Week One Summer 2010 Shortcourse : Math in Science Context: Distance Assignments

Distance Assignment: Population Density
The population density reading made me stop and think about all the variables that go into a population growth model. I found it interesting to read about how family size can be changed with just a little education. The interpreting data worksheet was very interesting to me. I will able to use this part to help my students view data from a variety of different graphs. The random sampling section I think could be used by our biology teacher so I thought I'd pass this website on to her. I remember her doing some sort of activity like this last year. Overall, I think I could see me referring to this website again.
Connie G

population density

I found this site and information interesting. I am teaching a class this year on ecology and I will be using this site and info in my class when i'm covering population growth and density. It will be useful in many ways.

Week One Summer 2010 Shortcourse : Math in Science Context: Distance Assignments

Week One Summer 2010 Shortcourse : Math in Science Context: Distance Assignments: "Here is a link to the distance assignment in population biology. https://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=1lUzs23IC1QWKABg_di82OwZ8Fq2S1KzpB..."

I like this population simulation. I used to do an exponential growth activity with my 7th graders that focused on cell division. The students always entered the activity with preconceptions about the rate of division. I ask them to guess how many cells we would have after ten divisions. They always multiply by 2. Then when they see the actual growth they are amazed. It would be interesting to have them graph the results.

I also liked the random sampling activity. It would be a good math and science activity to reinforce sample counts.

I can see myself using the population simulator in geography class. I also agree with klindema about incorporating a writing lesson with the assignment.

Population Activity

I really like the Random Sampling activity. I can definitely use it to teach about sampling methods. The International Population module is a very interesting tool. I will be using it when I create my lesson plan for this class. I will have students choose a country and then find two data points generated by the model. Students will then create an exponential model from those two points. Students will then create a data set of at 6 points. They will then use MS Excel to create an exponential curve to fit the model.

I did notice that in some countries, the population model began to decrease at some point in time. If a student chooses a country whose population model changes from increasing to decreasing, then they will be encouraged to look into the concept of logistic growth as opposed to simple exponential growth.

The Lesson of Kaibab was very interesting to me. It showed how much impact we can have when we try to impact nature without considering the long term consequences.

Every class in our building is required to have reading and writing components. It is often difficult to find interesting things to read and write about in a math course. These population links provide many resources for me to tie reading and writing to mathematics as they allow me to assign questions beginning with "Why...."

response to Population Biology

Population biology is one of my favorite topics in biology. I remember one of my freshman Biology professors many years ago making a very pointed comment about the effects of too rapid population growth on societies in developing countries (to the effect that those people reap the harvest of their behavior, but not stated so nicely). I remember how, as a Biology graduate student I failed to convince my peers, not even the environmental science students, that human population growth was an important concern in the biological science field.

The World Bank Group article laid out the facts very clearly. Some of the work sheets were a fun challenge. I could not run the program for the International Population Module. The Glencoe worksheets, the Lesson of the Kaibab, and the age structure charts were quite familiar to me. Looking through the various parts of this activity reminded me of how much I have forgotten about this topic that I have taught and which I like.

Week One Summer 2010 Shortcourse : Math in Science Context: Assignment Questions Post Answers

I found this website to be very interesting and helpful. There are many things from this website that I could incorporate into my 8th grade math class. I espeically like the estimating population lab. I think that this lab would be a great hands-on experiment that my students would enjoy completing and not to mention the academic value in recording data and interpretting graphs.

Population activity

I found the site interesting and from a math standpoint, some of it is useful since typically, population growth resembles exponential growth. In my biology days, population studies were interesting because of how carrying capacity of a biome is raised and how it governs the population. From a social standpoint, the graying of countries causes many concerns and a lessening of the general population, ie. China, etc, is not always a good thing particularly for the elderly as they may seem to be in the way. (After all pensions are expensive, especially if they live a long time.) Since I am nearing the retirement age, this does concern me. So from a math standpoint, it is interesting to start looking at how a demographic similar to Europe strains the workforce and effects ecomonies. So using the website and activity, tailored to suit my needs will lead to many math applications. I must comment though, that my wife and I have three children, two daughters (married now) and a son and I never think about how much money they were to raise, rather, I think about the emptiness I would have have not knowing them.

Population Biology

There was a hugh amount of information on this website. They will be great to use in my 7th grade science class. All of the information is easy to read and the interactive websites are also easy to use.
The extra worksheets will be great to have as a resource.
I thought that this whole website will be a great resource to every teacher.

