Teacher Resources
Welcome to SciNews!
The purpose of SCINEWS is to provide middle and high school teachers timely, pre-packaged lessons on a science current event (such as an oil spill, earthquake, or shuttle launch) that are short (~15 min), easy to implement, and align to AZ state standards. Materials might include a slide show, videos, maps, photographs, or KML files for use in Google Earth. Each current event lesson has an associated PDF document that contains a brief overview of the event and lesson, as well as a map, photo(s), and AZ standards targeted. Although using current events in the classroom is not new, the goal here is to provide simple and short lessons that associate ‘textbook’ concepts with real events in the news while allowing for class discussion.
The SCINEWS listserv will be used to send out updates when new materials are posted and ready for download (expect ~1 email every other week). The overview PDF file (described above) will be attached. All materials will be hosted on this SESE Teacher Resources website and archived.
To subscribe to the SciNEWS listserv send you r name, affiliation, and email address to: emailSCINEWS@asu.edu
*If you have signed up and have not received an email, please check your spam box first - then email me*
This is an ongoing and iterative project initiated by ASU/NASA Space Grant fellow and graduate student Erin DiMaggio. Erin has a strong interest in education outreach and has classroom experience. She welcomes suggestions on how to improve the lessons – or – other general comments (use above email address).
Special note on content and videos: Please note that some of the videos and material may be sensitive to students who may have recently experienced the event (such as a tornado). Videos provided on this website have been prescreened (my myself) and in sone cases downloaded so that they may be viewed in educational settings that do not have youtube. I, of course, also provide the original source for the video and all appropriate video credits. If you need a video in a different format or downloaded, please contact me.
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Check it out!
+ SciNews highlighed in recent Arizona Geological Survey Spring 2011 Newsletter (vol. 41 #1)
LESSONS
Issue 16: NASA's MSL Rover 'Curiosity' Lands on Mars - October 2012
“Curiosity” has landed! On August 6th, 2012, NASA's MSL rover successfully reached the selected landing site at Gale Crater. Now, Curiosity will take a little over a year to drive to the base of Mount Sharp. Its target: a 3-mile-high mountain of well-exposed layered rocks that can provide clues about both the habitability and the geologic history of Mars. As Curiosity navigates to Mount Sharp it will continue exploring the surface, atmosphere, and even astronomical data of Mars, all the while sending back information and images on its discoveries. Join NASA/JPL in the excitement of exploring the Martian surface through Curiosity's well-designed instrumentation. Help SciNews stay funded! Please provide feedback on Issue 15 using this link.
Event Overview and Lesson Instructions (.pdf - 817 KB)
SciNews Lesson Materials
- (1) NASA Video on MSL Curiosity Landing: Video showing JPL engineers and scientists orchestrating the successful landing of MSL Curiosity on Martian surface. Landing Sequence Video [Quicktime: high res]
- (2) Student Exploration Activity Worksheet (.pdf ): Organized form for students to make observations and collect data during a short group activity; includes a second page to complete during individual computer-aided exploration of the instruments aboard Curiosity.
- [videos] MSL Video Archive from NASA
Alternative Lesson Plan Suggestions
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*Special Issue: The Science of a Sustainable Arizona - May/June 2012
This project presents lessons that highlight the natural resources of Arizona and the sensitivity of those resources to a changing global climate. The goal of each lesson is to familiarize middle school students with the unique nature of their state’s resources and future challenges of sustainable resource development in Arizona. Lessons draw on summaries of primary data sources that force students to make their own interpretations of raw information. This approach is not only in line with Arizona state science standards for grades 6th-8th, but it also reinforces students’ development as citizen scientists.
Background: A changing global climate and dwindling non-renewable natural resources promise a challenging future for societies across the planet. Additionally, the feedbacks between global climate and regional resources (e.g., fresh water) require the application of systems science thinking to solve local problems. Success in sustainably utilizing our remaining resources depends upon developing future communities of scientifically literate citizens. All citizens should be well informed about the impacts of their own actions on Earth’s resource budgets, and, ideally, these citizens should have a pool of scientifically literate policy makers to whom they entrust the management of society’s shared natural assets. Young people must also be encouraged to specialize in sciences and math so that they can develop into the research scientists of the future who create innovative solutions to resource sustainability. Currently, constructive discourse between research scientists, the general public, and policy makers is often hampered by misunderstandings of concepts fundamental to the science of sustainability. Help SciNews stay funded! Please provide feedback on this Special Issue using this link.
