Apply ratios and proportions to find the weight of a person on the moon (or on another planet). Weigh an object on Earth and on the moon and weigh the person on Earth. Then set up and solve the proportion of the Earth weights to the moon weights.
Beam to Moon (Ratios and Proportions)
Follow in the footsteps of Edwin Hubble to discover evidence supporting the Big Bang Theory. First, observe Cepheid variable stars in different galaxies to determine their distances. Then, measure the redshift from these galaxies to determine their recessional velocity. Create a scatterplot of velocity vs. distance and relate this to an expanding universe.
Big Bang Theory - Hubble's Law
Trace the path of blood through a beating heart and the network of blood vessels that supplies blood to the body. Take blood samples from different blood vessels to observe blood cells and measure the levels of oxygen, carbon dioxide, sugar, and urea.
Circulatory System
Go sightseeing in fictional cities all over the world. Learn about coordinates on a graph by navigating around these cities on a grid-like city map. Some landmarks are shown on the map. For others, you are only given the coordinates. Can you find all of them?
City Tour (Coordinates)
Observe the spread of disease through a group of people. The methods of transmission can be chosen and include person-to-person, airborne, and foodborne as well as any combination thereof. The probability of each form of transmission and number of people in the group can also be adjusted.
Disease Spread
Choose the correct steps to divide exponential expressions. Use the feedback to diagnose incorrect steps.
Dividing Exponential Expressions
Observe solar and lunar eclipses as the Moon orbits Earth. The full and partial shadows of the Moon and Earth can be displayed, and the Moon can also be dragged around Earth. See what the Moon and Sun look like from Earth during partial and total eclipses.
Eclipse
Explore fractions using the Fractionator, the machine that makes fraction tiles. Compare fractions and find equivalent fractions by arranging the tiles on two horizontal rows. Explore simplifying fractions. Add fractions and express sums as improper fractions or mixed numbers.
Equivalent Fractions (Fraction Tiles)
Explore erosion in a simulated 3D environment. Observe how the landscape evolves over time as it is shaped by the forces of flowing water. Vary the initial landscape, rock type, precipitation amount, average temperature, and vegetation and measure how each variable affects the rate of erosion and resulting landscape features.
Erosion Rates
Observe how different colors of light are reflected or absorbed by colored objects. Determine that white light is a combination of different colors of light, and that one or more component colors may be reflected when white light is shone on an object. Understand that we see an object when light reflected from the object enters our eye.
Eyes and Vision 1 - Seeing Color
Grow Wisconsin Fast Plants® in a simulated lab environment. Explore the life cycles of these plants and how their growth is influenced by light, water, and crowding. Practice pollinating the plants using bee sticks, then observe the traits of the offspring plants. Use Punnett squares to model the inheritance of genes for stem color and leaf color for these plants.
Fast Plants® 1 - Growth and Genetics
In this follow-up to Fast Plants® 1 - Growth and Genetics, continue to explore inheritance of traits in Wisconsin Fast Plants. Infer the genotype of a "mystery P2 parent" of a set of Fast Plants based on the traits of the P1, F1, and F2 plants. Then create designer Fast Plants by selectively breeding plants with desired traits.
Fast Plants® 2 - Mystery Parent
Collect fingerprints from simulated crime scenes using a camera, fingerprinting powder, and tape. Classify fingerprints into groups and subgroups, then identify minutiae. Match collected prints to the fingerprints of suspects to identify who left prints at the scene of the crime.
Fingerprinting
Investigate the motion of an object as it falls to the ground. A variety of objects can be compared, and their motion can be observed in a vacuum, in normal air, and in denser air. The position, velocity, and acceleration are measured over time, and the forces on the object can be displayed. Using the manual settings, the mass, radius, height, and initial velocity of the object can be adjusted, as can the air density and wind.
Free-Fall Laboratory
Explore the energy used by many household appliances, such as television sets, hair dryers, lights, computers, etc. Make estimates for how long each item is used on a daily basis to get an estimate for the total power consumed during a day, a week, a month, and a year, and how that relates to consumer costs and environmental impact.
Household Energy Usage
Compare the skulls of a variety of significant human ancestors, or hominids. Use available tools to measure lengths, areas, and angles of important features. Each skull can be viewed from the front, side, or from below. Additional information regarding the age, location, and discoverer of each skull can be displayed.
Human Evolution - Skull Analysis
Use a variety of real-world lab tests to analyze common food samples in order to determine if the food is a carbohydrate, a protein, or a lipid. Tests that can be performed include: Benedict, Lugol, Biuret, and Sudan Red.
