Transistors are the building blocks of modern electronic devices. Your cell phones, iPods, and computers all depend on them to operate. Thanks to today's microfabrication technology, transistors can be made very tiny and be massively produced. You are probably using billions of them while working with this activity now--as of 2006, a dual-core Intel microprocessor contains 1.7 billion transistors. The field effect transistor is the most common type of transistor. So we will focus on it in this activity.

Lesson that helps students understand what rules and laws are. Students discuss the books David Goes to School by David Shannon and Rules and Laws by Ann-Marie Kishel, perform skits demonstrating how to follow specific school rules, and draw or write about three rules or laws that they know.

Kids use working memory all the time to learn. You can help your child improve memory by building simple strategies into everyday life. This article gives 8 memory boosting ideas to incorporate at home or in the classroom.

When it comes to personal safety, kids who learn and think differently may be more vulnerable than other kids. So how can you teach your child about safe and unsafe people? Start with these tips in this article.

Students learn about homeostasis and create models by constructing simple feedback systems using Arduino boards, temperature sensors, LEDs and Arduino code. Starting with pre-written code, students instruct LEDs to activate in response to the sensor detecting a certain temperature range. They determine appropriate temperature ranges and alter the code accordingly. When the temperature range is exceeded, a fan is engaged in order to achieve a cooling effect. In this way, the principle of homeostasis is demonstrated. To conclude, students write summary paragraphs relating their models to biological homeostasis.

Video clips from federal and regional agencies show scientists at work with tools used to collect data about the climate and weather. This article, from the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle, will help students visualize the tools and how they are used in the atmosphere, at sea, and other hard-to-access locations.

Discover sounds when Quack gives Chirp the silent treatment, and Chirp gets stranded in a puddle. [8:50]

Investigate the effect of gravity on objects of various mass during free fall. Predict what the position-time and velocity-time graphs will look like. Compare graphs for light and heavy objects. Was Galileo Right is the last of five SmartGraphs activities designed for a typical physical science unit of study on the motion of objects.

The 11 books selected for inclusion in the issue of Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle devoted to climate studies range from easy readers to biographies. Each book is briefly described; all were reviewed for accuracy and appropriate reading levels for students in grades K-5. Several books deal with careers in meteorology.

Global wind patterns are dictated by the movement of the Earth on its axis and are significant factors in determining the climate for regions of the planet. Students learn how the Coriolis effect and Hadley convection cells determine the location of deserts on Earth. They manipulate inflated plastic globes to discover how the Coriolis effect drives wind clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. Then they incorporate latitudinal differences onto this modeling exercise to understand why deserts form at 30 degrees north and south of the equator. Once students understand the importance of global winds, they discuss hydropower in the desert. They compare and contrast two case studies: China’s Three Gorges Dam, and Chile’s proposed plant in the Atacama Desert that would creatively use solar power to move seawater up to the top of a mountain so that it can flow back down and generate power. Students note the economic, environmental, cultural and social impacts, issues and benefits of both power plants. Then they reflect, write, debate and discuss their ideas and opinions using evidence from the case studies and their own research.

This NSTA vetted source includes resources to teach ideas on reducing the impact of humans on the environment. Included are assessment ideas, videos, examples, lesson plans, and photos of student work.