Population Biology

I liked the module/simulation dealing with the populations in different countries. I think it will really help in explaining or predicting what will happen to a population. I have my kids look at age structure diagrams and try to figure it out, but with this they can actually compare different age structures and see what will happen to the populations.

I liked the interactive game where they could match to practice learning terms dealing with demography.

I probably wouldn't use the crosswords because I use discoverykids online puzzle maker to make any word puzzles I want and can tie the exact vocabulary to the chapters.

Week One Summer 2010 Shortcourse : Math in Science Context: Distance Assignments


Week One Summer 2010 Shortcourse : Math in Science Context: Distance Assignments: "Here is a link to the distance assignment in population biology. https://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=1lUzs23IC1QWKABg_di82OwZ8Fq2S1KzpB..."

Population Biology
The population biology website was very interesting. It had many education, useful links on the page. I found it interesting that the more health care is provided, the fewer children were born. I hadn't thought about it that way. I also was very interested to see that the areas with the higher income, the lower the birth rates. (I thought that made total sense--I would have a lot more money if I hadn't had 4 DAUGHTERS...and I haven't even gotten to the weddings yet!)



I thought the highlights link was a good summary of the article.



I found the exercise for the international population module very interesting. I likes comparing the populations. I think kids would find that fun and fascinating.





I also liked both the random sampling worksheet and interpreting ecological data were good worksheets. It is always good to have kids read graphs--it seems to be something they struggle with. The estimating worksheet is also a good application for the students.



In the extras, I enjoyed the crossword puzzle and the wordsearch--they are always good to get the brain thinking in a different way.

Posted by Tami R at 8:48 PM Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Share to Google Buzz

Population

I liked this link because it was very informational and fairly easy to follow. I also liked how it was all put on through google docs.
I think I could use this with my math classes. We do some things on population growth and also many things on percentages and predictions.

Week One Summer 2010 Shortcourse : Math in Science Context: Distance Assignments

Week One Summer 2010 Shortcourse : Math in Science Context: Distance Assignments: "Here is a link to the distance assignment in population biology. https://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=1lUzs23IC1QWKABg_di82OwZ8Fq2S1KzpB..."

WOW this website overall has a TON of information I can use with my 7th and 10th grade biology students! The links were easy to follow and the content goes along with the materials that I teach in the first semester of the school year.

As for the population biology lesson, the graphs and terminology were great and like I stated before they correlate with my 10th grade content. I will add this link to my portaportal site!!

Population

I really enjoyed looking at these population assignments. It is a great way to get kids involved in the content and it also shows some great ideas for incorporating math in the science classroom. This subject is often difficult for students and these will be some good resources.

POPULATION

The population activity would be a great lesson idea. The activity incorporates math and science, but also it incorporates Geography. It could be used in all these classes.

Population Distance Assignment

I found the population growth rate text assignment to be quite interesting. It's a topic that I know I have covered in the past, but hadn't given it a lot of thought again until now. It really was staggering to read the statistics. When I went to the internation population applet, I did the simulation with the African country of Mali. The average birth rate was 7.3 children and the life expectancy was only 45 years old. The simulation fit with the stats presented in the text.

I am not sure that I would use the the applet except to reinforce another text. I wasn't sure exactly how changing the birth rate, for instance, affected the other stats. It was not very easy to interpret, but with more directions for the software, it might be useful.

The interpreting data worksheet was a good resource for introducing the concept of data collection and analysis. It would be a good jumping off point, but it would definitely require more information than was available on the worksheet.

I thought the random sampling activity would be the most useful for me. I could see it being used in ecology, the study of bacterial growth, hematology, etc.

I haven't used the biology corner website in the past. I am looking forward to spending a bit more time with it to see what I could apply to my students.

Week One Summer 2010 Shortcourse : Math in Science Context: Distance Assignments

Week One Summer 2010 Shortcourse : Math in Science Context: Distance Assignments: "Here is a link to the distance assignment in population biology. https://docs1.google.com/document/edit?id=1sAJZ_WjR4b1fIPnDcbKHRuCLjpUBsdK-..."
Has anyone looked at the optional links and had trouble getting them to work? The links on many of them take me to a blank document or don't work. Is it possible to have an address behind them?

