenaboutjudging.

Dr.Bell-Pedersen’senthusiasmfor the contest and the over 400

entriesfrom�8differentschoolsare evidence of the success this

year’scontesthadforboththelecturerand the students alike.

The PEER program continues to striveforexcellenceinoutreach,and,assuch,will continue to enhance the contest toprovide more opportunities for hands-on,inquiry-basedlearning.n

PEER is considering additionalideasforfutureLectureSeries:• Holding question and answersessions for students whowant tolearnmoreaboutthetopic•AdditionalprizesforparticularlymotivatedstudentsthatmightwanttoshadowaprofessorortourtheUniversity• Creating new variations of thescienceexperimentsuchasanen-gineering contest (where studentssubmitdrawingsoftheirinvention)or a research journal describingtheirinvestigations• Providing more opportunitiesfor the professor conducting thelecture (and his/her graduate stu-dents)tointeractwithstudentsviatheweborothermedia

Expanding Outreach


Sciencecaninterestandhelpmanymembersofthepublic.Buthowcanitbepresented effectively to groups without technical backgrounds? The following are 10toptips.Manyoftheapproachesmaybefamiliartoscienceteachers.

1.Tie the subject to the audience’s interests.Forexample,showhowthe scienceappliestoaudiencemembers’concerns.2. Build on the audience’s existing knowledge.Useanalogiestofamiliar objectsorprocesses.Relatenewideastoconceptsfamiliartotheaudience.3. Provide overviews before details.Orienttheaudiencebypresentingthe “big picture” before specifics.4. In general, use simple, familiar language.Avoidmosttechnicaljargon. And keep other wording brief and easy-to understand. For example, say “basic,” not“fundamental.”5. Present the concept before the technical term.Sometechnicalterms can be helpful for members of the public to know. But consider introducing them gently by presenting the concept first.6. Present numbers and sizes effectively.Usefamiliarunits.Compare sizestothoseoffamiliarobjects.7. Include human—or animal—interest. Talk about the people involved with the science. If animals are involved, talk about them, too.8. Use narrative. People like stories and tend to remember them. So tell (true) storiesaboutthescienceanditsuse.9. Use the visual element well.Iffeasible,includegraphicsthatbothinform andattract.Useheadingsandwhitespacetohelpshowthestructureofwhatyouarepresenting.10. Note sources of further information.Especiallyifyou’vefollowedtips above, audience members might well want to know more. Therefore identify sourcesofadditionalinformation.

Thesetipscanhelpcommunicatescienceclearly,engagingly,andinformativelyto general audiences. Whether you’re giving a talk, writing an article, or prepar-ingmaterialfortheweb,considerusingthem.n

10 Tips for Presenting Science to the PublicBarbaraGastel

Texas A&M professor Barbara Gastel has presented science-communication workshops in more than 10 countries. Here, after a workshop in Kenya, she feeds an inhabitant of a giraffe sanctuary.

The opportunity totraveltoBeijingandShanghaiinthefallof �009 as an NSFFellowaffordedmethechancetoexpe-rienceanewcultureand interact withpeers and mentorsat the internationallevel.AttendingtheChina-U.S.relationsconfer-encesetthethemeforourtripofstrengtheningpartnershipsbetweenindividualsinbothcoun-tries, which have become intimately linked over the past decades. Here, we celebrated the past 30 years of U.S.-Chinese relations and discussedproblemswhichwestill face together,particu-larly environmental health issues. Interactionswithfellowgraduatestudentsattheconferenceand at the two universities we visited set thistripapartfromotherconferencesIhadattended.Hereweengagedinconversationsaboutourre-search,families,anduniqueexperienceswithinourowncultures.For instance, asweclimbedthe Great Wall with two students from Beijing NormalUniversity,weexchangedthoughtsandsharedaunifyingexperiencebytouchingaspe-cial stone for good luck. We were welcomed to Shanghaiataclassic‘hotpot’restaurantwherewe triednewfoods from theveryspicy to thequitebizarre.AtFudanSchoolofPublicHealththenextday,wediscussedsomeofthesimilari-tiesanddifferencesofourcountries’educationalsystemsfromgradeschooltotheadvancedlevelandprosperedfromunderstandingthestrengthsand weaknesses of both. Ultimately, this jour-ney to China greatly enhanced my graduateeducation and prepared me for work in the in-ternationalarena.Inatimewhencollaborationin scientific research is vital and global issues abound,thisuniqueeducationalopportunityex-panded my skills in teamwork and communica-tionwithpartnersabroad.n

The GK-12 Meets China NatalieJohnson

GraduateFellowsexpandoutreachviainternationalcollaboration.


Eachyear,ourPEERmanagementteammakes it a point to select graduate stu-dentsforourNSFGK-1�programwhohave the motivation, personality, andscientific expertise to be effective am-bassadors and science consultants tomiddle schools in our area. We call these graduatestudentsResidentScientistsorMathematiciansorFellows.Everyyearwe pick a new “class” of 8-12 gradu-atestudentsbecausewewanttospreadtheexperiencewidelyamongmany.Topreservesomecorporatememory,eachclasshasafewholdoversfromtheprevi-ousyearwhowereespeciallyoutstand-ing,andserveasimportantrolemodelsforthenewFellows.

InMay,beforeschoolstartsintheFall,Fellowsactuallyvisit the classroomoftheirassignedteacher.Theninthesum-mer, we conduct a week-long training wheretheylearnabouttheenvironmentinourlocalschools,standardsfordressand behavior, and pedagogical theory.Partofthattimeisalsospentinall-daysessions with the assigned teacher, sothat theygetbetteracquaintedandcanbegintheplanningfortheupcomingfallsemester.

We select Fellows from multiple disci-plines,suchasmath,engineering,biol-ogy, physics, and geosciences.Thougheach Fellow is assigned to work with a particular teacher in a specific school, the Fellows work as a team when it comes toplanningtheirschoolvisitsandshar-ing experiences. PEER has an on-staffretired teacher, Carol Tatum, who makes periodic visits to evaluate Fellows as

they make presenta-tions and con-

duct demos intheirassigned

classes. Her many years of experiencehelp the Fellows in ways they cannotgatherinanyotherform.

Each Fellow records their weekly activi-tiesinanonlinejournalwhichincludesopen-ended questions for guidance. Inaddition, there are seven survey itemsforFellowstoindicatehowtheyjudgedtheireffectiveness instimulating inqui-ry, explaining real-world connections,inpromotingunderstandingofresearch,and their comfort level in interactionwithstudentsandteachers.Ourevalua-tion team analyzes these surveys to track thegrowthinFellowimpactacrosstheacademicyear.

At our weekly meetings, I share the highlightsfromeachFellow’slatestre-port.ItrytogetanswerstoquestionsthatFellowsraiseandsummarizereportsoftheir experienceswith student attitudesandbehavior, teaching issues, andspe-cifics of some of their classroom activi-ties.Onthemanyoccasionswhengreatevents happen, I make a “Golden Nug-getAward” (well, actually it is a gold-painted rock) for experiences that have exceptionalimpactonaclassandontheteacher.SomeFellowshaveanimpres-sive“trophycase.”Awardsarebasedonelicitingstudententhusiasmandmotiva-tion,aswellaseffectivelyengagingstu-dentsinacademicallyrigorousways.

A major purpose of the weekly meetings istoencourageFellowstoshareinsightsontheirexperiencesandhelpeachotherwithsuggestedimprovementsandideasfor future classroom visits.The academic diversityofourFel- lows provesinvaluable for helping

The PEER Graduate Student Educational Outreach TeamBillKlemm

Teacher TipsWorkingwithyourFellow:•Beclearwithyourexpectations.• Fellows are in the program tolearn and gain experience; theyare looking for instruction fromyouasanexperiencedteacher.•BeinvolvedinthemakingofyourFellow’slessonstocreatealessonthatsuitsyourclassroomandyourstudents.• Let the Fellow completely havetheclassfromtimetotime.Youfa-cilitatewhilegettingotherimpor-tanttaskscompleted.• Be willing to try lessons thatseem a little too challenging foryourstudents–theymayjustrisetothechallengeandsurpriseyou!•Havelunchtogether!Talkaboutlife,hobbies,andinterests.

10 Tips for Presenting Science to the PublicBarbaraGastel

Lead teacher, Kathy Polzer, mentor teacher, Carol Tatum, and graduate Fellow, Kyle Damborsky, gatherattheNationalNSFGK-1�Meetingtodiscusswaystoimproveteamcollaboration.

everyone with ideas and informationfrom fields about which they may not know a lot.

Fellows also use this meeting time toinvite each other to classes in anotherschoolandtoparticipateinspecialout-of-class events, such as science clubsand fairs. Sometimes they jointly con-ductactivitiesinaschool.Someofourmeetingsalsoincludetheundergraduateassistants who work for PEER directly withourgraduateFellows.

Weekly meetings are chaired by the Fellows,whorotate theassignment.Ateach meeting, the Chairperson gives ademo and explanation of some specialclass activity that was conducted or isplanned for the near future. Other Fel-lowsjoininwithevaluationandsugges-tions.Frequently, theyuseeachother’spresentationanddemomaterialsintheirownclasses.

For some organizations, weekly meet-ings can be drudgery. That is not thecaseforourGK-1�meetings.Everyoneisgladtohavethemeetingsbecauseweallgainsomuchfromthem.n

�0 PEERPerspectivesVolumeII

Directives: TheNSFGK-1�programprovidesfundingtouniversitiestosendgraduate students in NSF-supportedscience, technology,engineering,andmathematics (STEM) disciplines andtheir specific research practices and findings into K-12 classrooms. The goalofthisinitiativeistoenhanceK-1�educationinSTEMareasoflearn-ingandcareerinterestforstudents.

However, the benefits of the pro-gramextendbeyondGK-1�students.Through collaborations with othergraduate Fellows and faculty fromSTEM fields, with teachers and stu-dents in the K-1� setting, and withvarious team members of the GK-1�program,graduatestudentslearnhowtocommunicatetheirresearchtobothtechnical and non-technical audienc-es. The graduate students also gainleadership, team building, organiza-tional, and teaching capabilities, skills thataretransportabletootherareasofstudy, research, and work.

With the provided benefits of the pro-gram,theNSFhasexpectationsofper-formance from the GK-1� program,thegraduatefellows,forK-1�educa-

tion, and for the institutions of highereducation as a whole. Fellows are totake coursework/preparation to receive trainingincollaborationandteambuild-ing, effective time and task manage-ment, developing leadership skills, and inpedagogy.

Lead teachers are also encouraged totrainbothwithandwithout their Fel-lows to developmentoring skills, increase theirscience contentknowledge, learn to produce mul-timedia materialsandcyber-enabledtoolsforteaching/learning, and inprofessional skills development.Theteacher-Fel lowteammustcoordi-natetoengageinjointresearchandeducationaleffortsto enhance learning and STEM careerinterestforstudentscreatingthedesiredK-1�experienceforthestudents.

But building relationships within aGK-12 program is only the first step. Programs must learn to collaborateand build relationships with facultyandprogramsatotheracademicinsti-tutionsandNSF-funded programs toextend knowledge banks and broaden participationofwomenandunderrep-resentedminoritiesinSTEM.

TeachersandFellowscanuseuniver-sityresources,includingacademicde-velopment programs, offices for cam-pusdiversity,orminorityandwomenstudentgroups,andprofessionalasso-ciations,organizations,orcommitteesthatpromoteSTEM.ItisimportanttotheNSF that recruitmentof graduateFellows is a result of partnerships tocontinue the collaborative efforts oftheGK-1�programbysustainingandbuildinguponitsfoundation.

