Mathematics and Science-Specific Websites with Activities

Here's a lesson-specific list of websites that the MATH 693 students found while searching for teacher-friendly sites that involved mathematical modeling and technology oriented activities.  The brief overviews and comments the students wrote about each site are also provided:

Mathematics Education Sites:

Continued Fraction Spirals
http://www.teacherlink.org/content/math/interactive/flash/home.html
This link gives a visual and algebraic representation of fraction spirals as the user adjusts the fraction.  The greatest common divisor is given along with the decimal value and continuous fraction rotation.
Explore the Properties of a Straight Line Graph
http://www.mathsisfun.com/graph/straight_line_graph.html
This link from Mathisfun.com allows the user to manipulate the slope and y-intercept of a line and see the change in the graph.
EZ grapher
http://id.mind.net/%7Ezona/ezGraph/ezGraph.html
Online graphing calculator.  The best online graphing tool that I have seen.  Has every function available to graph. There are not numerous directions.  And you can print your results.  Link off of Zona Land
Graph Solutions to Ax = b (M2T2)
http://www.mste.uiuc.edu/users/exner/ncsa/plot/
This applet will allow students to visually see the solution to a system of two equations. The student could input the system and it will graph the intersection of the lines and give the solution. This would be great to use in conjunction with the previous site.
Parabola Explorer
http://www.7stones.com/Homepage/Publisher/p3.html
This interactive tool allows the user to change the values of a, b, and c in the quadratic equation to see the effect on its graph.
Solving Systems of Equations (M2T2)
http://www.mste.uiuc.edu/activity/partpiv/
At this website students can input as many equations as needed and solve them using matrices. This would be great to use in any kind of science topic that involved solving large systems of equations.
Vector Arithmetic Java Visualization
http://www.pa.uky.edu/~phy211/VecArith/index.html
This applet visualizes the addition, subtraction, and scalar multiplication of vectors.  The user draws two vectors and chooses which operation to see illustrated.
The Vector Cross Product
http://www.phy.syr.edu/courses/java-suite/crosspro.html
 This tutorial allows the user to change the length and direction of vectors a and b to visualize the effect on vector c.  Students may also rotate the plane for further clarification.


Science Education Sites:

Cell to Cell
http://www.intel.com/education/unitplans/cells/cells.htm
This website also uses a great deal of technology as did the previous one. This one deals with the function of cells, diseases, and cell biology research and the ethics related to it.
Cells Alive
http://www.cellsalive.com
This website contains models of cells. Students can click on a part of the cell and a description will come up explaining what it is and it’s function.
Lights, Camera, Reaction
http://www.intel.com/education/unitplans/react/react.htm
This site is probably the one with the most technology incorporated into that I’ve seen so far. It is used to teach Chemistry students about the different types of reactions. It includes a lab that allows students to explore reactions. Next, students learn about writing and balancing chemical equations. This website includes a link to other sites with tutorials for writing and balancing chemical equations. It allows them to try and then check their answers. Students use the internet to research their chosen type of reaction and then present a slide show preferably through PowerPoint to the class.
Ohms Law  (M2T2)
http://www.mste.uiuc.edu/users/Murphy/OhmsLaw/
This website lets students explore Ohms Law, which deals with the flow of electrons in circuits. It begins by describing definitions of important words like voltage. It also has links to interactive applets that lets students explore where each new word is used. For example, I followed the link for the water tower and it explains how water flows out of a water tower.
PBS How a Baby’s Gender is Determined
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/gender/determined.html
This website takes students through a tutorial explaining how a baby’s gender is determined.
PBS How Cells Divide by Mitosis and Meiosis
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/baby/divide.html
This includes an online experience comparing mitosis and meiosis.
PBS How to Make an Artificial Organ
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/innovation/teachers_lp3.html
Students would use technology to research artificial organs and how they are created. They would then design one and build a model. This could be used in a Biology or Anatomy class.


Interdisciplinary Education Sites:

