Math-Sci-Guy

Students graph coastal water levels for two different cities, and discuss relationships that exist. Skills Practiced: graphing, reviewing the main graph types, applying math concepts to real life

In this laboratory activity, students will use a loop of string and two tacks to draw one circle and four different ellipses. They will then measure the focal distance and major axis of each of these, and use this data to calculate the eccentricity of each ellipse (and the circle). The analysis questions lead students to discover the overall patterns and apply the knowledge learned in this activity to planetary orbits. Note: Parts of the lab refer to the ESRT. This is New York State's Earth

This printout gives students an opportunity to explore a (possibly) real-life situation, empirically determine the minimum number of moves required to accomplish the task, then gather the data and find a pattern to describe it. The activity is completely printable (which also gives students the opportunity to do something with their hands (cutting) and lets them practice fine motor coordination, though if you want to spice it up students could cut discs out of corrugated cardboard (

In this lab, students graph yearly sunspot data and make predictions about the future of the sunspot cycle. Additionally, there is currently an interactive here ( https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/labs/lab/sun/research) where students can count sunspots and compare their numbers to the actual data. If you like this, PLEASE rate it (favorably?) and consider purchasing some of my other work.