Plan to Meet: Oneplan is todirecteffortsatprofessionaldevelopmentofgraduateFellowswithnewcoursesde-veloped and workshops on energy and environmentandincorporationofsuc-cessfulaspectsoftheGK-1�projectsinto theuniversitygraduateprogram.The STEM content knowledge and K-1�studentinterestinSTEMwouldbe

NSF Graduate STEM Fellows in K12 (GK12): Program Directives and a Possible Plan for Meeting ThemLarryJohnsonandBrittanySanchez

GK-1�graduateFellow,AlfredoPerez,meetswithNSFProgramDirectorsSoniaOrtegaandPingGeataGK-1�conference.

“GK-12 prepares a unique and different kind of science and en-gineering professional, one who in addition to being capable ofconducting leading-edge research is also prepared to functionwellinaglobalcommunity.Wearepreparingprofessionalswhowill beengaged in theircommunities,whowill knowabout thescholarshipofteachingandlearning,andwhowillbeabletobringscienceandengineeringissuestothepublic.TheGK-12provides

anopportunityforgraduatestudentstobringtheirresearchtoK-12classroomsandmakescienceandengineeringrelevanttostudents’livesastheyserveasrolemodels to those students”

SoniaOrtegaGK-12ProgramDirector,NSF

From the GK-12 Program Director

PEERPerspectivesVolumeII �1

GK-1�graduateFellow,AlfredoPerez,meetswithNSFProgramDirectorsSoniaOrtegaandPingGeataGK-1�conference.

enhanced through teacher workshops, Fellowsinclass(face-to-face),orviacyber-enabled tools. A week-long summit with Fellows presenting en-ergy/environment research, a keynote speaker, teacher-Fellow planning, cur-riculardevelopment,andexperimentsinvolving K-1� students would helpunify the project and would likely be sustainedbeyondtheGK-1�activity.Fellows are instructed on pedagogy

andsuccessfulapproachesandal-lows them to reach out to ruralTexas where resources and travelareprohibitedandalargeminoritypopulationresides.Fellowswouldbetrainedtobesuccessfulintheirprofession as college professorsandindustrySTEMscientists.n

GraduateFellowopportunitiesareonthehorizonwithresearchandteachingofgreentechnologiesandenergies.

I am a very fortunate person; fortu-nateinthesensethatlifetendstoleadme into life-changing experiences atthe perfect times and places.A greatexampleofthathasbeenmyinvolve-ment in the GK-1� program for thepast two years while a doctoral stu-dent at TexasA&M University. ThisopportunitycameatamomentwhenIwasnearlypreparedtoleavegraduateschooldue toeconomic reasons.Thefinancial support that came through aGK-1� teaching fellowshipwas in-strumentalinallowingmetocontinuethe advancement of my studies. Intermsoflifeimpact,myexperienceinthisprogramhasbeensuchthatIam

convincedIamabetterscholarandabetterengineer,aswellasamoreedu-catedpersonoverall.

TheGK-1�programhaspresentedmewithnumerousopportunities togrowbothasascholarandasanengineer.For instance, stimulating the interestof middle school students and teach-ers in the STEM fields has required metolearntocommunicateadvancedknowledge in a way that can be un-derstood by audiences with no back-groundonthesubject.Also,develop-ing math or research-related lessonsandhands-onactivitieshas improvedmy ability to work in an interdisciplin-

arycontextwhereen-gineering,design,andteachingconceptsandskills have had to be applied.Furthermore,working with other graduatestudentsandprofessors involvedwith theprogramhasexpanded my network of contacts and haseven granted me theopportunity to pres-ent my research work and promote myselfprofessionally at theNSF headquarters inWashington, D.C.

Working as a GK-12 teaching Fellow has

also given me an early start towardbecomingacompetent instructor, ac-quainting me with a wide range ofpedagogical techniques and differ-entlearningstyles.Aswell,ithasal-lowed me to enhance my mentoringand managing skills through working and coordinating with undergraduatestudents and multiple teachers on aweekly basis. Spending a significant amountoftimeatapublicintermedi-ate school every week has helped me gainfamiliaritywithsomeofthecom-monproblemsthatburdenoureduca-tion system.This has heightened mysensitivity to the needs of teachers,students, and the community in gen-eral.Mymainmotivation forgettingadoctoraldegreehasbeentobecomea model professor and researcher ata university and make a difference inthecareersofmystudentsandmycommunity. In that sense, theGK-1�programhasalreadybegunpreparingmeforthatpurpose.

Therearetoomanypositiveaspectstohighlight about the GK-1� program.Ireallyfeelfortunatetobepartofit.Speaking of it being a life-changing experience,somedayoneofmyfor-mer students may come up to me toshare that building that blinker circuit duringmathclasswastheprecisemo-ment that sparked his or her interest in engineering.n

GK-12: A Life-Changing ExperienceAlfredoPerez

Dr. Bill Klemm, a Professor of Neuroscience and a PEER Co-PI, is a distinguished speaker with over 40 years of university teaching and research experience. Additionally, he has given numerous memory improvement talks to audiences in clubs and schools and at regional and national meetings. Bill visits schools to conduct all-day workshops on memory for teachers. He has also given talks about science in public schools to students in grades ranging from the second to the eighth grade. Other public speaking experiences include completion of the Dale Carnegie course in leadership and public speaking and, during an eight-year period as a Colonel in the Air Force Reserves, he gave frequent briefings to staff and commanders at the Headquarters of Air Force Human Systems Division. For over 40 years, he has given five or six talks each year in loca-tions ranging from schools to cruise ships. Today, Dr. Bill’s research has helped scientists understand how the brain works, specifically memory.

He has developed the tips to improve learning efficiency:1.Committhetime2. Improve your reading skills3. Get motivated4. Bring your “A-game” to class5. Think! – it’s the best rehearsal6.Memorizeonlywhatyou can’t figure out7.Organizelearningmaterial8.Don’tmemorizebyrote9. Make associations10.Uselotsofcues11.Usementalpictures12. Improve working memory span13. Reduce interferences14. Don’t multi-task; learn to focus15.Reducestress;calmemotions16.Haveahealthylife-style17.Getenoughsleep18.Recallcuestoremove“tip-of-the-tongue” blocks19.Testyourselfoften�0.Believeinyourability

Visit thankyoubrain.com for memory tips and a blog on current topics in neuroscience, or read Dr. Bill’s book, “Thank You Brain For All You Remember: What You Forgot Was My Fault.” n

�� PEERPerspectivesVolumeII

20 Tips for Better Grades, Less Effort

Dr.BillKlemm,“MemoryMedic”(left).The“MemoryMedic”onhiswaytohelpstudentswiththeirmemory(right).

It isprobably rare fora graduate student towrite her dissertationon almost the sametopics as her highschool science fairproject,butformethishappens to be the case. I was a junioratNavasotaHighSchoolwhenDr.TimPhillips from Texas A&M Universitygaveaseminartoourchemistryclassontheeffectsofenvironmentalcompounds,specifically aflatoxin. His role in K-12 outreachwasspurredbythePEERpro-

gramandallowedus,ashighschoolstu-dents,tolearnaboutthisadvancedtopicfocusing on environmental health prob-lems.Although I did not expect him tobe my graduate advisor one day, I asked to come see his lab and work on a small science fair project. He welcomed meintothelabandhisseniorresearcherDr.KittaneMayurataughtmehowtoextractand measure aflatoxins in peanut butter. I eventually presented this work at the In-ternationalScienceandEngineeringFairinSanJose,CA,whichwasquiteanex-perienceformeasahighschoolstudent.This hands-on experiment sparked my

interest in scientific research. Nearly ten yearslater,IamgraduatingwithaPh.D.in toxicologyunder theguidanceofDr.Phillips. I joined his lab as a graduatestudent after completing my bachelor’sdegree in biology from TexasA&M in2006. While this exact path may be un-common,Ibelievemanypeoplecanat-tribute their interest in a subject or field toadedicated teacherorprofessorwhospentthetimetohelpdevelopandfosterone’s interest. The importance of K-1�outreach from research institutions andthe PEER program are largely respon-sibleforintroducingmetotheworldofresearch.n

A PEER Perspective: From Science Fair to Dissertation NatalieJohnson

What is a hypothesis? Why do scientists create hypotheses? Why are hypotheses useful in science? What do we mean by the scientific method? These are just some of the questions that are raised in this unit. When reviewing the basic tenets of the scientific method, a group of students were given a real experimentalquestiontodealwith:Dooldmicebehavedif-ferently thanyoungmice?Studentsdiscussedif theremightactuallybeanydifferencesbetweenoldandyoungmicewithrespecttohowtheyactedwhenplacedinanovelopenspaceand if theremight be anydifferences in coordination. Stu-dentsdevelopedtheoriesofmousebehavioranddevelopedaconsensusabouthow theyexpected themice tobehaveanddeveloped testable hypotheses. They worked with groups of 5 - 6 old and 5 - 6 young mice and test specific behaviors using different scientific apparatuses actually used in a research lab-oratory.Eachstudentworenitrileglovesandwas instructedhow to correctly pick up and hold a mouse and the students took turns putting the mice into each behavioral test and then back into the cages.

The first test that the students carried out was the open field test.This isastandardbehavior test thatassesseshowmicedealwithanovelopenspace.Miceareplacedinaboxwitha floor, sides, and open top. Researches record the distance traveledandthenumberoftimeseachmouserearsuponitshind legs. Each mouse spends two minutes in the box, andthentheboxisthoroughlycleanedbeforethenexttrial.Stu-dents used their math skills to average the distance traveled for theoldmiceandfortheyoungmice.Thesamewastrueforaveragenumberoftimestheoldandtheyoungmicereared.The students took turns placing one mouse at a time into the open field box, taking it out, timing the events, and counting distanceandnumbersoftimesthemouserearedup.

Thesecondtestwastheverticalpoletest.Thistestusesa1.5-inchdiameterplasticpipe,wrappedintapethatthemouseisplaced on when the pole is horizontal. When the pole is shifted toaverticalpositionoverthecourseof15seconds,thestu-dentsobservewhetherthemousecanstayontherod.Beneaththerodthereisaboxwithsoftpaddinginthebottomsoifthemousefalls,itisnothurt.Thestudentsholdthepoleafootabovethepaddingsothemouseisnottemptedtojust jump

fromthepole to thebedding. This testdetermines ifmicecancoordinatetheirmovementsandhowtheyaregrippingthepolesothattheycanstayonthepoleasitsorientationchangesfromhorizontal tovertical. Micewith impairedcoordinationcannotstayonthepoleasitnearstheverticalposition.Again,studentscalculatetheaverageforeachgroupofmice,youngandold.

Attheendoftheexperiments,thestudentsdeterminedwhetherthey proved their hypotheses – some hypotheses were true and some were not. The students then discussed what might haveinfluenced the results. The students were very enthusiastic about developinghypothesesthattheycouldactuallytestwithliveani-mals.Theylearnedthattherecouldbeadifferenceofopinionatthebeginningaboutwhattheymightobserve,theyrealizedthatthey did not know how the experiment would turn out and then theyhad thesatisfactionofseeingacompleteexperiment frombeginningtoendthatansweredthequestionsthattheyraised.Thestudents were able to put the scientific method into practice in a fun,yetrealisticway.Beingabletoactuallyruntheexperimentsthemselveshelpedthestudentsengageinthelearningprocessinawaythatisnotpossiblewhenexperimentsareonlydiscussedordemonstrated.Thesestudentsalsolearnedaboutresearchthatisreally carried out in the scientific community. These two behavior testsareonesthatIactuallyusedinmyresearchwhenIstudiedhow low dose exposure to methylmercury would affect mousebehavior.n

Scientific Method Used to Study BehaviorLouiseC.Abbott


Dr. Louise Abbott engages students in an experiment involving the scientific method,allowingthemtogethands-onlaboratoryexperience.

