Discover the largest phylum of animals on planet Earth!
With an exoskeleton, jointed legs and cold blood are the Arthropods. Meet up close the Insects, Arachnids, Millipedes, Centipedes and Crustaceans and have a visit in your classroom from Petunia the rose-hair tarantula, Milton the millipede, "The Flintstones" Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches, and more! Observe these fascinating creatures up close. Explore how the Arthropod Zoo relates to the bugs found in your own backyard and how they help keep our Mother Earth healthy.
Discover the largest phylum of animals on planet Earth!
With an exoskeleton, jointed legs and cold blood are the Arthropods. Meet up close the Insects, Arachnids, Millipedes, Centipedes and Crustaceans and have a visit in your classroom from Petunia the rose-hair tarantula, Milton the millipede, "The Flintstones" Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches, and more! Observe these fascinating creatures up close. Explore how the Arthropod Zoo relates to the bugs found in your own backyard and how they help keep our Mother Earth healthy.
The environmental education plan is designed as an interdisciplinary program to develop environmental literacy. Lessons include environmental stewardship, ecological interconnections, conservation concepts, and environmental challenges. Designed for a busy teacher with a packed school day and multiple expectations to raise student achievement through meeting and integrating standards in core disciplines, the plan is both standards-based and research-based. Lessons can be modified to reach any K12 readiness level or learning modality. All students, including ESL learners, are encouraged to draw from personal experiences and language. Though lessons can be taught as stand-alone lessons, using the integrated content maximizes skills, content knowledge, and positive values from all disciplines. Plans include integration activities, extensions, and rubrics aligned to common core state standards. Learning from nature is ancient wisdom. Advice from Nature is about listening to nature to discover life lessons and sharing one’s best gifts.
The Empowering the Future STEM Workshop combines classes on green building, transportation, fuels, wind and solar power to help prepare the next generation of scientists and engineers to meet future energy challenges. Combining standards-based activities and creative student inquiries, this workshop blends engineering and science process skills with cutting edge technology and innovation in three exciting classes:
Harnessing the Wind: Teams of learners will design and test wind turbine systems, use the scientific method to explore variables in blade design, and use the electricity they generate to power devices and energy storage systems.
Key Concepts: Wind Power Systems, Science and Engineering Process Skills
Green Building: Learners will explore green building concepts, passive solar heating, as well as design and conduct an experiment focused on building efficiency improvements.
Key Concepts: Conduction, Convection, Radiation, Energy, Efficiency, Experiment Design and Thermal Energy
Hybrid, Hydrogen and More: This module will explore energy efficient transportation, solar power, fuel-cells and other cutting-edge technologies that are revolutionizing the way we move goods and people.
Key Concepts: Solar Energy, Photovoltaic Cells, Angles, Measurement, Prediction, Hydrogen and Biofuels
The three fun and sometimes messy classes in the Earth System Science STEM Workshop focus on the complex relationships between geology, wildfires, snow, ice and climate that impact the Earth System and Colorado’s water supply. During this intensive hands-on workshop, teachers and students will rotate through these three, standards-driven, interconnected workshops:
Foundations for Flow: Using stream tables, models and new specialized materials, students and teachers will re-create Colorado Mountains from the bedrock up and wear them down with constructive and destructive forces over time. They will see our geological past in a new way; learn about erosion, deposition, plate tectonics, faults, hydrology; and use ice, snow and water to create snowfields, glaciers, streams, rivers and the watersheds we see today.
Key Concepts: Plate Tectonics, Colorado Geologic History, Erosion, Deposition
Fire and Water: Using computer models and hands-on experiments, students and teachers will explore the relationships between ecosystems, wildfires, soils and water quality. They will learn about recent wildfires, fire safety and prevention, how to predict fire intensity, and conduct experiments to help understand how wildfires impact soils, erosion water quality and storage.
Key Concepts: Forest and Fire Ecology, Soils, Erosion, Water Quality
Ice, Snow and H2O: This chilly session focuses on how weather, climate, snow and ice impact Colorado’s water supply. Teachers and students will create and conduct experiments with glacial ice, and use measurements and math to understand the relationship between glaciers, snowpack and our water supply. They will compare and contrast weather data and snow tubes to solve a mystery, and play a fun game to understand how Earth System Interactions supply year-round water to Colorado.
Key Concepts: Watersheds, Snowpack, Weather, Climate, Stream Flow, Density
Why do tornadoes form? What is wind shear? Unravels the mysteries of meteorology through visual representations and hands-on experiments. Fundamental atmospheric conditions that create what we call “weather” are be explored. Students learn about temperature, air pressure, the water cycle, and clouds. The program concludes with an “electrifying” demonstration of the properties of static electricity, which produces a current much like lightning.
Is a polar bear really white? How much snow does Antarctica get? How many layers of clothing do people need to wear to stay warm? Students learn about the polar regions and how animals and people suit themselves for survival. The location and climate of both the Arctic and Antarctic regions are studied. Focus is on adaptations including physical and behavioral changes. Students discuss how people gear up to live in these harsh areas.
How does an octopus change colors? How does a sea star see where it is going?
Students discover the water world of jellyfish, sea horses, sharks, and other ocean creatures. They learn about the characteristics of several groups of marine vertebrates and invertebrates by seeing and touching museum specimens. Focus is on the adaptations, behaviors, habitats, and ecological importance of many marine animals.
What kinds of characteristics do scientists use to classify plants and animals? How does a grizzly bear skull differ from a mountain lion skull? Introduces students to taxonomy, the scientific classification of plants and animals. To make sense of the diversity that makes up our world, humans throughout history have given names to the objects around them and imposed a variety of schemes to categorize them. Students examine the skulls of Colorado mammals, such as grizzly bear, mountain lion, coyote, and raccoon, and learn to identify the skulls using a dichotomous key. Then they construct their own key creating a classification system for a set of plants.