Identifying Nutrients
Represent a quantity given by a shaded region as an improper fraction and as a mixed number. Experiment with different shaded regions sliced differently.
Improper Fractions and Mixed Numbers
Point a laser at a mirror and compare the angle of the incoming beam to the angle of reflection. A protractor can be used to measure the angles of incidence and reflection, and the angle of the mirror can be adjusted. A beam splitter can be used to split the beam. Both plane and irregular mirrors can be used.
Laser Reflection
A brand new school is opening and it is time to elect the school mascot! Students can choose the Eagle, Lion, Bear, or Wolf. Voting results can be displayed in a table, tally chart, pictograph, bar graph, circle graph, or dot plot. You can change student votes by selecting a group of students and clicking a mascot.
Mascot Election (Pictographs and Bar Graphs)
See how muscles, bones, and connective tissue work together to allow movement. Observe how muscle contraction arises from the interactions of thin and thick filaments in muscle cells. Using what you have learned, construct an arm that can lift a weight or throw a ball. Connective tissue, muscle composition, bone length, and tendon insertion point can all be manipulated to create an arm to lift the heaviest weight or throw a ball the fastest.
Muscles and Bones
Observe the five main types of nuclear decay: alpha decay, beta decay, gamma decay, positron emission, and electron capture. Write nuclear equations by determining the mass numbers and atomic numbers of daughter products and emitted particles.
Nuclear Decay
Live a frog's life as you hop along a number line in search of flies. Learn how addition and subtraction can be represented as movement along a number line. Fred the frog may even help you get better at adding and subtracting two-digit numbers in your head by decomposing them into tens and ones.
Number Line Frog Hop (Addition and Subtraction)
Observe frogs jumping around on colored lily pads. Find, test, and reason about patterns you see in their jumping.
Pattern Finder
Explore trends in atomic radius, ionization energy, and electron affinity in the periodic table. Measure atomic radius with a ruler and model ionization energy and electron affinity by exploring how easy it is to remove electrons and how strongly atoms attract additional electrons. View these properties on the whole periodic table to see how they vary across periods and down groups.
Periodic Trends
Measure the temperature and oxygen content of a pond over the course of a day. Then go fishing to see what types of fish live in the pond. Many different ponds can be investigated to determine the influence of time, temperature, and farms on oxygen levels.
Pond Ecosystem
Investigate the factors of a quadratic through its graph and through its equation. Vary the roots of the quadratic and examine how the graph and the equation change in response.
Quadratics in Factored Form
As factory belt operator, your job is to move boxes just the right distance on the belt, so they can be stamped for delivery. Your only controls are the radius and rotation of the belt’s wheel. How do you set these to get the distance right? See how this relates to arc length, and discover how radians help make this task easier.
Radians
Compare the graph of a rational function to its equation. Vary the terms of the equation and explore how the graph is translated and stretched as a result. Examine the domain on a number line and compare it to the graph of the equation.
Rational Functions
Meet Spidro, a quirky critter with an appetite for algebraic expressions! As Spidro's adopted owner, it's your responsibility to feed him so that he grows into… whatever it is that a Spidro grows into. But be careful - Spidro is a picky eater who prefers his food to be as simple as possible. Use the commutative property, distributive property, and the other properties of addition and multiplication to put expressions in simplest (and tastiest) form.
Simplifying Algebraic Expressions I
Examine the scatter plots for data related to weather at different latitudes. The Gizmo includes three different data sets, one with negative correlation, one positive, and one with no correlation. Compare the least squares best-fit line.
Solving Using Trend Lines
Step right up! Spin the big wheel! Each spin can result in no prize, a small prize, or a big prize. The wheel can be spun by 1, 10, or 100 players. Results are recorded on a frequency table or a circle graph. You can also design your own wheel and a sign that describes the probabilities for your wheel.
Spin the Big Wheel! (Probability)
Vary the dimensions of a pyramid or cone and investigate how the surface area changes. Use the dynamic net of the solid to compute the lateral area and the surface area of the solid.
Surface and Lateral Areas of Pyramids and Cones
Compare a system of linear inequalities to its graph. Vary the coefficients and inequality symbols in the system and explore how the boundary lines, shaded regions, and the intersection of the shaded regions change in response.
Systems of Linear Inequalities (Slope-intercept form)
Design your own trebuchet to fling a projectile at a castle wall. All of the dimensions of the trebuchet can be adjusted, as well as the masses of the counterweight and payload. Select a target on the Launch tab, or just see how far your projectile will go.
Trebuchet
Use a wheel and axle to move a heavy load. Find out how many athletes it takes to move the load under different conditions. The radii of the wheel and the axle can be adjusted to help study mechanical advantage.
Wheel and Axle