“The students were able to put the scientific method into practice in a fun, yet realistic way.”


BillKlemmhttp://peer.tamu.edu/MiniMods.asp

Science andmath are too important ineverydaylifetobedismissedastoohardorboring.Thiscurriculumhelpsmoti-vatestudentsbyshowingjusthowrel-evantandinterestingscienceandmathcanbebyintegratingscienceandmathwithsocialstudies(mainlyhistoryandgeography)andlanguagearts.

Students often ask: “Why do we need to know this?” By integrating science and math content with environmentalhealth,socialstudies,andlanguagearts,webelievetherelevanceofscienceandmathismadeself-evident.Studentsseescienceandmathinanewlight.

Anadventurestoryisthebasisforlan-guagearts instruction,andat thesametimecreatesthesettingforspawningac-ademiccontentinsocialstudies,science,andmath.Arecurringcastofcharacters,the “Back Pack club,” has a time-travel pocket digital assistant that allows them totraveltodifferentpartsoftheworldatdifferenthistoricalperiods.

Time travel visits are driven by state-mandated social studies standards: inTexas, 6th graders learn about worldhistory,7thgraderslearnTexashistory,and8thgraderslearnU.S.historypriorto the Civil War. Adventure stories are createdinthesehistoricalsettings.

We add to the relevance by including en-vironmentalhealthproblemforstudentstosolve.Childrencanrelatecurriculumconceptstoenvironmentalhealthissues,becausetheyhaveeitherconfrontedsim-ilar issues or know someone who has. Common conditions include allergiesandasthma,poisoningfromfood,water,orair;exposuretochemicalhazardsandcarcinogens; nutritional disorders andassortedinfectiousdiseases.Allofthesethemesappearinourmodules.

Benefits for Teaching and Learning• FREE Instructional materials downloadable from the PEERwebsite•Contentshowsreal-worldrel-evanceofscienceandmath• Written by real experts: Texas A&M professors in each sub-ject and education profession-als. Seven years in the making.• Adventure story written byprofession children’s book au-thor … The story setting makes scienceandmathfun.•AdventurestoriesavailableinaudioandinwrittenSpanish• State knowledge and skills standards-based.• Content provided as engag-ingPowerPointslidesinwhichthe notes section of the slidesprovides information for theteacher.• Each module has a problemforstudentstosolve.Encourag-es critical and creative thinking and use of scientific method.•Contentinallfoursubjectsismoreinterestingsinceitisem-bedded in real-world contextthatemphasizeshowacademicsubjectsinter-relate.•Flexibletouse.Modulesavail-ableintwoforms:1)acompletesetof~1�0slideswithnotesthatteacherscanteam-teachasanintegrated unit. The content is intermixed to create a logical flow that is related to flow of events in the story, or 2) slides divided into“mini-modules”thatfocusonlyonagivensubject(science,math,socialstudies,orlanguagearts).•Numeroushands-onandlabactivities.•Importantsupplementalmaterial.Science:combatinginfections,scientific method, tobacco and nicotine addiction, water purifica-tion.Math:area/volumecalculations,circumference,geometricshapes, length conversions, metric multiplication factors, per-cents/decimals/fractions,perimeter,probability, ratios, statistics,temperatureconversion,timemeasurement,volumeandweight,conversions.• Teachers can take ownership by modifying slide shows.•Pre-andpost-testsineachacademicarea.n

PEER Integrated Middle School Curriculum


PEER Web-Based Biology and Environmental Health Curriculum

BillKlemmhttp://peer.tamu.edu/curriculum_modules/

There is talk that someday, maybe soon, traditional textbooks will be replaced with e-books. Well, we don’t know about that, but we have a biological science e-book. And you don’t have to read it all scrunched up on the tiny screen of a Kindle-like device.Youreaditfullfeaturedonawebsite.

This e-book covers the full span of middle-school science (cellsystems,organsystems,andecosystems)andinadditionhas features you won’t find in other textbooks. We provide ex-planationsandactivitiesnotonlyfortraditionalbiologycon-tentbutalsoforamultitudeofcommonenvironmentaltoxins.Thesectiononwaterqualityevenhasalotofstandards-basedmathinstruction.

Benefits for Teaching and Learning•Applicable to vast majority of state standards for middle-schoollifescience.•Broadandcohesivewebcurriculaformiddleschools.• Modularized. Pick and choose what you want or need to learn.•Convenienttouse:electronicsearching,webpageformatforeasy surfing, hyperlinking within the curriculum and to out-sidesites.• Written by real experts: biological scientists and education professionals.• Four or more hands-on activities or experiments in everyunit.• Emphasizes functions to encourage students to think, as op-posedtojustmemorizingdryfacts.•Coversallthemajorareas:cellsystems,organsystems,eco-systems.•Coversimportantenvironmentalissues:waterquality,pollu-tionfromindustry,mining,farming.•Explains~50commonenvironmentalhazards:frominsecti-cides to global warming … http://peer.tamu.edu/curriculum_modules/Hazards_index/environmental_hazards_index.htm• A “Story Time” in each unit gives a child-oriented biosketch ofafamousscientistwhomadesomeofthediscoveriespre-sented in the content section (http://peer.tamu.edu/curricu-lum_modules/storytime/storytimeindex.htm).• Each unit has two sections not found in books: 1) “Why It Matters,”showsstudentswhytheyshouldcareaboutthecon-tent, and 2) “How We Know” shows what strategies, methods, andinstrumentsareusedindiscovery.•Teacher-supportpagesforeachunitprovideoverview,pre-andposttests,applicablestatestandards,resources.n

Units of instruction begin with explanation of “Why It Matters”:

Unitsshowhowsomeoftheinformationwasdiscovered:

Unitsofinstructionhaveateacher-supportpage:

�6 PEERPerspectivesVolumeII http://peer.tamu.edu/NSFPages/NSF_Interviews.asp http://peer.tamu.edu/presentations.asp

Do you wonder what the life of a scientist is like or how to become a scientist?? Visit peer.tamu.edu and find out!

The PEER program has worked with many types of scientists and mathematicians across Texas A&M University. Videos can be found on the homepage that detail the research and personal lives of many resident scientists and math-ematicians involved throughout the program. Teachers and students can watch and interact with these scientists, including learning about how to become a successful scientist and the possibility of career options available at Texas A&M University. Videos range from talking to biologists, veterinarians, oceanographers, engineers, and physicists!

PEERPerspectivesVolumeII �7http://peer.tamu.edu/NSFPages/NSF_Interviews.asp http://peer.tamu.edu/presentations.asp

Do you wonder what the life of a scientist is like or how to become a scientist?? Visit peer.tamu.edu and find out!

Need more information? Teachers can find more presentations from scientists about environmental health and veterinarian science. Under ‘Virtual Scientists’ Presentations’, teachers can access videos ranging from toxicology to African wildlife to bioterrorism threats complete with discussions from real-life scientists and lesson plans to engage students’ interest and participation. So visit peer.tamu.edu and see what you can find for your classroom!

�8 PEERPerspectivesVolumeII

Activity Summary:Thisdemoisanexampleofthepowerofexothermicchemicalreactionsthatisstillsuitableforaclassroom.Calciumcarbidereactswithwatertoformthevolatilegas,acetylene. With the flick of a match, this powerful gas can turn a pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern with knife-like precision. Or so it seems...

Chemical Concepts:Thisactivityisademonstrationofchemicalchanges,exothermicreactions,andprovidesanopportunitytoexplain balancing chemical equations. The instruc-torshouldbefamiliarwiththeseconceptsbeforethedemo.Therearetwochemicalreactionsinthisdemowithwhichtheinstructorshouldbefamiliar:1.The formation of acetylene from calcium carbideandwater.�. The combustion of acetylene and oxygen. Sincefollowing fire is always arduous, it is recommended that thisdemobeusedasawrapupfora lessononchemical reactions, exothermic reactions, or balanc-ingchemicalequations.

Activity Plan: 1.) Before the demo, carve out the pumpkin(s) with a jack-o-lantern face, removing all “guts”. Reserve all carved pieces, and make sure they can be inserted back into the jack-o-lantern with ease. Note: The jack-o-lantern should be as air tight as possible. Also, the face piecesandtopshouldbecutwithatapersothattheyeasilyslideinandoutoftheirpositions,butwillstayinplacewhenleftalone.2.) Carve a small, triangular opening in the back of the pumpkin. This openingisfortheignitionofthegasandshouldbeonthelowerhalfofthe pumpkin (the lower the better).3.) Make a small boat out of the aluminum foil large enough to hold the 10mlofwater.4.) Measure out the 2 g of calcium carbide and 10 ml of water you will use for the demo. Make sure you keep them separate so the reaction does

notbeginprematurely.5.) Place the carved pumpkin, with all carved pieces returned to

theiropenings,atthefrontoftheclass.Thestudentsshouldjust see what appears to be a pumpkin. The small tri-angle at the back of the pumpkin should be easily

accessibletothedemonstrator.6.) Removing the top of the pumpkin, insert the aluminum boat and fill it with the water. Pick a volunteer toassistyoufromthispointon.Thenextstepsmustbetimedsincefromthispointon, gas will be accumulating in the pumpkin.7.)Haveyourvolunteerpour thecalciumcar-bide into the water filled boat, then gently return the lid to the pumpkin. Gas should begin evolv-

ingfromtheliquidimmediately.8.)Atthesametime,lightthewoodensplinttaped

to the end of your meter stick.9.) Allow between 15 and 30 seconds for the gas to

accumulate inside the pumpkin and the reaction to com-plete.The longeryouwait, themoregasbuilds inside

the pumpkin and the more dramatic the effect.10.) Insert the lit splint into the back of the pumpkin and watch the

reaction!11.) Some pieces of the pumpkin interior may become scorched or catch on fire. Using water to put out the fire is not a good idea since some cal-cium carbide may remain. Instead, try blowing or smothering the flames.

Troubleshooting Tips:1.)Alessthandramaticexplosion.Thismay be fixed by adding more calcium carbide, and/or allowing more time for the pumpkin fill with gas.2.) Only a few pieces of the pumpkin face came out. Again, allow more timeforthegastoaccumulate,andifnecessary,addmorecalciumcar-bide. Also, try using a thin knife to make sure the pieces can freely slide outoftheface.3.) No pumpkins available at this time of year? Try a watermelon or other large, gourd type fruit or vegetable. Note: Watermelons make a decent substitute, but they are much less rugged than pumpkins. After one demo, they will most likely shatter. n

EXPLODING PumpkinsKyleDamborskyTargetGradeLevel:8th

TEKSObjectives:6.5(D):Identifytheformationofanewsubstancebyusingtheevidenceofapossiblechemicalchange,7.6Matterhasphysicalandchemi-calpropertiesandcanundergophysicalandchemicalchanges,8.5(D):Recognizethatchemicalformulasareusedtoidentifysubstancesanddeterminethenumberofatomsofeachelementinchemicalformu-lascontainingsubscripts.

