The SMILE Program @ OSU

High School SMILE teachers, we need your help!  In preparation for the April High School Challenge event, we have a survey about bioenergy in your communities.  We would like this survey to be filled out by you and your students and returned before Spring Break.  The survey and additional documentation can be found below.  You can return surveys by emailing Renee O’Neill (renee.oneill@oregonstate.edu) the data in the excel sheet, sending the hard copy originals via standard mail, or scanning in your surveys and emailing them as PDFs.  Whatever format you choose is fine, as long as we can see the data and are able interpret the results for the SMILE High School Challenge.  Please also send a copy of the complete survey your students use to help us interpret the data.

Tags: 2015 High School Challenge, 2015 Winter Teacher's Workshop, Harnessing Energy, Sustainability
Posted in Bioenergy, High School, Renewable Energy, SMILE Challenges, Teacher's Workshop | No Comments »

As you may know, Oregon has adopted the Next Generation Science Standards and the hope is that all states will too. These standards can be difficult to navigate and we are here to help. This source is here to make it a little easier. National Science Teachers Association has a blog that they hope will connect teachers with helpful lesson plans for these standards. Check it out!

Tags: Modeling, Next Generation Science Standards
Posted in General, High School, Middle School | No Comments »

That’s right, Galileo would have been 451 years old today. To celebrate his birthday we thought it would be great to share this article proving his theory true; a heavy item and a light item would reach the ground at the same time in a vacuum. In the video below, they travel to NASA’s space power facility in Cleveland, Ohio to the worlds largest vacuum chamber to prove his point.

Tags: Video
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We stumbled upon this great activity for middle school science teachers. In this activity students are to learn how to navigate magnetic fields, just like sea turtles do.  This great activity only requires a few supplies and is sure to be a hit in the classroom! Check it out by clicking the picture.

Tags: Magnetic Fields
Posted in Biology, Ecology, Middle School | No Comments »

The team has expanded upon their awesome project.  This week they expanded on their crank.  Here is what they had to say about it:

Building on our previous design, we machined an acrylic sheet into an acrylic disc to mount on the generator for easier use (video 1). We then kept building the power generation module so that we could test our other equipment better (photo 1). We disassembled part of the TV to try and test it with our generator, but weren’t generating enough power or had some other issue (photo 2). We managed to cut all of our acrylic for the hydro power module and we tested flame polishing on one of the pieces (photo 3, 4 and video 2). The video game has been further tested and we can successfully use other buttons to play the game! (Although Pac-Man is still really hard) (photo 5). Finally, we made some welding modifications to the base of the generator to make it simpler and more sturdy (video 3). Next, we’ll be building the structures of the modules and finally have something to really show off!

 

Tags: Mechanical Engineering, Video
Posted in Engineering, High School, Middle School, Video | No Comments »

Some of you may not know we have a Facebook page that we regularly update.  Like us here so you can stay up to date!

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At the 2015 Winter Teacher’s Workshop, elementary teachers continued to focus on ecology. Teachers were fortunate to work with researcher and professor in the department of integrative biology, Mark Novak.  A seven lesson unit focused around streams and macroinvertebrates was shared during this session.  Novak provided an overview presentation that can help with understanding the concepts included in these lessons.

Build-a-Bug allows students work in pairs to create macroinvertebrates with adaptations that would allow them to survive in a habitat. This supplemental PowerPoint gives students the necessary background information for this lesson plan.

Home, Home, in a Stream is an activity in which students create mock streams containing the same habitats that they built their bugs for.

In the activity Macro Feeding Frenzie (along with this PowerPoint) students use various tools to collect a variety of ‘food’, which models the different feeding styles and the accompanying adaptations.

Macro Mayhem allows students to play an exciting game to help them understand how pollution impacts the biodiversity of macroinvertebrates found in a stream ecosystem.

In Biodiversity in a Leaf Pack, students create micro-habitats that will attract macroinvertebrates and place them local streams to collect organisms.

With the activity Analyzing a Leaf Pack, students collect leaf packs and analyze their findings.

Hungry, Hungry Macros allows students to use the macros collected from leaf packs and perform an experiment to determine whether shredders or grazers will eat more leaf material.

Tags: 2015 Winter Teacher's Workshop, Climate Change, Feeding Relationships, Fisheries, Sustainability
Posted in Biology, Ecology, Elementary School, General, Teacher's Workshop | No Comments »

During the Winter Teacher’s Workshop, SMILE Elementary Club teachers were introduced to lessons and content around the topics of coral reefs and ocean acidification.

In the first lesson on coral reefs, Coral Reef Diversity, students are introduced to coral reef ecosystems, the importance of coral, and adaptations coral has made to live in a unique habitat. In the second, Coral Skeletons, students learn how coral shells are formed and the impact of climate change has had on coral reef ecosystems worldwide. In the final lesson, Thermal Expansion, students learn about how warming waters affect the ocean ecosystem.

This presentation on coral reefs was shared by PhD Student Katherine Dziedzic from the Department of Integrative Biology.

In the first lesson on ocean acidification, Whale Jenga, students learn about how changes in the food web might impact the ocean ecosystem. In the second, Lego Shell Building, students are to explore how ocean acidification may make it harder for corals to grow shells. In the third lesson, Marine Osteoporosis, students learn about the effects of acidic oceans on certain marine organisms and the causes of ocean acidification. In the fourth lesson, Ocean Acidification Car Activity, students find out how the burning of fossil fuels in automobiles can introduce CO2 to seawater causing acidification. In the final lesson, Ocean Acidification Demo the students observe first hand CO2 being absorbed into water.

The following presentations on ocean acidification were shared by the Olympic Coast Marine Sanctuary as part of the workshop ocean acidification:

• Oceans Recipe For Success
• Olympic Coast Sanctuary PowerPoint

Tags: 2015 Winter Teacher's Workshop, Climate Change, Fisheries, Marine Protected Areas
Posted in Biology, Ecology, Elementary School, General, Teacher's Workshop | No Comments »