Students set up a simple way to indirectly observe and quantify the amount of respiration occurring in yeast-molasses cultures. Each student adds a small amount of baking yeast to a test tube filled ...
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Students set up a simple way to indirectly observe and quantify the amount of respiration occurring in yeast-molasses cultures. Each student adds a small amount of baking yeast to a test tube filled with diluted molasses. A second, smaller test tube is then placed upside-down inside the solution. As the yeast cells respire, the carbon dioxide they produce is trapped inside the inverted test tube, producing a growing bubble of gas that is easily observed and measured. Students are presented with the procedure for designing an effective experiment; they learn to think critically about experimental results and indirect observations of experimental events.
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Students learn about archives and primary sources as they research original historical documents. While preparing an imaginative first-person account as if witnessing an historical event, they learn t...
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Students learn about archives and primary sources as they research original historical documents. While preparing an imaginative first-person account as if witnessing an historical event, they learn to appreciate the value of the first-person, eye-witness account and understand its limitations. Note: The literacy activities for the Mechanics unit are based on physical themes that have broad application to our experience in the world — concepts of rhythm, balance, spin, gravity, levity, inertia, momentum, friction, stress and tension.
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