Materials:• Pumpkin(s), full sized•Calciumcarbide,�gperdemo• Water, 10 ml per demo•Matches• Meter stick (or another long, rigid objecttowhichyoufeelcomfort-abletapingawoodensplint)• Wooden splints• Masking tape•Aluminumfoil•Fireextinguisher

To find this lesson search for “Pumpkin” at http://peer.tamu.edu/DLC/NSF_Resources.asp


EXPLODING PumpkinsKyleDamborsky

Activity Summary:Thisactivityisdesignedtoprovidestu-dents with a visual and hands-on wayof discovering the tremendous effectsof exponents. The activity uses Skittles asthemainvisualaid.Theyareaddedto a large bucket at different exponen-tialincrements.Thestudents,andevenadults, will be amazed at how quickly the container fills with Skittles! Along withtheexperiment,studentsgraphthedataathandandactuallydiscoveranex-ponentialrelationship.

Theactivityisdesignedtointroducestu-dents to exponential relationships andmake conjectures about how changing thebaseofanumberwithanexponentcanchangethesteepnessofthecurve.

Activity Plan:• Get the students’ attention throughan introduction involving exponentialgrowthandsomethingapplicabletothereal world (like the spread of the Black Plague).• Place the clear bucket where all the students can see it and ask the students how many rounds they think we would have to go in order to fill the bucket with Skittles if we double the number of Skit-tlesweaddeachround.•Demonstratebyhavingthebaggiesla-beledwiththecorrectroundnumber(n)and number of Skittles being added that round, t(n). For example, on round0,have a baggie with one Skittle labeled round 0, and add the Skittle. For round 1,haveabaggielabeledround1thathas2 Skittles in it, and add the Skittles. For round �, have a baggie labeled round2 that has 4 Skittles in it, and add the Skittles etc…• After a few rounds, the instructormay want to ask the student’s if they would like to change their guess. They willprobablyguessahighernumberofroundsthantheydidpreviously.•Finishthedemonstration.• Work through the first table and graph on the Skittle ex-plosion Worksheet

TargetGradeLevel:6th

Time Required: 45 to 60 minutes

TEKS Objectives: 6.1 (D): Write primefactorizationsusingexponents,6.10(D):Solveproblemsbycol-lecting,organizing,displaying,andinterpretingdata,6.11(C):Selectordevelopanappropriateproblem-solvingstrategyfromavarietyofdifferenttypes,includingdrawingapicture, looking for a pattern, mak-ing a table, and working a simpler problem,6.1�(A):Communicatemathematicalideasusinglanguage,efficient tools, appropriate units, and graphical,numerical,physical,oralgebraic mathematical models, 6.13 (A): Make conjectures from pat-ternsorsetsofexamplesandnon-examples, 6.13 (B): Validate his/her conclusionsusingmathematicalpropertiesandrelationships.

Materials:• 7 to 10 large bags of Skittles• 1 large transparent bucket•1boxofquart-sizeZiplocbaggies•1boxofgallon-sizeZiplocbaggies• Marker (to write on the baggies)• Worksheet

Costperclassroom:Approximately$50.00 if using Skittles. This activity canbedoneforamuchlowercostiftheinstructoruseswaterinstead.

Skittle ex-plosionBetsyChilds

• Next, change the base from 2 to 4 and have students hypothesize if the bucket will fill up more quickly or more slowly if we quadruple the number of Skittles weaddeachroundinsteadofdoublingandbyhowmuch.•Next,proceedwiththedemonstrationwhilesimultaneouslygoingthroughtheworksheet and filling out the table and graph with the students. After a fewrounds,havethestudentsdotherecord-ingontheirown.• Ask students about different conclu-sionstheydrewfromthisexperiment.•HavethemproceedwithansweringtheReview Questions on the worksheet and then discuss their findings as a group.• Conclude the lesson by going back to your attention-grasping example, like the Black Plague, and explain to the stu-dentstheeffectthatexponentialgrowthhasintheserealworldsituations.

Lesson Extension:•Obtainasetofgraphingcalculatorsforthestudents,oruseanoverheadgraph-ingcalculator,tosimulategraphsasthestudents are working through this ex-periment.Thiswillhelpstudentstogeta better grasp about what exponentialcurves look like and the drastic effect that increasing or decreasing the baseofthenumberchangestheshapeofthegraph.•Forhighergrades,ageometry lessoncould be involved by measuring andestimating thevolumeofan individualSkittle, the volume of the bucket, and then hypothesizing as to how manySkittles will be needed to fill the bucket. Agoodsciencelessoncouldalsobein-troduced here involving the air pockets between the Skittles.•Foradvancedstudents, itwouldbeagreatideatoshowtherelationshipofthenumber of Skittles that are being col-lected in the bucket to exponents.

This is actually a geometric sequencethat the students could quite easily fig-ureout!n


Skittle ex-plosionDirections:Fillinthefollowingtablesandgraphswithinformationyougatherfromtheactivity.

Experiment#1

Experiment#�

Name: Date: Classperiod:

SkittlesExperiment1

Num

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Round#

Round# 0

NumberofSkittles Added

thisRound

1

� � � � � � � � � � � �

Round# 0

NumberofSkittles Added

thisRound

1

4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

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To find this lesson search for “Skittle E-xplosion” at http://peer.tamu.edu/DLC/NSF_Resources.asp


Skittles ex-plosion,Page�

ReviewQuestionsAnswerthefollowingreviewquestionsbasedonwhatyoulearnedfromtheactivity.

1. How does the graph of Skittles Experiment 1 differ from the graph of Skittles Experiment 2?

2. What might have caused this difference?

3. Why did changing the base from 2 to 4 make such a huge difference in how quickly the bucket filled up?

4. What do you suppose would happen if we changed the base to 3?

Num

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SkittlesExperiment2

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To find this lesson search for “Skittle E-xplosion” at http://peer.tamu.edu/DLC/NSF_Resources.asp


Activity Summary:This activity focuses on the hydrologic cycle by applying an investiga-tive approach to determine the difference between freshand salt water. The experiment revolves around ascientific mystery: An evil madman stole all of theearth’swater, andnowstudentsmustde-termine theproper locationsof samples ofthe stolen water sources to rebalance thehydrosphere. The activity applies previ-ous knowledge of density, temperature, and use of scientific tools to solve the mysteryofthestolenhydrosphere.

Activity Plan:Start the lesson with an introductionof the water cycle. Focus on what per-centageofwaterissaltandwhatpercent-age is fresh in thehydrosphere, includingwhere the freshwater is distributed aroundtheglobe.

After the introductory lesson, move into the mysterystorywherestudentsinvestigatethedifferencesbetweensaltand fresh water. Have fun with adapting the story to fit your classroom and adddramaticeffectsby includingmusic, laboratorycoats,safetyglasses,spyware,etc.tointerestthestudents.

1st Day: Water is one of the earth’s most valuable resources and is nonre-newable. The earth’s water supply forms the hydrosphere and covers 70% oftheearth’ssurface.However,verylittleofthehydrosphereisfreshwater(~3%) and much of that is frozen in the polar icecaps. The hydrologic cycle istheforceconstantlyrenewingtheearth’swatersupplyandisdrivenen-tirelybysolarenergy.Therearethreemainstepsinthehydrologiccycle:1.sunprovidesenergycausingevaporation�.watervaporcondensatesinthetroposphere 3. precipitation occurs as water droplets become too heavy to stayinthetroposphere.

Thereare threebasic typesof freshwatersourceson theearth’ssurface:frozen, flowing, and standing. Frozen sources include glaciers, which can forminvalleys,oncontinents,or in theoceans (icebergs). Flowingwa-tersareriversandstreams,occurringaroundintheworldindifferentsizes.Standingwatersourcesareareaswherewaterentersaregionandremainsthere. Lakes, ponds, and reservoirs are standing water sources.

Afterprovidingthebasicinformation,havestudentsconstructmodelsofthehydrologiccyclewithexamplesofthetypesofwaterinaparticularstep.

�ndDay:Explaintothestudentsthatsomeonehasremovedtheearth’shy-drosphere and now they must decide how to return the water back to its ap-propriatelocationinordertorestorethehydrologiccycle.Fromhere,give

thestudentsthreesamplesofmysterywaterandasetofequipmentstostartmeasuringanddetermin-ingwhichsourcesofwatertheyhave.Also,becre-ativewith the samples.Dependingon theequip-mentavailableandyourlocation,youcancollectriverwater,pondwater,addsedimenttowater,etc.Thepurposeof thelabisforstudents topracticethe scientific method and improve their skills with

using scientific instruments, formulating hy-potheses,andexplainingconclusions.

Close the lesson by asking for the students’predictionsonwhattype

ofwater theyhave fromwhichlocation on earth. Extend thisdiscussion into precision andaccuracy in scientific proce-dures.

Endthelessonbydemonstrat-ingthedifferencesbetweenwa-

ter sources in the hydrosphereusing a wave tank to show how

layerswillformbasedondifferentdensities. If time remains, lead the

lessonintoadiscussiononhowtotestifsalinityortemperaturehasmoreofaneffect

ondensityinthehydrosphere.

Acquiring Tools:The only difficulty may be acquiring advanced tools for measuring salinity. These tools can bepurchased from various websites or borrowedfromuniversities,statedepartments,orcompaniesthatmonitorwatersources.Theoptionaltoolsarea good way to introduce students to new scientific measuringtoolsandserveasimprovementstoac-

curacyinadditiontotheirdensitycalcula-tions.Usethetoolstocomparedifferent

methods of measure salinity anddiscuss which ways are more

or less accurate basedon the classroom

data.

Mystery WaterDisappearing Hydrosphere – A Mystery ExperimentRuthMullins

Graduate Fellow, Ruth Mullins, demonstrating a wave tank.


TargetGradeLevel:6th,7th

Time Required: Two 45-minute class periods

LessonObjectives:Understandthehydrologiccycleandhowwatercirculatesaroundtheglobe.Learnthedifferencebetweenfreshandsaltwater.Investigatethedifferencesinphysi-calcharacteristicsbetweenfreshandsaltwater.Improve skills in measuring and calculating density.Applymeasurementresultstothebal-anceofwaterinthehydrosphereandbeabletoexplainwhyfreshandsaltwaterremainsconstant on earth. Construct a working model ofthehydrologiccycle.

Materials:• Rectangular water tank with partitions to divideitintochambers•Foodcoloring• 100 ml beakers or Erlenmeyer flasks to hold mystery samples (each group will need 3)•Aluminumfoil•Hotplates•Graduatedcylinders(10ml)(onepergroup)•Triplebeambalance(onepergroup)• Salt water (35 ppt: 30-35 grams per 1000 gramsofwaterbestmadewithseasalt)•Distilledwater•Freshtapwater•Refractometers•Thermometers•Conductivitymeters(ifavailable)•Hydrometers(ifavailable)• Light-weight blocks (or something similar that will float)•Calculator

Costperclassroom:Approximately$10.00

Experimental Set-UpSalinitybyRefractometerMaterials:eyedropper,samplesofmysterywater,refractometersProcedures:1. Open the flap and clean the blue screen of the refractometer with a soft cloth�.UsetheeyedroppertoplaceONEdropofsampleonthebluescreen3. Close the screen and hold the refractometer into the light4. Look through the eyepiece to calculate the salinity5.Readandrecordthesalinityofyoursample(Usethediagrambelow)6. Wipe off the screen and repeat with the other samples.