AZ Sustainability Unit Overview (.pdf - 578 KB)
The Science of a Sustainable Arizona Lesson Materials
- Lesson 1: Tracking Arizona's Electricity Consumption from 1960-2012 (73 KB .pdf) - Students observe how Arizona’s electricity use has changed through time, and form hypotheses about what drives those changes.
- Lesson 2: Coal: Arizona's Primary Energy Source for Generating Electricity (88 KB .pdf ) - Students observe how the trend of electricity generated by coal has changed through time, and how much of AZ's total energy is generated by coal.
- Lesson 3: How is the Rest of Arizona's Electricity Produced? (104 KB .pdf) - Students observe how the trends of electricity generated by each of Arizona’s resources has changed over the last 50 years, and consider where Arizona’s electricity comes from today.
- Lesson 4: Renewable vs. Non-renewable Evergy Resources in Arizona (60 KB .pdf) - Students explore what renewable and nonrenewable resources are carry on a discussion on how to generate more electricity for AZ using renewable resources.
Useful Links
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Issue 15: NASA's MSL Rover 'Curiosity' Launches to Mars - December 2011
With the success of the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity, NASA launched the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Rover named Curiosity just after Thanksgiving. The goal of this mission is to determine the planet’s “habitability”, meaning it will assess whether Mars ever was, or is still today, an environment able to support microbial life (from NASA). Although scientists chose to land Curiosity at Gale Crater, located near the boundary between the Martian southern highlands and northern lowlands, the three other finalist sites (Holden, Eberswalde, and Mawrth) all provided compelling opportunities to address the main science goal of studying habitability. Where would you have sent Curiosity? Help SciNews stay funded! Please provide feedback on Issue 15 using this link.
Event Overview and Lesson Instructions (.pdf - 817 KB)
SciNews Lesson Materials
- (1) The Challenges of Getting to Mars: Selecting a Landing Site: Briefly describes each potential landing site for Curiosity, as well as MSL mission goals (Quicktime: high res - med res - low res; -- or -- visit the NASA Video Site for more viewing options)
- (2) Student Landing Site Selection Worksheet (.pdf ): Organized form for students to take notes on each Mars landing site; inlcudes a second page with additional information and student questions.
- (3) Curiosity Landing Site GOOGLE MARS.kmz file: I created a .kmz file for Google Mars that contains information on each of the final four landing sites considered by Mars scientists. The .kmz file provides information on their location on Mars, images, maps, and links to additional sites and videos. (directions: download .kmz file - double click file to open in Google Earth - follow prompts to open in Google Mars; open folder to view sites)
- (4) NASA Gale Crater Video Describes the chosen landings site for Curiosity and provides good imagery and commentary by the MSL project scientist Dr. John Grotzinger (Quicktime: high res - med res - low res; or visit NASA Videos for more viewing options)
Alternative Lesson Plan Suggestions
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Issue 14: World Population Reaches 7 Billion - November 2011
According to the United Nations the world population reached 7 billion on Halloween 2011, and it is expected to reach 8 billion in just 12 years. Now that’s scary! Although there is plenty of room for us all on the planet (individually we take up very little space) we each require many resources from our planet (like water, food, and energy) making our footprint much larger than the space of our homes and schools. Please provide feedback on Issue 14.