Week One Summer 2010 Shortcourse : Math in Science Context: Assignment Questions Post Answers

Week One Summer 2010 Shortcourse : Math in Science Context: Assignment Questions Post Answers: "Questions for Thurs. 1) Why is power delivered via AC not DC? 2) Have you and your group decided on a topic for your lesson plan? If not, ..."
Power is delivered via AC because it is relatively easy to change the voltage of power, using a devise called a transformer.

I have not decided on what lesson plan I will do.

Week One Summer 2010 Shortcourse : Math in Science Context: Assignment Questions Post Answers

Week One Summer 2010 Shortcourse : Math in Science Context: Assignment Questions Post Answers: "Questions for Thurs. 1) Why is power delivered via AC not DC? 2) Have you and your group decided on a topic for your lesson plan? If not, ..."



From what I've read on the internet, AC power is cheaper to deliver and its delivery is much more efficient. The question of efficientcy stems from the fact that AC power is delivered using is low current yet the result is high voltage.


Concerning the lesson plan, I liked the linear motion exercises we used yesterday. I teach calculus, and this would be a nice way to reinforce the formal definition of derivative as well as the concept of derivative as rate of change. I'm looking forward to the lesson concerning radioactive decay because exponential growth and decay are such prominent topics in both calculus and precalculus.

Week One Summer 2010 Shortcourse : Math in Science Context: Assignment Questions Post Answers

Week One Summer 2010 Shortcourse : Math in Science Context: Assignment Questions Post Answers: "Questions for Thurs. 1) Why is power delivered via AC not DC? 2) Have you and your group decided on a topic for your lesson plan? If not, ..."

Power is delivered via AC to be able to use high voltage so there is not as much energy transferred to waste on its travels.

Still thinking about lesson plan. I am considering maybe the brightness lab - I like using probes and would like to implement them more into my lessons.

Week One Summer 2010 Shortcourse : Math in Science Context: Assignment Questions Post Answers

Week One Summer 2010 Shortcourse : Math in Science Context: Assignment Questions Post Answers: "Questions for Thurs. 1) Why is power delivered via AC not DC? 2) Have you and your group decided on a topic for your lesson plan? If not, ..."

1. As stated before I believe this question has been answered and I really have no new material to add. AC is easier because it has a low current but high voltage.

2. I am considering using the stuff we talked about today with position, velocity, and accel and explaining derivatives. Also possibly the data graphing involved with Ohms Law.

Week One Summer 2010 Shortcourse : Math in Science Context: Assignment Questions Post Answers

1) After reading the other posts, I think we already have this answer down... To sum up, AC has a low current but a high voltage making it ideal for transport over large distances.
2) For my lesson plan I am thinking of doing the specific heat of natural materials lab and then having student calculate the slopes and averages using excel

Week One Summer 2010 Shortcourse : Math in Science Context: Assignment Questions Post Answers

Week One Summer 2010 Shortcourse : Math in Science Context: Assignment Questions Post Answers: "Questions for Thurs. 1) Why is power delivered via AC not DC? 2) Have you and your group decided on a topic for your lesson plan? If not, ..."
1. With DC you would have a large voltage drop at the end of the line and you would need a large wire to handle it. AC maintains a steady voltage.

2. Still thinking about which topic I want to use. It will either be slope, logs, or a calculus one.

Thursday's questions

In order to adjust the voltage for long-distance transmission easily AC is used. DC would require a larger number of generators and circuits, thus costing much more money.

I am considering an activity on population or on radioactive dating.

Week One Summer 2010 Shortcourse : Math in Science Context: Assignment Questions Post Answers

Week One Summer 2010 Shortcourse : Math in Science Context: Assignment Questions Post Answers: "Questions for Thurs. 1) Why is power delivered via AC not DC? 2) Have you and your group decided on a topic for your lesson plan? If not, ..."
AC is delivered to customers in an easier fashion than DC. AC has low current but has high voltage and does not require the heavy us of networking.

As for the lessons I would most likely use the density of various metals. I have used Excel quite a bit in middle school because of science fair data. I need to use cell equations more often also.

Week One Summer 2010 Shortcourse : Math in Science Context: Assignment Questions Post Answers

Week One Summer 2010 Shortcourse : Math in Science Context: Assignment Questions Post Answers: "Questions for Thurs. 1) Why is power delivered via AC not DC? 2) Have you and your group decided on a topic for your lesson plan? If not, ..."
1) I'm going to say because if DC was used only individuals close to the source of power would get a decent amount of electricity. Those far from the generator would not get much.

2) I too am waiting for radioactive decay as this ties in well with talking about fossils and radioactive dating for biology and environmental science.