Eyepiece

Flap&Screen

SalinitybyEvaporationMaterials:hotplate,aluminumfoilorboats,smallsamplesofmysterywaters(5ml),triplebeambalanceProcedures:1. Using your pencil, mark each aluminum dish with the name of the sample (i.e.A,B,C)2. Weigh and record the dry weight of each sample dish in the table3. Add 5 ml of each sample to the appropriate dish4. Weigh and record the wet weight of each sample dish in the table5.Placethedishesonthehotplateandwaitforthewatertoevaporate6. Weigh and record the evaporated weight of each sample dish in the table7.Calculatethesalinityofeachsampleusingthefollowingratio:Studythefollowingexample.ThendeterminethesalinityofeachofyoursamplesusingtheinformationinTable1.

sample dish# emptywt.

dish+water

wt.ofwater

dish+salt

wt.ofsalt

known 16 .95 6.08 5.13 1.08 .13

To get the % salt = weight of salt x 100 = .13 x 100 = 2.5% weight of water 5.13

To get the ppt salt = weight of salt x 1000 = .13 x 1000 = 25 ppt weight of water 5.13SalinitybyDensity:Equipment:triplebeambalance,graduatedcylinder,calculatorProcedures:1. Weigh your empty graduated cylinder �.Add50mlofsampletoyourcylinderandweigh3. Determine the weight of your sample and the volume4. Calculate the density of your sample5.Repeatfortheothertwosamples

SalinitybyBuoyancy:Equipment: floating object (block, cork, etc.), sample, rulerProcedures:1.Placetheobjectintoyoursample�.MeasuretheheightoftheobjectABOVEthewaterlevel3. Record your measurement and repeat for the other two samples

Read the value on theright side of the windowwheretheblueandwhiteline meets. This samplehas a salinity of 30 ppt.

Safety First:Themethodofevaporationrequiresusinghotplatesandaluminumdishes.Thehotplatescanbedanger-ousandhot.Dependingonthematuritylevelofthestudents,eitherhaveahotplatepertableormonitortheevaporationplates.n



DisappearingHydrosphereAMysteryExperiment

EVAPORATIONMETHOD:Fillinthefollowingtableaccordingtotheprocedures.Do NOT forget to use appropriate scientific UNITS (ex. g, cm, m, g/cm3) Wt. = weight

dish# emptywt. dish+water wt.ofwater dish+salt wt.ofsalt

A

B

C

Calculatethesalinitiesofeachsamplebasedontheformulaintheprocedures:

A=________ppt B=________ppt C=________ppt

REFRACTIONMETHOD:Usingtherefractometer,measurethesalinityofeachsample.A=________ppt B=________ppt C=________ppt

SAMPLEDENSITIES:Usingyourmassbalance,calculatethedensityofeachsample.RemembermassandvolumeareimportantANDdonotincludetheweightofyourgraduatecylinder.DONOTFORGETUNITS!

A=________ B=________ C=________

SOLVE THE MYSTERY! Based on your sleuth expertise and great scientific measuring abilities, solve themysteryofthedisappearinghydrosphere.Accuratelypredictbelowbylabelingwhatwouldhappenif we mix the three layers in a wave tank and identify the location of each layer in the hydrosphere (fresh water,riverwater,oceanwater)!

A=________ B=________C=________


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To find this lesson search for “Disappearing” at http://peer.tamu.edu/DLC/NSF_Resources.asp


Chemistry in a BagSaniyaAli


TimeRequired:Oneclassperiod

TEKSObjectives:8.8(A)Describethestructureandpartsofanatom,8.8(B)Identifytheprop-ertiesofanatomincludingmassandelectricalcharge,8.9(A)Demonstratethatsubstancesmayreactchemicallytoformnewones,8.9(B)Showhowanelement’spropertiesaffectitspositionontheperiodictable,8.9(C)Recognizetheimpor-tanceofformulasandequationstoexpressreac-tions,8.9(D)Identifythatphysicalandchemicalpropertiesareineverydaymaterials.

Materials:•Plasticbags•Sodiumbicarbonate•Calciumchloride•Testtubes•Universalindicator(phenolred)

Costperstudent:$0.10Activity Summary:Physicalandchemicalchangeshap-pen all around us all the time. Inthis activity students will observeand identify the types of changestaking place to gain an understand-ing of chemical reactions and howthey work. The students will see a reaction between calcium chlorideand sodium bicarbonate and eachseparately mixed with a universalindicator. They will make observa-tionsofbothphysicalandchemicalchanges.

Activity Plan:1.Placescoopofthecalciumchlo-rideandscoopofthesodiumbicar-bonateintheZiplocbagA.Mixthedry ingredients. Stop and observeanychanges.�.Placescoopofcalciumchlorideinanother Ziploc bag labeled B with 30 mLof‘universalindicator’mixture.3. Place scoop of sodium bicarbon-ateintheZiplocbaglabeledC.Mixin 30 mL of ‘universal indicator’ mixture.4. Add 30 mL of ‘universal indicator’ mixture to Ziploc bagA. Carefully

andcalmlyobserveasmanychangesas you can. Some changes may take afewminutestooccur.Keepobserv-ing.

Chemistry Concepts:Inachemicalchange,elementscom-binetoformnewchemicalcompoundswith new and different properties.There are some distinct signs thata chemical change has taken place. These signs include: formation of agas,anodor,colorchange,precipitate,and a change in temperature. Someexamples of a chemical change are:foodspoiling,burningpaper,digestionof food, baking a cake, and a candle burning.

In a physical change, the form of asubstanceorsomeifitsphysicalprop-erties may change, but its chemicalcomposition stays unchanged. Theelements or compounds involved inthe change keep their identity. Some examplesofphysicalchangesare:cut-ting paper, changes of state, melting,anddissolving.

Chemical Availability:Calcium chloride: available from buildersupplystoresasadryingagentandsoldun-derthenameDampRid.Sodiumbicarbonate:availablefromgrocerystore, Arm & hammer $2.50 for a 48 oz. BoxPhenolred:availablein1.0oz.bottlefromswimmingpoolsupplystores(andsomede-partment store garden departments). Thiscanbehighlydiluted(weuse1partphenolredto10-15partsisopropylalcohol).A1oz.phenolreddilutedto16oz.willbeenough.Baggies: try the smaller size Ziploc snack bags.Theyrunlessthan5centsperbag.Disposal/cleanup:thiscanbewasheddownthedrainwithplentyofwater.

Safety First:• Students must wear goggles at all timesduringthislabactivity.• Make sure all participants read the activity beforestartingtheinvestigation.•Theplasticbagmustbesealedfullysothatthecontentsdonotspilloutduringthereac-tion.n

Leadteacher,NaveenCunha,carefullydistributeschemicalsfortheexperimentinhisStephenF.AustinMiddleSchoolclassroom.




ChemistryinaBagOBJECTIVE:Toobserveandrecognizechemicalreactions.

MATERIALS:•Plasticbags•Sodiumbicarbonate•Calciumchloride•Testtubes•Universalindicator

SAFETYNOTE•Youmustweargogglesatalltimesduringthislabactivity.•Readtheactivitybeforestartingtheinvestigation.•The plastic bag must be sealed fully so that the contents do not fly out during the reaction.

PROCEDURE:1.PlacescoopofthecalciumchlorideandscoopofthesodiumbicarbonateintheZiplocbag“A”.Mixthedryingredients.Stopandobserveanychanges.

RECORDOBSERVATIONS:____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Place scoop of calcium chloride in another Ziploc bag labeled “B” with 30 mL of ‘universal indicator’ mixture.


3. Place scoop of sodium bicarbonate in the Ziploc bag labeled “C”. Mix in 30 mL of ‘universal indicator’ mixture.


4. Add 30 mL of ‘universal indicator’ mixture to Ziploc bag “A”. Carefully and calmly observe as many changes as you can. Some changes may take a few minutes to occur. Keep observing.



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To find this lesson search for “Chemical/Physical” at http://peer.tamu.edu/DLC/NSF_Resources.asp


ANALYSISQUESTIONS:1. Describe the appearance of each chemical: These observations should include color, smell, texture, etc…•Calciumchloride-•Sodiumbicarbonate-•Indicator-•Water -

2. What changes occurred when the calcium chloride was mixed with the sodium bicarbonate? Was this a physical changeorwasitachemicalchange?

3. What changes occurred when the ‘indicator’ was mixed with the calcium chloride? Was this a physical change or wasitachemicalchange?

4. What changes occurred when the ‘indicator’ was mixed with the sodium bicarbonate? Was this a physical change orwasitachemicalchange?

5. When the ‘indicator’ mixture was combined with calcium chloride and sodium bicarbonate: A. What changes occurred immediately and a few minutes later?

B. Was this a physical change or was it a chemical change?

6. Use a periodic table to find the symbol, atomic mass, atomic number for each of the following elements.

Element Symbol AtomicNumber AtomicMass

Calcium

Sodium

Carbon

Hydrogen

Oxygen

7.Investigatewhichchemicalcausedthecolorchangeandwhy.

8. Which chemical caused the bag to heat up?

9.Usingtheinternet,conductsomeresearchontheusesofcalciumchloride.

ChemistryinaBag,Page�Name: Date: Classperiod:Pa

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To find this lesson search for “Chemical/Physical” at http://peer.tamu.edu/DLC/NSF_Resources.asp


Activity Summary:In order to teach sixth graders about taxonomy, the concept is broken down to thesimplestlevel:givethestudentsfoodandhavethemsortitintotaxonomicgroupsoftheirowndesign.

Ultimately this activity shows students how difficult it can be to agree upon designations(groups)andwhyscientistssometimeshavetroubleclassifyinganorganism.

Thisactivityisstartedoffbyshowingstudentstheshort“Taxonomy”Power-Pointlocatedatpeer.tamu.eduandconductingabriefdiscussiononwhattheword“taxonomy”meansandhowscientistsuse this toclassifyorganisms.ThenstudentsaregivenasmallbagofChexmixandtoldtoclassifytheirbagof “organisms” into the best taxonomic classification system they can think of. Usually this results in a wide variety of “best” taxonomic classification systems and this can lead into a discussion on how to classify difficult organ-isms - like a sponge or a virus.

The students have a worksheet to fill out after completion of their taxonomic charts.Thesesheetscanbeturnedintojudgecomprehensionofthematerial.

Activity Plan:Thisactivityisacreativewaytointroducestudentstotheconceptofclassify-ingorganisms,andwhyitisimportanttodoso.Itcanbeusedtodiscussthework done by scientists who are actually involved in classifying organisms.

Afterdiscussing the“Taxonomy”PowerPoint, studentsarehandedbagsoffood mixture and then allowed to work on their own to come up with taxo-nomictreestoclassifytheirpieces.Itisrecommendedthatthestudentshavetheir trees checked for completion/comprehension of the idea before allowing themtoeattheirmix.Allowthestudentstimetocompletethequestionsontheir worksheet. The remainder of the class can be spent discussing organisms that are difficult to classify.

Taxonomy Concepts:Taxonomy ishowscientists classifyorganisms. It is extremely important,especiallyintheworldofscience,sothatscientists(andyouraverageperson)know exactly what animal or plant someone is referring to. For example, there are over 1,500 species of fruit fly (a common model organism in the study of genetics). Knowing exactly which type of fruit fly someone is talking about could be crucial for scientific studies. This is why plants and animals are classified all the way down to the species (or sub-species) level. Additionally, taxonomy is importantbecause thegraduallynarrowinggroups (Kingdom,Phylum,Class,Order,Family,Genus,andSpecies)allowscientiststocom-pareorganismswithinbothbroadandnarrowgroups. Thisallowsthemtofind similarities within common species (such as the wolf, dog, and fox) or differencesbetweenthem.Thisisofparticularuseinthestudyofplants-forexample, for identifying poisonous or beneficial plants. n

Chex Mix TaxonomyLaurenSchilling



TEKSObjectives:6.1�Organismsandenvi-ronments.Studentswillgainanunderstandingof the broadest taxonomic classifications of organismsandhowcharacteristicsdeterminetheir classification. The other major topics de-velopedinthisstrandincludetheinterdepen-dencebetweenorganismsandtheirenviron-mentsandthelevelsoforganizationwithinanecosystem.