Event Overview and Lesson Instructions (.pdf - 415 KB)
- (1) National Public Radio Visualization/Video (2:33min): 7 Billion - How did we get so big so fast? (or download XX MB; .wmv)
- (2) National Geographic Video (2.58min): Video on world population hitting 7 billion (or view on YouTube; download XX MB; .wmv)
- (3) Student reading on demographic trends & related issues Middle School & High School - teacher resources at World of 7 Billion.org
- (4) Classroom Slide Show on Population Growth w/ Discussion Questions (.ppt x - 7.5MB) and Student Worksheet (.pdf or .docx)
Alternative Lesson Plan Suggestions
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Issue 13: Dinosaur and Bird Feathers Discovered in Amber - Sept./Oct. 2011
In September, a group of scientists published a research paper describing a rare find – they discovered amber that contains feathers from dinosaurs and early birds. Yep, dinosaurs had feathers! The amber is from the Late Cretaceous (~75 million years old) and was discovered in Alberta, Canada. What made this discovery so important was that feathers and hairs preserved in the amber span each stage of feather evolution (from primitive to complex). This means that there was a great diversity of primitive and advanced feathers that long ago! Amber also preserves information about the color of the feathers. Please provide feedback on Issue 13.
SciNews Lesson Materials
- Event Overview and Lesson Instructions (.pdf - 789 KB)
- Educator Background Material: Fossilized Feathers by M. Norell in the J. of Science (272 KB; .pdf)
- Feather Packet (.pdf - 1 MB)
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Issue 12: Hurricane Irene hits Eastern US - August 2011
SciNews Lesson Materials
- Event Overview and Lesson Instructions (.pdf - 792 KB)
- Educator Background Materials from NOAA: Hurricane Basics (1.2 MB; .pdf) -and- Tropical Cyclones (1.0 MB; .pdf)
- Cyclone Classification Sheet (.pdf - 781 KB)
- NOAA Data Table (.pdf - 318 KB)
- Hurricane Graphs (5 versions) to plot NOAA data table (.pdf - 232 KB) - or use data from here
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Issue 11: Tornado Outbreaks in Southern and Eastern US - May 2011
SciNews Lesson Materials
- Event Overview and Lesson Instructions (.pdf - 848 KB)
- Student Worksheet: How Do Tornadoes form? (.pdf - 77 KB)
- Maps of tornadoes across the south: NY Times interactive map (.jpg) & Map of tornado tracks - NSSL/Google Earth (.jpg)
- Tornado Videos and Interactives (see below)
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Issue 10: Devastating 9.0 Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan - April 2011
Lesson Materials
- Overview and Lesson Instructions (.pdf - 1.6 MB)
- Lesson Worksheet: How Do Earthquakes Cause Tsunamis? (.pdf - 128 KB)
- Illustration: How a tsunami is generated by an earthquake at a subduction zone (.pdf -or- .jpg) created by E. DiMaggio
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Issue 9: Student Health Issue: Should we tax sugary drinks? - March 2011
Lesson Materials
- Topic overview and lesson instructions (.pdf - 415 KB)
- Lesson 1: Student Discussion Questions (download .pdf - 75 KB)
- Vermont 'soda tax' article and broadcast: (radio broadcast 2.38 min -or- transcript) & long (45min) radio broadcast here
- Lesson 2: Fast Food Nutrition Lesson (download .pdf - 474 KB)
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Issue 8: Kepler Mission Identifies Potential Exoplanets in the Habitable Zone - February 2011
Lesson Materials
- Topic overview and lesson instructions (.pdf - 1.5 MB)
- NPR Broadcast_2-2-2011 (listen to or download directly from the NPR site)
- Kepler Mission Interactive (2nd interactive on the page)
- Kepler-10b Interactive (link opens website to view interactive)
Issue 7: Severe Flooding in Queensland, Australia related to La Niña - January 2011
- Topic overview and lesson instructions (.pdf - 575 KB)
- Australian Floods Video (watch .wmv 11.6 MB; video source)
- La Nina Flooding News Report (watch .wmv 4.3 MB; video source)
- ElNinoLaNina_worksheet (download .pdf 1.7 MB)
Issue 6: NASA's EPOXI mission makes a flyby of Comet Hartley 2 - November 2010
Lesson Materials
- Topic overview and lesson instructions (.pdf - 442 KB)
- EPOXI Comet Facts (.pdf - 1.5 MB)
- 3D Orbital Visualization Tool (link to tool on NASA site)
- EPOXI Video - comet encounter (27 sec) (link opens website to view video -or- download video from website)
- EPOXI Video - scientists explain findings (2 mins) (link opens website to view video -or- download video from website)
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Issue 5: Health Effects of Volcanic Ash - an example from Indonesia - Sept. & Oct. 2010
The recent eruptions of the volcano Merapi in Indonesia highlights the health effects and hazards associated with volcanic ash. Volcanic ash is composed of very small particles of volcanic rock that are fragmented during explosive volcanic eruptions. During an eruption these tiny bits of rock form ash clouds that can move laterally with the wind. Additionally, flows of fast moving hot ash called pyroclastic flows can occur along the flanks of volcanoes and are extremely hazardous for those living near explosive volcanoes. Please provide feedback on Issue 5.