Biomes:  Action for a Healthy Planet
http://www.intel.com/education/unitplans/biomes/biomes.htm
This is a wonderful resource that allows students to research an assigned Biome, which I would assume is a Biology topic. Students would view a slide show, research using the internet and books, use a graphic organizer to organize websites and links, develop a webpage and present it to the class. This site also includes plans for differentiated instruction for special education students.
Bioterrorism
http://www.eduref.org/cgi-bin/printlessons.cgi/Virtual/Lessons/Science/Biology/BIO0204.html
This website includes a lesson that would allow classes to divide into groups and research a threat of bioterrorism to a city and then make a decision as a team and report back to the class.
Calculating Payments on a Compounding Loan
http://www.teacherlink.org/content/math/interactive/flash/home.html
This interactive calculator allows the user to input principal, rate, time, and frequency to compute the payment, interest, and total amount of a loan.
GenScope
http://genscope.concord.org/
GenScope offers learning-based manipulatives that help students study the science and mathematics of genetics.  Intended to be supplementary to text-based learning, GenScope enables students to investigate scientific and mathematical concepts through direct manipulation and experimentation.  In particular, students learn about DNA, chromosomes, cells, organisms, pedigrees and populations by working with an imaginary species of  dragons!  A fun and educational site your students will probably love.
Great Plant Escape
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/gpe/
This is an online activity that allows students to explore information about plants, dirt, flowers, etc. It includes online quizzes.
Journey North
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/LessonsOriginal.html
This is an online program that allows students to study migration and wildlife world wide.
PBS Adventure with the Fish Pond: Population Modeling http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/mathline/concepts/earthday/activity4.shtm
This website provides a lesson that allows students to explore the growth and decay of fish population in a pond. It involves the use of calculators and Now/Next or recursive equations.
PBS Buffalo War Lesson
http://www.pbs.org/buffalowar/lesson2.html
This is a module that allows students to examine the effects of Brucellosis on buffalo. It includes watching a movie and research on the internet. This would work well for a module on population modeling.
PBS Children’s Hospital
http://www.pbs.org/opb/childrenshospital/classroom/index.html
This allows students to research current health related topics and present them to others. The students could use the internet to research.
PBS Continuously Changing Plant Growth
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/mathline/concepts/plants/activity2.shtm
This activity allows students to explore plant growth and find an equation to model it.
PBS Cracking the Code of Life
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/teachers/activities/2809_genome.html
This lesson involves students examining cells from the inside of their cheeks to explore DNA. I think this would make a great unit plan if it began by students beginning with the game in number 12, letting students explore their own DNA, and then concluding with the Genome and DNA Fingerprint websites.
PBS Decoding
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/decoding/send.html
This website allows students to send an encrypted message to a friend that includes a clue to break the code.
PBS DNA Fingerprint
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sheppard/analyze.html
This website allows students to create a DNA Fingerprint and then match DNA to others in an online mystery.
PBS Family Tree
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/israel/family.html
This interactive site makes students use their knowledge of DNA to determine which family a man belongs to and which men are not members of that family at all.
PBS Flowers and Plants
http://www.pbs.org/americanfieldguide/teachers/flowers/flowers_unit.html
There are several great links from this site. It involves exploring various seeds and flowers, which would be a Biology topic. It includes a link to a math website which lets students develop flower gardens using percentages. The module includes lots of calculations and genetics.
PBS Genome
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/genome/explore.html
This allows students to do an online analysis of DNA. The only downfall with these is that the only technology that it uses is the internet, so there would have to be another way to incorporate it into the lessons.
PBS Global Tribe lessons
http://www.pbs.org/kcet/globaltribe/classroom/index.html
These lessons are VERY neat and involve a lot of exploring of other cultures. There were lessons for various countries. I explored the one for Mexico. It allowed students to explore environmental issues and energy consumption, which I assume would be studied in a freshman level Earth Science class. There is an extension on this for students to gather information about the energy consumption for there school and then use math to write equations to model it. I think this kind of thing would be fun, but there was not a lot of technology involved in the lesson.
PBS Integral Species Lesson
http://www.pbs.org/harriman/education/lessonplans/integral_species.html
This module involves population counting. It includes technology such as a digital camera, internet, and webpage design. It relates to a school project in Alaska where students estimated the number of a certain species of bird that came to the area.
PBS Pennies, Pressure, Temperature, and Light
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/mathline/lessonplans/hsmp/penniespressure/penniespressure_procedure.shtm
This activity uses different experiments to allow students to explore different functions and find equations that fit them. It includes technology such as a graphing calculator, a CBL with temperature and light probe, and a video. I just don’t really know how it would apply to a specific science class, though.
PBS Rhinos and M&Ms (Exponential Models)
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/mathline/lessonplans/hsmp/rhinos/rhinos_procedure.shtm
This includes a lesson that allows students to explore exponential models by hands-on activities and then apply what they’ve learned to estimate a Rhino population. This would be a great exploration activity to allow students to better understand exponential functions before beginning a population counting unit.
Put the Heart Into Mathematics
http://illuminations.nctm.org/imath/912/cardiac/student/index.html
This is an interactive lesson which looks at Cardiac Output, Rates of Change, and Accumulation. This lesson involves this lesson on the internet and a CBL with a temperature probe.
Rainbows
http://www.geom.uiuc.edu/education/calc-init/rainbow/
This website includes the mathematics behind rainbows. This goes into light refraction etc which is a physics topic. It could be included in a bigger science module.
Reflection/Refraction
http://www.phy.ntnu.edu.tw/java/light/flashLight.html
This applet focused on reflection and refraction of light.  It lets you change from passing light through water and air but no other substances.  There is also no way to measure the angles or see the measurement values and how they change.  There are too many directions to read through.  It needs to be more self-exploratory.
Shedd Aquarium
http://www.sheddaquarium.org/sea/
This website provides lessons for teachers, but the thing that I found most interesting was the interactives. These are lessons that the students would go through online to study a certain type of sea life. I searched for 10th grade topics and viewed an overview of the one about sea horses.  Students would go through the interactive and then write a balanced article about them.

Sick Hermit (M2T2)
http://www.mste.uiuc.edu/users/exner/java.f/hermit/
This website lets students trace the spread of a disease among hermits. They can pick the total number of hermits that are infected with a disease and then see how many other hermits end up with the disease over time. I could definitely see using this website in population studies, which is taught in high school Biology.




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