Materials:•Chexmix•Cheerios•Driedfruitmix•Raisins•M&Ms•Alloftheabovecombinedintoalargemixand then divided out into 1/3 cup portions and placed into snack-size baggies.• Classified PowerPoint and worksheet

Costperclassroom:Approximately$10.00

To find this lesson search for “Taxonomy” at http://peer.tamu.edu/DLC/NSF_Resources.asp


ClassifyingChexMixDirections:Usewhatyoulearnedtodaytoanswerthefollowingquestions:

1. What is taxonomy?

�.IntohowmanygroupsdidyourgroupdivideyourChexMix?

3. What are some other things that could be classified this way?

4. Why is it important that we can classify things?

Use this table to answer the next 3 questions

Human PandaBear Raccoon EmperorPenguin Red Oak Tree

Kingdom Animalia Animalia Animalia Animalia Plantae

Phylum Chordata Chordata Chordata Chordata Anthophyta

Class Mammalia Mammalia Mammalia Aves Dicotyledones

Order Primates Carnivora Carnivora Sphenisciformes Fagales

Family Hominidae Ursidae Procyonidae Spheniscidae Fagaceae

Genus Homo Ailuropoda Procyon Aptenodytes Quercus

Species sapiens melanoleuca p.lotor forsteri rubra

5.Basedonthetable,whichtwospeciesarethemostcloselyrelated?

6. Which organism is the least like the other four?

7.Atwhichleveldoalloftheorganismsstarttodiffer?

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To find this lesson search for “Taxonomy” at http://peer.tamu.edu/DLC/NSF_Resources.asp


Activity Summary:Thepurposeofthisactivityistohavestu-dentscalculatethemean,median,mode,andrangeofsamplesystolicbloodpres-suredataandthengraphtheresults.Be-cause of the extent of knowledge on the cardiovascularsystem,ashortpresenta-tion should be given in order to intro-ducetothestudentsthebasicfunctionoftheheart,vasculature,andthemeaning,measurement,andconsequencesofhighblood pressure.This will help illustratetostudentstheapplicationofmathemat-icsinscienceandshowingthatthesetwodisciplines often work in collaboration.

Activity Plan:•Giveapresentationonthecardiovascu-larsystem(~10minutes).• Distribute the worksheet and a double-sidedpieceofgraphpaper.• Provide the students with the remain-der of the class period to work out the problems.•Have the studentshand in the assign-mentforassessment.

Statistics Concepts:Mean:Theaverageofasetofnumbers.Median:Foroddnumberedsets,itisthenumberthatappearsinthemiddleoftheset,arrangedinnumericalorder.Forevennumberedsets,itistheaverageofthemiddletwonumbers.Mode:Thenumberthatappearsmostfrequent-lyinaset.Ifnonumberappearsmorethanoncethan the answer is ‘not applicable (NA).’ Becarefulnot to allowyour students togive theansweras0becausethisisarealnumberthatcouldrepresentthemodeofanumberset.Range:Canberepresentedastheactualrangegiven by the smallest number to the largestnumber(i.e.�-57)ofadataset,orasthediffer-

encebetweenthesmallestandlargestnumbers.

Cardiovascular System Concepts:Theheart isapumpthatcirculatesbloodfromtherightventricleintothepulmonaryvasculaturetoexchangegases(elim-inatesCO�andgainsO�).Thenitenters intotheleftventriclewhereit ispumpedthroughoutthesystemicvasculaturenourishingthedifferenttissuesofthebody.

Blood vessels are composed of three layers (intima – inner layer, media – middle layer, and adventitia – outer layer) that prevent intravascular blood clotting and allow for the vesseltodilateandcontractinresponsetothedemandsofthetissue.Bloodpressureisthepressureexertedonthevesselwallsasbloodpassesthrough,andismeasuredinboththecontractilephaseoftheheart(systole)andthepassivephase(diastole).

The means of measurement is often a sphygmomanometer, which is a cuff placedaround the bicep of the patient. As the cuff is inflated, this cuts off the blood passing through the brachial artery. This artery can be felt by placing two fingers on the inside ofthemiddlebicepandslidingthemdownunderneaththismuscleapplyingalittlepressure.Thecuffisthenslowlyreleasedasthedoctorlistens(viastethoscope)forthenoise of the blood pushing through the slowly opening vessel. When the doctor hears the first noise, he reads the current cuff pressure. This number represents the patient’s systolicbloodpressure(1�0mmHgisconsiderednormal),andthepointofnonoise

(thepointatwhichthebloodispassingthroughthevesselunobstructed,signalingthatthevesselis no longer compressed) is the diastolic pres-sure.

Hypertension (defined as systolic BP>140 mmHg and diastolic>90 mmHg) is prevalent in 33% of the US adult population and is the num-ber one risk factor for a variety of cardiovascular diseases. The most important of these is coro-naryarterydisease(heartdisease).Heartdiseaseisthedevelopmentoffattyplaque(atherosclero-sis)ontheinnerwallofthesevesselsthatcausesobstruction of blood flow, which ultimately leads to myocardial infarction (heart attack). n



TEKSObjectives:Math:(B)Drawconclusions and make predictions aboutanalyzingascatterplot,8.1�(C)Construct bar and line graphs, 8.13 (A)Evaluatemethodsofsamplingforvalidityofinferencesformthedataset, 8.14 (A) Identify and apply math-ematicstoeverydayexperiences,8.15(A)Communicatemathematicalideasusinglanguage,tools,andmodels.Science:8.6(A)Describeinteractionsamongsystemsinthehumanorganism.

Materials:•ComputerwithPowerPoint•Connectedprojector• Worksheet

Costperclassroom:None

Hypertensive Statistics ♥

Amiddleschoolstudentconnectsthepointsonherlinegraphtoanalyzebloodpressure.

To find this lesson search for “Hypertensive” at http://peer.tamu.edu/DLC/NSF_Resources.asp

RyanPedrigi


AnalyzingBloodPressureData:Systolic Blood Pressure, BP (mmHg, Persons > 40 years of age):Person 1 � 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 1� 13 14 15BP 171 134 115 138 1�5 110 149 1�6 157 1�� 143 131 189 139 1�7

Systolic Blood Pressure (mmHg, lowest → highest):

Calculations:

Mean:_____________mmHg Median:_____________mmHg

Mode:_____________mmHg Range:_______mmHgto______mmHg Sizeofinterval:___________mmHgGraphs:Ongraphpaper,drawbothabargraphandalinegraphofthebloodpressures(y-axis)vs.personinwhichitwasmeasured(x-axis).

Onbothofthegraphs,drawalinerepresentingthethresholdbetweennormalandhighbloodpressure(re-member that high systolic blood pressure is anything greater than or equal to 140 mmHg)

Questions:1. Were the mean and median different for your blood pressure data? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Which of the two diagrams do you feel is the best choice to represent the data that you collected? Why? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. According to your plots, how many people in this study have hypertension (high blood pressure)? What percentageisthisofthetotalnumberofpeopleinthisstudy?

Numberofpeopleinthisstudywithhypertension:_______________________

Percentageofthepeopleinthisstudywithhypertension:__________________

Name: Date: Classperiod: Hypertensive Statistics ♥Pa

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To find this lesson search for “Hypertensive” at http://peer.tamu.edu/DLC/NSF_Resources.asp


Activity Summary:This activity involves the entire class participating in a hands-on activitywhere they will represent different kinds of birds with different beaks de-signedtogatherfoodindifferenthabitats.Thisactivityhasstudentsupandmoving around and competing for resources based on their specific bird beak adaptations.Studentswilllearntorecorddata,creategraphs,anddrawcon-clusions.

Activity Plan:FirstPart:1.Havestudentsselectaplasticcupandatool:aspoon,tweezers,binderclip,orpairofscissors�.Allstudentsshouldstandorsitincirclearoundatableorareawherefoodwillbedispersed.3. Explain to them that they are now HUNGRY birds. They can only eat by picking up food with their selected tool, which represents their type of beak! Thecuprepresentstheirstomach.4. The cup must remain upright at all times and they must hold their beak in onehandandcupintheotherhandatalltimes.5.Explaintothemthatonetypeoffoodatatimewillbespreadoutevenlyinthe middle of the circle in all directions. When you say “GO,” you will allow thebirdstofeedfor1-�minutesoruntilallfoodisgone.

***NOTE***dependingonyourstudentsyoumayneedtomoni-torbehaviorveryclosely.Thisactivitycaninduceaverycompeti-tiveandexcitedreactionamongthestudents.Justasinnature!!!SAFETY MUST COME FIRST!!!!Anyone found injuring an-other bird or being aggressive with their beak should have to sit out. Those sitting out can observe and take notes on other birds’ behavior.

6.Onceyouhavesaid“STOP,”orallfoodisgone,havestudentscounttheitems in their stomachs and record their data on the worksheet found at end ofthisactivity.7.Afterstudentshaverecordedontheirsheetsthenumberoffooditemstheycollected, have them hand it back to you or place it to the side. 8.Tellthemtoprepareforthenexttypeoffooditem.Spreadoutadifferentitemandsay“GO.”Again,allowstudents1-�minutestocollectfooditems.Followtheabovestepsuntilallbirdshavehadanopportunitytotrygather-ing all types of food items and recorded their results on their worksheets.9. CLASS DISCUSSION BREAK. Ask the following:

a. What did you notice about your ability to grasp the food items based on your beak type?b. Did everyone with your type of beak have your same difficul-tiesorsuccesses?c. What did you notice about your behavior and the behavior of thosearoundyou?

10. Tally up the class totals for each of the beak types in a grid on the board. Havestudentscreatebargraphsthatrepresenttheclasstotalforeachofthebeaks and food types. This can be started in class and finished as homework ifnecessary.

Beak BusinessCandaceSeeve


TimeRequired:Onetotwoclassperiods

TEKSObjectives:7.11(B):Explainvariationwithinapopulationorspeciesbycomparingphysiologyoforganismsthatenhancetheirsurvival,7.11(C):Identifysomechangesingenetictraitsthathaveoccurredoverseveralgenerationsthroughnaturalselectionandselectivebreeding,7.1�(A):Investigateandexplainhowinternalstructuresoforganismshaveadap-tations that allow specific functions, 7.13 (A):Investigatehoworganismsrespondtoexternalstimulifoundintheenvironment,7.14 (A): Define heredity as the passage of geneticinstructionsfromonegenerationtothenextgeneration.

Materials:•7pairsofscissors•7plasticspoons•7tweezers•7largebinderclips• 4-5 boxes of large paper clips•�00largerubberbands• 4-5 boxes of toothpicks•�cupsofmacaroni•6cupsofvariousfooditems(Cheerios, rice, lucky charms, raisins,marshmallows,birdseed)•�8plasticcups(bestifclear)• 28 worksheets•Graphpaper

Costperclassroom:Approximately$�0.00

SecondPart:1. When all graphs have been completed, have stu-dents pick up their beaks and stomachs again and return to thefeedingarea. Tell themthatnormalecosystemsdonothavejustonetypeoffoodavail-able at a time. Ask them “What will you do if all thefoodtypesareavailable?”2. Spread out all of the food materials and allow 4 minutesforfeeding.Againmonitorstudentbehav-iorforcompetitiveandpossibleaggressiveactions.Tellstudentstheyarenottocauseinjuryoractin-appropriately.3. After 4 minutes are up or one all food is gone, havestudentscountandrecorddataagainontheirworksheets indicating how many of each type of foodtheywereabletogather.4. Have students give you their food items when donerecordingdata.5.CLASSDISCUSSIONBREAK.Ask the following:

a. What were your strategies to gather food this time? If different from yourprevioustimes,howwasitdifferent?b. Ask students which beak type would bemostsuccessfulifallthesetypesofbirds flew to an island together and the onlyfoodtherewas the macaroni.Which bird beak would be most suc-cessful?Explainwhy.

