Does it have Potential?
Students will work with partners to investigate how mass, potential energy, and kinetic energy act on objects dropped from varying heights.
Video of the lesson being taught
Communication in Space
Students will work in cooperative groups to create an accurate arrangement of mirrors that work together to relay a laser beam from a Mars space station to Earth’s Mission Control, which will model utilizing satellites in space for communication, an accommodation necessary for manned space exploration.
Teacher In Action
Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Cells
Students will categorize cells as prokaryotic or eukaryotic by identifying the presence or lack of a nucleus.
Teacher Summing Up Lesson
Lights, Camera, Action!
Students compare and contrast potential and kinetic energy by creating a real-world model through a movie.
Stages of Ecological Succession
Students will collaborate on a electronic slideshow presentation and observe, record, and describe the role of ecological succession including both primary and secondary succession.
Got Force?
Students use various surfaces and a weighted car to see how far the car will travel using balanced and unbalanced forces.
Building a Watershed
Students will model the effects of human activity on watersheds.
Motion Pictures
In this lesson, students will be introduced to the concept of motion representation using distance vs. time graphs. Students will recognize labeling of axes, steepness related to speed, horizontal lines as non-motion, and downward slope as return to origin.
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills Related to the Unit
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Earth: A Tilted Affair
After a brief review of direct and indirect sunlight, students will arrange heat maps and globes around a drawing of the Sun based on the tilt of Earth and how it affects Earth’s temperature.
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) Related to the Unit
Click below to learn about the TEKS related to this unit.
Modeling the Path of Digestion
Students model the path of digestion using household items.
Disruptions of the Cell Cycle: Cancer
Given illustrations or descriptions, students will identify disruptions of the cell cycle that lead to diseases such as cancer.
Virus: Structure
Given illustrations, students will distinguish between viral structure and cellular structure.
Virus: Reproduction
Given descriptions and illustrations students will identify and describe the methods of viral reproduction.
Virus: Disease
Given scenarios, illustrations, or descriptions, students will identify major diseases caused by viruses, how viruses cause these diseases, and how the body responds to infection.
Taxonomy Standards
Given examples, students will recognize the importance of taxonomy to the scientific community.
Taxonomy: Major Groups
Given illustrations or descriptions, students will determine the classification of organisms into domains and kingdoms.
Enzymes
Given illustrations or scenarios, the student will identify an enzyme and the outcome of its action.
Animal System Interactions
Given illustrations, descriptions, or scenarios, students will describe the interactions that occur among systems in humans.
Mechanisms of Genetics: Protein Synthesis
Given illustrations or partial DNA or mRNA sequences, students will identify the processes and purposes of transcription and translation.
Abiotic Cycles
Given scenarios, illustrations, or descriptions, the student will describe the flow of matter through carbon and nitrogen cycles and describe the consequences of disrupting these cycles.