Tag: methods

  • Falling Cats – CER

    Falling Cats – CER

    Students practice Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning (CER) while examining the relationship between falling height and cat injuries. The graphs show that cats who fall 2-7 stories often suffer more injuries than cats who fall from greater distances. Not much information is given about how the data was collected, though the original source is included, I…

  • Experimental Design

    Experimental Design

    Students in most science classes start with an overview of scientific processes. For advanced students, I use this cheat sheet to remind them of the major features of the scientific method, such as a control group, dependent and independent variables. AP Bio students are also introduced to the concept of the null and alternative hypotheses…

  • Investigation: How Do Insects Move?

    Investigation: How Do Insects Move?

    Have you ever thought about how insects with 6 legs actually crawl?  Human movement on two legs is pretty simple: left-right-left-right, but all insects have 6 legs attached to a thorax.    In this activity, I ask students to observe an insect closely, usually a dubia roach.

  • Scientific Method and the Simpsons

    Scientific Method and the Simpsons

    NOTE: This is a new version of this activity, with new stories!  Old Version: Scientific Method and the Simpsons This activity requires students to read stories where experiments were performed by members of the Simpson’s family.  The stories are intended to be humorous. Students must identify the manipulated and responding variables (independent and dependent), the…