Adaptation Concepts:Inanyhabitat,foodislimitedandthetypesoffoodsavailablemayvary.Animalsthatarebetteradaptedto take advantage of available foods will fare better thanthosethatarelesswelladaptedandthusliveto pass on their genes to the next generation. While

A cone shaped beak is found in many birds such as finches. It is a strong beak used for cracking seeds.

Thick, slender pointed beaks are found mainlyininsecteaters.Theyareusedtopick insects off leaves, twigs, and bark. Thewarblerisagoodexampleofthis.

Woodpeckers have strong beaks that taperatthetipformingachiselforpecking holes in trees for food or nests. Mostfeedoninsectswhichliveunderthe bark.

Hummingbirdshavelongtubularbillsthatresemblestraws.Theyareusedforsipping nectar from flowers.

Mergansersarespecializedforeatingfish and have sharp tooth-like structures on the edge of their beak designed to hold the fish tightly.

Hawks, owls, and other birds of prey catch and kill live prey. They have sharp hooked beaks that are used to bite andtear.

The edges of a ducks bill and other birdsthatscoopupwaterhaveslitsthatallowthewaterandmudtodrainoutwithoutlosingtheplants,seeds,orsmallorganismsthattheymayhavescoopedup.

thisconceptseemsratherobvious,itisessentialthateachstu-dent fully grasps its significance. Understanding the idea of adaptiveadvantageopensthedoortounderstandingpopula-tionsinecosystemsaswellastheprocessofevolution.

The following is a chart of some types of birds. Their beaks are adapted according to the types of food they eat. The beak ofabirdcantellyouaboutbehaviorofthebirdbasedonwhatiteatsandwherethebirdmightlive.n

Agroupofmiddleschoolstudentsusevarioustoolsrep-resenting different bird beak types to pick up food in this hands-onactivity.



Beak BusinessFirstPartData

PaperClips Macaroni RubberBands Toothpicks

Scissors

Spoons

Tweezers

BinderClips

SecondPartDataPaperClips Macaroni RubberBands Toothpicks

Scissors

Spoons

Tweezers

BinderClips

Name: Date: Classperiod:Partnership for Environm

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Worksheet

To find this lesson look under “Animal Behavior” at http://peer.tamu.edu/VBB/ScienceTeacherResources.asp


Activity Summary:Music is a popular passion among youth. Though often difficult to de-lineate,musicishighlymathematical.Rhythmicallytappingyourfootat repetitive intervals to a song testifies to its mathematical nature of patternsandsequences.Thisactivitywillteachthestudentsaboutthesimplemechanicsofsound,relate,mathematically,thevibratingofaninstrumenttothepitchorfrequencyofsound,anddemonstratetheuseof instruments to make music in terms of sequences or patterns. The students will use their own tools to make sense out of the sound we hear,themusicwefeel,andthemaththatconnectsitall.

Activity Plan:Follow the worksheet as closely as possible. If you do not have one or two of the instruments, ask your band director for help. Also if you are not musically inclined, you could ask your choir or band director to helpplaytheinstruments.Itwilladdtotheexperience.

Guitar:To play the specific value on the bass E string on the guitar, lightly hold your finger over a node and pluck the string. For 2 nodes, the two ends of the string are the node. For 3 nodes, hold your finger directly in the middle. For 4 nodes, hold your finger at either 1/3 or 2/3 of the length of the string. For 5 nodes, place your finger at either ¼ or ¾ the length of the string. Any stringed instrument like a violin, cello, or banjo will work. This may take a little practice.

Tuning Forks:•Theformulaisfrequency=constant/length�

• The length is measured from the tip of the fork to the middle of the bend.• For stainless steel the constant is 3,200 in�/sec

Pitch Frequency LengthC 261.6 3.50D 293.7 3.30E 329.7 3.12F 349.2 3.03G 392 2.86A 440 2.70B 493.9 2.55C 523.3 2.47A 880 1.91

•Thesenumbersare for roundstainlesssteel.Expect toget slightlydifferentnumbers,dependingonthetypeofmaterial.

AluminumRods:Therodcanbemadeoutofsolidaluminumandroughly1/�inchdiam-eter and 1 yard length. To vibrate the rod, first use rubbing alcohol to removetheoilsfromyourhandsandthealuminumrod.Thenapplyviolin rosin to your fingers and to the rod. For one node, hold the rod in the middle and rub the rod with your rosin coated fingers. This should

produce a high pitched sound at 4000Hertz and a wavelengthof�yards.Youmayalsoholdtherodat1/4th of the length of the rod and the frequency will doubleandthewavelengthwillbecutinhalfto1yard.Thepatterncancontinue.

Access to computers would allow the students tomake their own pattern of music. Several computer keyboard programs are available online and can be found using “virtual piano” as keywords.

Vocabulary/Definitions:1. Wavelength – Distance between peaks or troughs ofawave2. Node – The point on a standing wave with mini-malamplitude3. Peak – The point with the highest amplitude 4. Trough – The point with the lowest amplitude5. Frequency – The number of times a wave oscil-latespersecond6. Pattern – A set of numbers or objects that are re-latedbyarule7. Sequence – An ordered set of quantities n

The Mathematics of MusicTreyHolik



TEKSObjectives:7.1(A)Compareandorderintegers and positive rational numbers, 7.3 (B) Estimate and find solutions to application prob-lems involving proportional relationships, 7.4 (C)Describetherelationshipbetweenthetermsinasequenceandtheirpositionsinthesequence,7.13 (A) Identify and apply mathematics to everyday,toactivitiesinandoutsideofschool,withotherdisciplines,andwithothermathemati-caltopics.

Materials: Ask your music director if you may borrowanyinstruments.Recommended: •Keyboard •Guitar • Tuning forksOptional: •Aluminumsolidrod •Harmonica •Accordion •Computer

Costpergroup:$15.00




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PatternsinMusic1. What is Sound? Music? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. What makes music…… music? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Define:a. Wavelength: ___________________________________________________________________________b.Frequency:____________________________________________________________________________c.Node:________________________________________________________________________________d. Peak: _________________________________________________________________________________e.Trough:_______________________________________________________________________________

4. Screaming Rods:Nodes

Wavelength

Frequency

Patterns:Sequences:

5.AcousticGuitar:Nodes

Wavelength

Frequency

Patterns:Sequences:

6.ElectricGuitar:Nodes

Wavelength

Frequency

Patterns:Sequences:

CanyoufeeltheBEAT?


To find this lesson search for “Music” at http://peer.tamu.edu/DLC/NSF_Resources.asp

The Cute C Chord: C,E,G,C (1,5,8,13)7. If C,C#,D,D#,E,F,F#,G,G#,A,A#,B,C… corresponds to 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13… then:a. What is the sequence of a C chord?

b. What are the first 12 numbers of the sequence of a G chord?

c. What are the first 12 numbers of the sequence of an F chord?

d. If A-minor chord is (A,C,E,A), what are the first 6 numbers of its sequence?

e.Howistheminorchordpattern/sequencedifferentfromthemajorchord?

TheCuddlyCChordProgression:C,F,G,C8.TheAccordion: What scale is the middle row of Mr. Holik’s accordion? Top Row? Bottom Row? What patterns can you hear in a waltz? What patterns can you hear in a polka? What patterns can you hear in a two-step?

ThePrettyPentatonicScale:C,D,E,G,A,C9. ThePiano:

a. If C,D,E,G,A,C is the pattern in the key of C, what is the pattern in the key of F# (F sharp)?

b. If C,C#,D,D#,E,F,F#,G,G#,A,A#,B,C corresponds to 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13 then what is the pentatonic scale/pattern in numbers in the key of C?

c.Ifthepatternwastocontinuetothenextoctave,whatwouldthenumbersbeinthesecondoctave?

d. If the frequency of the note A in octave 4 is 440hz, what is the frequency in octave 3? Octave 5?

e. Write a sequence for N=octave number where the output is the frequency.

N 4Frequency

(hertz) 440

f. Make your own song with Garage Band! i. Your song can be in any key. ii.Yoursongcanbewithanyvirtualinstrument. iii.SomeHints: 1.UsethePentatonicScaleforindividualnotes. 2. If you desire to change scale/key, use the chord progression patterns.

TheMathematicsofMusic,Page�


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To find this lesson search for “Music” at http://peer.tamu.edu/DLC/NSF_Resources.asp

Activity Plan:Each student should receive a copy of the “Peppered Moth Predators” worksheet.

1. Place a sheet of white paper on the table and have one person spread 30 white circles and 30 newspaper circles over the surface while the other person is not looking.2. The person looking away, or the “predator” will then use forceps to pick up as many of thecirclesasheorshecanin15seconds3. This trial will be repeated with white circles on a newspaper background, newspaper circles on a white background, and newspaper circles on a newspaper background. The students should record their observations on the worksheet and answer the questions. Eachstudentshouldgetachancetobethepredatorforeachcombinationandcollecttheirowndata.Thestudentsshouldthencompletethegraphandanswerthecorrespondingques-tions.n

Introduction to Evolution & Natural SelectionByUndergraduateFellow,KellyBowen,inResponsetoaTeacher’sRequest

Activity Summary:OneoftheTeacherRequestedResourcesthatthePEERteamreceivedwasthecontroversialtopicofEvolution.AninformativePowerPointpresentationandanactivitytoaccompanyitwascreatedinresponsetotherequestThePowerPoint covers topics such as Darwin’s theory of natural selection, an overview of Darwin’s finches, convergent, divergent, and co-evolution, extinction, camouflage, and even real-world application of natural selection and evolution. The objective of the activity is to recreate the peppered moth experiment, which took place in England during the Industrial Revolution. It demon-stratestheimportanceofcolorationinavoidingpredation,relatesenvironmentalchangetochangesinorganisms,andexplainshownaturalselectioncausespopulationstochange.

TargetGradeLevel:7th,8th

Time Required: 40-50 minutes

TEKSObjectives:8.�(B)Collectdatabyobservingandmeasuring,(C)Organize,analyze,evaluate,make inferences, and predict trends fromdirectandindirectevidence,(E)Constructgraphs,tables,maps,andchartsusingtoolstoorganize,examine, and evaluate data, 8.3 (C) Representthenaturalworldusingmodelsandidentifytheirlimitations.

Materials:•Sheetofwhitepaper•Newspaper•Forceps•ColoredPencils•Timer• 30 newspaper circles (made with holepunch)• 30 white circles (made with hole punch)

Costpergroup:$�.00

Activity Preparation:Before the activity takes place, show the students the Power-Pointonevolution,whichcanbefoundatpeer.tamu.edu.Asanintroductiontothepresen-tation, ask students what comes to mind when they hear the word “evolution.” A discussion canthenaccompanythesecondslideofthePowerPoint.Afterthepresentation,thestudentsshould have a basic understanding of what natural selection is and how it works in nature. Theteachershouldhavethenewspaperandwhitepaper,andifpossible,theholesshouldbe pre-punchedbefore class andthe pieces storedin Ziploc bags.Make room on the floor, tables, or desks for the students to work. Keepinmindthisactivityisinterac-tive.Thisactivitycanbecompletedingroupsof�ormore dependingon the suppliesavailable.


