Every day somewhere on our planet, there is an earthquake, but only the destructive ones in populated areas grab our attention. On January 12, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti. The next day the headline from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was Haiti Devastated by Massive Earthquake. The article tells how the earthquake, with […]
Archive for the 'Earth Science' Category
Building Quake-Resistant Structures in the Classroom
Friday, June 4th, 2010 3:23 pm
Written by: Jessica Fries-Gaither
We Are All Connected to the Oceans: A Lesson to Help Students Understand the Ways Humans Impact Marine Ecosystems
Monday, March 29th, 2010 1:15 pm
Written by: Jessica Fries-Gaither
Students can look at a globe or map and readily see that water dominates our planet. However, do students know that over 70 percent of the earth’s surface is covered by water? Do they realize the importance of the oceans?
Currently, 80 percent of all people live within 60 miles of a seacoast. Yet many adolescents still do not think […]
Posted in Topics: Climate, Coral Reefs, Earth Science, Environment, Life Science, Marine Biology, Oceans, Science, Social Perspectives
We Choose the Moon!
Monday, July 20th, 2009 8:41 pm
Written by: Mary LeFever
Are you old enough to remember hearing those words spoken by President John F. Kennedy? I’m not, but I have a distinct memory of the night of July 20, 1969, when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon—the first humans to set foot on a celestial body other than planet Earth.
I was seven […]
Posted in Topics: Earth Science, Science, Social Perspectives, Space, Technology
Are You Ready for Richter Scale Day?
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009 6:56 am
Written by: Mary LeFever
Did it sneak up on you again this year? Kidding aside, Richter Scale Day is April 26, the birthday of Charles Richter (1900-1985), inventor of the Richter scale. Most middle school science curricula include earth science studies in plate tectonics and its related phenomena, including earthquakes. Catastrophic events, such as the recent Italian earthquake, provide […]
Posted in Topics: Earth Science, Earthquakes, Science
Using Concrete to Sequester Carbon Dioxide?
Tuesday, April 14th, 2009 5:51 pm
Written by: Mary LeFever
It is estimated that 5 percent of global emissions of carbon dioxide comes from the manufacture of cement. Some clever manufacturers are finding ways to not only reduce the carbon footprint of the industry but possibly reverse it! That is to say, it seems possible to capture CO2 and store it in concrete, i.e. sequester […]
Posted in Topics: Chemistry, Earth Science, Science, Technology
Antarctica Ice Bridge Snaps
Monday, April 6th, 2009 8:04 pm
Written by: Mary LeFever
A massive ice bridge, 40 km long and more than 500 m wide, that once connected two islands is no longer. See http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=36060 for a great visual: a labeled photograph of the area. The ice bridge had been in place for hundreds, probably thousands, of years and held back the Wilkins Ice Shelf. Now scientists […]
Posted in Topics: Climate, Earth Science, Methods of Science, Science
Fires in Australia: An Anomaly or Part of an Emerging Trend?
Thursday, February 19th, 2009 7:17 am
Written by: Mary LeFever
If you saw a newspaper or the news on TV at all last week, you must have heard about the catastrophic bushfires in southern Australia. Most were clustered 50 - 100 km northeast of Melbourne, capital city of the state of Victoria; yet there were other fires scattered across a wider area as well. The […]
Posted in Topics: Climate, Earth Science, Environment, Weather
New Year’s Resolution: Go Green!
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 7:28 am
Written by: Mary LeFever
Wind power is recognized as a clean, quiet, feasible alternative electricity source around the world. When you think of wind power, what image comes to mind? A wide expanse of undeveloped land dotted with sleek, rotating turbines? What about rooftop turbines right in the city, similar in arrangement to solar rooftop panels?
The NYTimes.com published a […]
Posted in Topics: Conservation, Earth Science, Energy Transfer, Science, Technology
Science or Science Fiction?
Monday, December 15th, 2008 10:01 pm
Written by: Mary LeFever
Well, it’s the holiday movie season again. And once again, there’s a sci-fi thriller sure to attract students, The Day the Earth Stood Still. This is a remake of a 1951 movie. That plot involved an alien coming to Earth to warn of nuclear war. The remake has climate change as the demise of the […]
Posted in Topics: Climate, Earth Science, Nature of Science, Science
Space Station ‘Extreme Home Makeover’ Concluded
Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008 6:51 am
Written by: Mary LeFever
What is the International Space Station? How long has it been up there? Who goes up there and for how long? What do astronauts do on the space station? These are intriguing, valid questions you can pose to your students, or perhaps your students have already posed them to you. The NASA space exploration program […]
Posted in Topics: Earth Science, Science, Space, Technology
Posted in Topics: Earth Science, Earthquakes, Engineering, Science
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