In this demonstration activity, students make structural models of gas molecules using pipe cleaners and polystyrene balls and test their molecules for their resonant frequency. Students shake the models, count vibrations, and compare the resonance... (View More) frequencies of different gases. Students learn that photons of infrared energy vibrate at the right frequency to transfer their energy to carbon dioxide and methane, which in turn causes those molecules to vibrate, which is experienced in the real world as heat. The teacher's guide includes illustrative videos for this resource. This activity is supported by a textbook chapter, What's So Special about CO²?, part of the unit, Climate Change, in Global Systems Science (GSS), an interdisciplinary course for high school students that emphasizes how scientists from a wide variety of fields work together to understand significant problems of global impact. (View Less)

This inquiry activity supports student understanding of the cause of light, heat and shadow, how to measure the passage of time, and how to use rules and other measuring tools. Students make observations using shadows, a meter stick, and a homemade... (View More) sundial. Supplies required include flashlights, ruler, chalk, coffee can, sand, protractors, yarn and a calculator with trigonometry functions (tangent/co-tantent) This is the sixth of 10 inquiry investigations in Threads of Inquiry: Observing the World Around Us. Each lesson includes teacher background information, a narrative that models and describes the inquiry process applied in the lesson, and a hands-on inquiry investigation. Literacy extensions and a non-linguistic pre- and post-assessment are also included. (View Less)

This inquiry activity supports student understanding of the cause of light, heat and shadow, how to measure the passage of time, and how to use rules and other measuring tools. Students make observations using shadows, a meter stick, and a homemade... (View More) sundial. Supplies required for the lessons include flashlights, meterstick, coffee can, sand toothpicks, and clay. This is the sixth of 10 inquiry investigations in Threads of Inquiry: Observing the World Around Us. Each lesson includes teacher background information, a narrative that models and describes the inquiry process applied in the lesson, and a hands-on inquiry investigation. Literacy extensions and a non-linguistic pre- and post-assessment are also included. (View Less)

In this inquiry investigation, students discover how a given amount of light changes in intensity when the area it shines on changes, and that change in light and heat occurs when the Earth is tilted towards or away from the Sun. Supplies required... (View More) for the lessons include clipboards, thermometers, graph paper, and flashlights. This is the tenth of 10 inquiry investigations in Threads of Inquiry: Observing the World Around Us. Each lesson includes teacher background information, a narrative that models and describes the inquiry process applied in the lesson, and a hands-on inquiry investigation. Literacy extensions and a non-linguistic pre- and post-assessment are also included. (View Less)

In this inquiry investigation, students discover how a given amount of light changes in intensity when the area it shines on changes, and that change in light and heat occurs when the Earth is tilted towards or away from the Sun. Supplies required... (View More) for the lessons include clipboards, thermometers, graph paper, and flashlights. This is the tenth of 10 inquiry investigations in Threads of Inquiry: Observing the World Around Us. Each lesson includes teacher background information, a narrative that models and describes the inquiry process applied in the lesson, and a hands-on inquiry investigation. Literacy extensions and a non-linguistic pre- and post-assessment are also included. (View Less)

This inquiry activity supports student understanding of the cause of light, heat and shadow, how to measure the passage of time, and how to use rules and other measuring tools. Students make observations using shadows, a meter stick, and a homemade... (View More) sundial. This is the sixth of 10 inquiry investigations in Threads of Inquiry: Observing the World Around Us. Each lesson includes teacher background information, a narrative that models and describes the inquiry process applied in the lesson, and a hands-on inquiry investigation. Literacy extensions and a non-linguistic pre- and post-assessment are also included. (View Less)

In this inquiry investigation, students discover how a given amount of light changes in intensity when the area it shines on changes, and that change in light and heat occurs when the Earth is tilted towards or away from the Sun. Supplies required... (View More) for the lessons include clipboards, thermometers, graph paper, and flashlights. This is the tenth of 10 inquiry investigations in Threads of Inquiry: Observing the World Around Us. Each lesson includes teacher background information, a narrative that models and describes the inquiry process applied in the lesson, and a hands-on inquiry investigation. Literacy extensions and a non-linguistic pre- and post-assessment are also included. (View Less)