PepperedMothPredators1. Place a sheet of white paper on the table and have one person spread 30 white circles and 30 newspaper circles over the surface while the other person isn’t looking.2. The “predator” will then use forceps to pick up as many of the circles as he can in 15 seconds.3. This trial will be repeated with white circles on a newspaper background, newspaper circles on a white background, and newspaper circles on a newspaper background. Record the data in chart below.

StartingPopulation Number Picked Up

Trial Background Newspaper White White Newspaper

1 White 30 30

� White 30 30

3 Newspaper 30 30

4 Newspaper 30 30

Analysis1. What did the experiment show about how prey are selected by predators?

2. What moth coloration is the best adaptation for a dark (newspaper) background? How do you know?

3. What would you expect the next generation of moths to look like after trial 1? What about the next generation after trial 3?

4. How does the simulation model natural selection?

5.Examinethetableandconstructagraph.PlottheyearsofthestudyontheX-axis,andthenumberofmothscapturedontheYaxis.Youshouldhave�linesonyourgraph-oneforlightmoths,andonefordark moths.


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50 PEERPerspectivesVolumeIITo find this lesson search for “Peppered Moth” at http://peer.tamu.edu/DLC/NSF_Resources.asp

Year#ofLight

MothsCaptured

# of Dark Moths

Captured� 537 11�

3 484 193

4 392 �10

5 246 �81

6 ��5 337

7 193 412

8 147 503

9 84 550

10 56 599

6.Explaininyourownwordswhatthegraphshows.

7.Describeasituationwherethistypeofselectionmightoccur.

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PEERPerspectivesVolumeII 51To find this lesson search for “Peppered Moth” at http://peer.tamu.edu/DLC/NSF_Resources.asp

Activity Summary:In this activity, students will explore the relationships between differentshapedimensionsandshapevolumes.Priortocalculatingthevolumeofallsix shapes, each student will have the opportunity to make an educated guess aboutwhichshapeshave the largestvolume.Divide theclass intogroups.Each group will view a set-up of the three dimensional figures, each filled half-way with water. Have students rank which objects they think hold the most liquid. They will then use their knowledge of measuring and mathemat-ics to compute the volume of each figure and rank them according to the actualvolumecapacity.Thestudentswillthencomparetheirinitialobserva-tions and their actual rankings.

Activity Preparation:To prepare for this activity, fill one set of the EAI plastic shapes half-way with water.Thevolumesofwatertobeusedarelistedbelow:•Cube:515ml•RectangularPrism:�55ml•Sphere:�51ml• Cone: 133ml• Cylinder: 404ml• Pyramid: 164ml

Shape Up with the Scientific MethodAlfredoPerez



TEKSObjectives:8.8.Measure-mentofSolids(B)Connectmodelstoformulasforvolumesofdifferent3-D shapes, (C) Estimate answers and use formulas to find surface area and volume.

Materials:•VolumetricshapesbyEAIeducation• Beakers•Graduatedcylinders�00mlcapacity•Foodcoloring• Copy of the worksheet for each team•Tapemeasure

Costpergroup:Approximately$15.00

Itissuggestedthatthisstepbecompletedbeforethestudentscometoclasssotheycannotseeintowhichshapeyoupouredthemostwater.Thereisalsotheoptionof making the activity slightly more fun by giving the liquid more definition and addingfoodcoloringtothewater.

Activity Plan:1. Once all of the shapes are filled and set up, pass out the worksheets (one per group). Explain that this activity will guide them through the scientific method of discoveringtheactualvolumesofshapes.2. Ask the students to view the filled shapes and rank them from the one containing thelargestvolumetotheonecontainingtheleastvolume,basedontheirobserva-tions.Basedontheseobservations,eachgroupwillcreateahypothesis,whichwillbetested. 3. Next, the students will measure the dimensions of the shapes and calculate the volumesbasedontheirmeasurements.Thevolumeequationsaswellashowtocalculate each value is included on the worksheet. This is the testing or experimen-tal part of the scientific method.4. Next, the students will compare their re-sultswiththeirhypothesisandinitialobserva-tions.This represents the conclusionpart ofthe scientific method.

Collect the worksheets and discuss with the classthedifferentvolumesoftheshapes.Giveaprizetothegroupthatinitiallyguessedthecorrectorder.Explaintotheclass how they just followed the scientific methodinordertodiscoversomethingthatwas initially unknown. n

Astudentmeasuresthedimensionsofashapetocalculatethevolumeandtesthishypothesis.

5� PEERPerspectivesVolumeII

Name: Date: Classperiod:Shape Up with the Scientific MethodAlfredoPerez


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Shape Up with the Scientific MethodStep1:ObservationsGo to the front of the classroom and observe the shapes. All containers are filled half-way with liquid. Con-sider which shape has the most liquid. Write down your observations in the space below.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step�:HypothesisWith all of these observations in your head, don’t you wonder which shape actually has the greatest volume? Rank the shapes according to which ones you think contain the most liquid. We will test your hypothesis.

Shapes:RectangularPrism,Sphere,Cube,Pyramid,Cone,Cylinder

MostVolume:___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________LeastVolume:___________________Step 3: Test the HypothesisNowthatwehaveahypothesis,wearegoingtotestitbycomputingthevolumesofalltheshapestodiscoverwhichshapeshavethegreatestvolume.

Pyramid: Volume = 1/3 Base xHeightBasearea=______cmx______cm=______cm�Pyramidheight=______cmForhypotenuse,measurefromthemiddleofoneofthesidestothetopofthepyramid.Thebottomis1/�ofthelengthofthebase.

V = 1/3* ______ cm�x______cm=______cm3

Cube:Volume=side3=(______cm)3=______cm3

Rectangularprism:Volume=BaseAreaxHeightBasearea=______cmx______cm=______cm�

Height=______cmVolume=______cm�x______cm=______cm3

Cylinder:Volume=BaseAreaxHeightHeight:______cmDiameterofbase:______cmBase Area = π r� = π/4 x D� = π/4 x______�=______cm�Volume=______cm�x______cm=______cm3

Cone: Volume = π x D�xHeight 1� Diameter=______cmConeheight=H=(Hypotenuse�-Bottom�)1/�=______cm Thebottomlengthwillbe½ofthediameter.V = π/12 x______cm�x ______cm =______cm3

Sphere: Volume = 4π x r3 = π x D3

3 6Circumference=______cmDiameter = Circumference/π = ______/π = ______cmVolume = π/6 x ______3=______cm3

Step 4: ConclusionNow that all of the volumes are computed, a conclusion can be reached. Now rank all of the shape volumes basedonyourcalculationsinsteadofjustyourobservations.

MostVolume:___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________LeastVolume:___________________

Write about the results in the space below. How was your hypothesis different or the same from what you actuallycomputed?_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Shape Up with the Scientific Method, Page 2Partnership for Environm

ental Education and Rural H

ealth

Worksheet

To find this lesson search for “Volumes” at http://peer.tamu.edu/DLC/NSF_Resources.asp


Novice Teacher CornerMicheleWardYou are ready for your first year of teaching. You’ve got your classroom ready. Youarefeelingthatexcitementandarepreparedforthediversegroupofstudentsthatwillsoonbecomingthroughyourclassroomdoor.Onethingthatyouarenotsureofishowyoucanpossiblyhelpallofthedifferentstudentsthatyouwillteachtobesuccessfulinlearningallofthematerialsthatyouwillneedtoteachthem.Everydayyouwillneedtoplanalessonthatchallengesstudentsandexcitesthemaboutthesubjectyouteach.Howcanyoupossiblydothat?

ResearchersatMid-ContinentResearchforEducationandLearninghaveidenti-fied nine instructional strategies to improve student achievement across all content areas and grade levels. These strategies stem from the book, “Classroom Instruc-tion That Works” by Robert Marzano, Debra Pickering, and Jane Pollock.

1. Identifying similarities and differences: Basically,compareandcontrast.YoucandothisinaVenndiagram,awrittenparagraph,orbydrawingpictures.2. Summarizing and note taking: Whether it is having the students tell a part-ner what they learned, paraphrase something they heard, or make a poster to de-scribethemainconcept,summarizingisawaytohelpthemprocessandremem-berinformation.3. Reinforcing effort and providing recognition: Everyoneappreciatesbeingrecognized. Even a thumbs up or a smile can be the key to keeping the students excitedandmotivated.

4. Homework and practice: Not everyone likes it, but the old saying “practice makes perfect” seems to be true.5. Nonlinguistic representations: Apictureisworthathousandwordsinedu-cation. Showing the students a picture of a concept before having them find the definition can make connections that help them remember the concept.6. Cooperative learning: Cooperativelearningmotivatesstudentsandcanplayontheirstrengths.Itcanfosterasenseofinterdependenceandunityinaclass-room.7. Setting objectives and providing feedback: Setexpectationshighandstu-dents will rise up to meet them. Make sure to give the students feedback and benchmarks for progress along the way.8. Generating and testing hypotheses: Not just for science! Ask them to predict what will happen next in a story. Ask them what might happen in an equa-tion if the numbers were changed. Again, thinking and analyzing helps stimulate learning.9. Cues, questions, and advance organizers: Thisisagreatwayofstimulat-ing the students to think about what they already know about a subject and about whatmoretheyaregoingtolearn.

Just remember, you are a huge influence on your students’ lives and learning. Make every day and every lesson count, but don’t forget to enjoy yourself and yourstudentsalongtheway!n

TEACHERS! Are you in a bind with your lesson development? Let PEER create lessons for you!

RuthMullins

ThePEERwebsitecanhelpyouwithprovid-ing full curriculum modules or daily lessonsforany6th-8thTEKstandardinscience,math,languagearts,andthesocialsciences.Inaddi-tiontolessonsalreadydeveloped,teacherscanrequest lessons or activities for any standardfor your classroom. So, check out the site and follow these easy steps to find and/or request lessons.

•Visit PEER at peer.tamu.edu. Follow thesespecific steps to find lessons or request lessons.• To find lessons, click ‘Teacher Resources’ at thetopofthewebpage.

- Under this link, you can find entire cur-riculumsorsearchforindividuallessons.-To search the lessons, select ‘Lessons:Teacher Requested Resources’ from thedrop-downmenu.- To search specific topics, click the blue link, ‘Browse’ in the upper left corner. On this page, you can search by topic,gradelevel,orsubject.Formaximumre-sults, keep the search topic simple, such as‘chemistry’insteadof‘exothermicandendothermicreactions’.- If you cannot find lessons for a topic, click on the red link, ‘Submit Request’, to fill in a personalized lesson request to becreatedbystudentsinthePEERpro-gram.

• To request lessons, click ‘Request a Lesson Plan’atthetopofthehomepage.

- Choosing this link takes you directly to the‘TeacherRequestSubmissionForm’.-Fillouttheformasrequested.Helpusbuildyouagreatactivitybybeingasspe-cific as possible!- Lesson completion takes about 2 to 4 weeks depending on the level of activi-tiesrequested.Alllessonsaredevelopedby undergraduate and graduate studentsatTAMUwithvaryingspecialtiesintheSTEM disciplines. Lessons undergo final approvalandarereviewed tomeetTEKstandardbyTAMUfacultyandTexascer-tified teachers.

•Mini-modules(one-class,self-containedlessons)•FreeCDscontainingallofPEER’scurricula•Adventure-basedhealthsciencestorylessonsthatincorporatemath,science,socialstudies,andlanguagearts•Veterinarians’BlackBagcurricula•ProfessionalsessionsacrossTexas•DistanceLearningCommunity•Webcurriculaonlifescienceandenvironmentalhealth

The PEER website offers resources for Middle School Teachers:

•Visithttp://peer.tamu.edu to take advantage of these resources!

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