Lesson Materials
- Topic overview and lesson instructions (.pdf - 530 KB)
- Ash Health Hazards pamphlet (.pdf - 1.5 MB pages -or- booklet)
- Prepare For Ashfall pamphlet (.pdf - 1.2 MB pages -or- booklet)
- Location map of Merapi volcano (.jpg - 275 KB)
- Population density map surrounding Merapi volcano (.jpg - 3.2 MB)
Issue 4: Copiapó, Chile Mining Accident - August 2010
On August 5th, in the Atacama desert of Chile, an unstable portion of the long graded mine shaft in the San José Mine collapsed trapping 33 men ~700 m underground. Unlike most mining accidents of this magnitude, miners safely made it to an emergency shelter room. After a careful rescue plan was devised and implemented, all 33 miners were safely rescued after having spent 69 days underground. Please provide feedback on Issue 4.
Lesson Materials
- Topic overview and lesson instructions (.pdf - 370 KB)
- Chilean Miners Rescue Plan (.pdf - 256 KB)
- USGS Minerals in Sports (.pdf - 1.4 MB) and USGS Minerals in our Environment (.pdf - 1.8 MB)
- UGSS Google Earth file of Mines/Plants (download .kml file for the following states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah) - (merged .kml file for all southwest states) - (.kml file for entire USA) - or visit USGS digital download site.
Issue 3: Deepwater Horizon/BP Oil Spill - May and June 2010
On April 20th, 2010 there was a large explosion on the Deepwater Horizon/BP drilling platform located in the Gulf of Mexico. The explosion killed 11 people and caused the rig to sink. Oil continued to leak from broken risers at the bottom of the Gulf for 86 days making it the largest marine spill in history. After multiple failed attempts, the well was finally capped on July 15th and officially sealed Sept 20th. Click here to download cartoon diagram of the main events. Please provide feedback on Issue 3.
Lesson Materials
- Topic overview and lesson instructions (.pdf - 500 KB)
- Oil Spill Student Worksheet (.pdf - 126 KB)
- Link to New York Times Oil Spill Website (.pdf of wildlife page - 1.5 MB)
- CNN video on Wildlife Effects of Oil Spill (.wmv - 5.1 MB; video source)
- Video on Cleaning Oil From Pelicans (.wmv - 9.2 MB; video source)
Issue 2: Eruptions of the Icelandic Volcano Eyjafjallajökull - March and April 2010
Eruptions of the hard to pronounce Eyjafjallajökull volcano in southern Iceland lasted from March to June 2010. The eruption quickly received worldwide attention as airspace over a significant portion of Europe was shut down due to concerns over ash interference with airplanes. Please provide feedback on Issue 2.
Lesson Materials
- Topic overview and lesson instructions (.pdf - 500 KB)
- Slide Show (.ppt - 12MB)
- Eyjafjallajökull Video 1 (.wmv - 8.2 MB; video source)
- Eyjafjallajökull Video 2 (.wmv - 7.2 MB; video source)
- Eyjafjallajökull Video 3 (.wmv - 12 MB; video source)
Issue 1: Large Earthquakes in Chile and Haiti - January and February 2010
Media coverage of the Haiti & Chile earthquakes reminded the world just how quickly earthquakes can cause massive devastation and death. This is especially true in poorer countries where buildings are not retrofitted to withstand earthquake shaking. Please provide feedback on Issue 1.
Lesson Materials
- Topic overview and lesson instructions (.pdf - 400 KB)
- Haiti Earthquake Data (Google Earth .kmz file)
- USGS Real-time Earthquakes & Plate Boundaries (Google Earth .kmz file)
- Earthquake Destruction Video (.wma - 6 MB)
- Slide Show (.ppt - 5 MB)