My Science Box

Assessment
Create an ecosystem diagram for an animal of your choice. Be sure to include interactions between your animal and other organisms AND between your animal and its environment.

Going Further

1. Conduct soil analysis on the planter part of the terraqua column. See Soil Analysis lesson.
2. Conduct water quality assessment on the reservoir part of the terraqua column. See Water Quality lesson.
3. Conduct an independent investigation using terraqua columns. See Terraqua Column Experiment lesson.
4. Study the life cycle of plants from seed to germination to maturity and flowering to the production of new seeds. Use Wisconsin Fast Plants as part of the Raising Plants lesson.
   

Sources
This lesson was adapted and inspired by the Pond Water lesson available at Science NetLinks. This site has student worksheets and other excellent resources.

Sources
The idea for this lesson came from Jen McGonigle, a science teacher from Haddonfield, New Jersey, who shared this activity during the Exploratorium’s Summer Teacher Institute.

Wikipedia has a wonderful summary of the tragedy of the commons. It includes an excellent review of Hardin’s original essay on the topic, historical background about where the concept of the commons originated, and many examples of modern commons problems: littering, air quality, water quality, population growth, logging, etc.

Sources
Activity descriptions and ideas

Sources

Share your best hands-on lessons and teaching ideas with your fellow teachers!

Time
2 hours at Point Bonita Lighthouse
10 minutes travel to Rodeo Beach
2 hours at Rodeo Beach and Lagoon
travel time to and from Marin Headlands varies

45-50 minutes back in classroom the following day to discuss, review, and consolidate field observations

Grouping
Whole class - preferably no more than 32 students on the trip at a time. For some activities, student divide into groups of 3-4 for discussion.

If you are using the Exploratorium Learning Studio's computers to add lessons to My Science Box, here's some notes on the various computers:

1. The mac "Morrison" seems to work well (except the advanced editing options do not appear when using Mozilla).
2. The PC "Angstrom" works great with Firefox.
3. The mac "Abelson" works great with Fi
   

On December 9, 2006 I led a workshop for new teachers called "Web Wonders and Wizardry". A main feature of the workshop was a list of websites recommended by myself and other educators. Here's the list for everyone to enjoy!

Portals and Search Engines
http://www.exploratorium.edu/ls/resources.html
In addition to being able to search the Learning Studio’s catalog, you can also find an amazing list of teacher resources (click “Resource Guide” under the orange tab), including many ideas related to current exhibits (great if you plan to bring kids to the museum for a field trip!).
- Jo Falcon, Learning Studio

http://lii.org/
The Librarians' Internet Index is a publicly-funded website and weekly newsletter that lists “the best of the Web” according to librarians.
- Irene Salter

http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/sc/ll/ap/searchlist.asp
Does your district insist on literature connections to your science curriculum? The “Literature for Science and Mathematics: Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve” website is a collection of science-and mathematics-related literature that can be searched by subject area, grade level, keyword, author and more.
- Connie Oliver

Multi-disciplinary
http://www.exploratorium.edu/explore/handson.html
Many TI hands-on activities and many more can be found on the Exploratorium’s hands on activity site. Find science “snacks” on every topic under the sun.
- TI

Here's a great web resource:

http://wise.berkeley.edu