Measurement and lab skills
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Building Topographic Maps
Build a topographic map by flooding a three dimensional landscape with water and drawing contour lines. Draw a profile of a landscape based … on the topographic map.
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Density Experiment: Slice and Dice
Drop a chunk of material in a beaker of water and observe whether it sinks or floats. Cut the chunk into smaller pieces of any size, … and observe what happens as they are dropped in the beaker. The mass and volume of each chunk can be measured to gain a clear understanding of density and buoyancy.
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Density Laboratory
With a scale to measure mass, a graduated cylinder to measure volume, and a large beaker of liquid to observe flotation, the … relationship between mass, volume, density, and flotation can be investigated. The density of the liquid in the beaker can be adjusted, and a variety of objects can be studied during the investigation.
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Determining Density via Water Displacement
Drop objects in a beaker that is filled with water, and measure the water that flows over the edge. Using Archimedes' principle, determine … the density of objects based on the amount of displaced water.
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Household Energy Usage
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.
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Measuring Volume
Measure the volume of liquids and solids using beakers, graduated cylinders, overflow cups, and rulers. Water can be poured from one … container to another and objects can be added to containers. A pipette can be used to transfer small amounts of water, and a magnifier can be used to observe the meniscus in a graduated cylinder. Test your volume-measurement skills in the "Practice" mode of the Gizmo.
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Ocean Mapping
Use a sonar on a boat to remotely measure the depth of an ocean at various locations. Describe multiple points on the ocean floor using … their latitude, longitude, and depth. View maps of ocean depth in two and three dimensions, and use these maps to plot a safe route for ships to follow.
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Reading Topographic Maps
Understand how topographic maps work by creating a three-dimensional landscape and observing the corresponding contour lines. See … how mountains, depressions, valleys and cliffs are represented on topographic maps. Fill in the landscape with water to demonstrate that contours are lines of constant elevation.
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Triple Beam Balance
Learn how to determine the mass of an object using a triple beam balance. The mass of a variety of objects can be determined using … this simulated version of a common real-world laboratory tool for measurement.
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Unit Conversions
Use unit conversion tiles to convert from one unit to another. Tiles can be flipped to cancel units. Convert between metric units or … between metric and U.S. customary units. Solve distance, time, speed, mass, volume, and density problems.
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Unit Conversions 2 - Scientific Notation and Significant Digits
Use the Unit Conversions Gizmo to explore the concepts of scientific notation and significant digits. Convert numbers to and from … scientific notation. Determine the number of significant digits in a measured value and in a calculation.
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Weather Maps
Learn about standard symbols used in meteorology to construct weather maps. Rain, sleet, snow, temperature, cloud cover, wind speed … and direction, and atmospheric pressure can all be recorded at two different weather stations on a map. Describe weather patterns characteristic of high-pressure systems, low-pressure systems, warm fronts, and cold fronts.
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Weather Maps
Learn about standard symbols used in meteorology to construct weather maps. Rain, sleet, snow, temperature, cloud cover, wind speed … and direction, and atmospheric pressure can all be recorded at two different weather stations on a map. Describe weather patterns characteristic of high-pressure systems, low-pressure systems, warm fronts, and cold fronts.
- METRIC
- Lesson Info
- Launch Gizmo
