Global Science and Technology Week - Home Research and Education
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GSTW Research & Education gives you an opportunity to join in activities with your classmates, teachers, friends and family. More activities are available at the OSTP Web Site.

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Try These Activities

National Air and Space Administration - Celebrating
Our Differences

www.nasa.gov

Combine several different nationalities and cultures on the International Space Station (ISS), add in the stress factor of being isolated for months at a time, and it's a sure recipe for disaster, isn't it? Not at all, say astronauts who have lived in those conditions. The reason it works, they say, is because everyone there wants the operation to succeed. They approach the space mission with a positive attitude, a determination to cooperate, and an understanding that differences are good things.

NASA invites the public to investigate this approach to working cooperatively. Visit the NASAexplores web site and read the article "Celebrating Our Differences" at http://www.nasaexplores.com/lessons/01-062/index.html; and visit http://education.nasa.gov/gstw2002. Then complete one of the many instructional activities that complement the article. Suggested activities include: A Cultural Mask (K-4), Cultural Awareness (5-8), and Stereotyping (9-12).


National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
www.figurethis.org

Figure This! Mathematics Challenges for Families engages families in the math that their middle-school students should know. The core of Figure This! is a set of math challenges. The challenges are exciting activities that can be done at home and that help show how math is used in the real world. All the challenges are online at http://www.figurethis.org.

Each challenge includes suggestions for how to get started, different ways to approach the challenge, what to think about for each one, how to put a possible solution in a real-world context, useful resources related to the content, and the answer. Here's a sample:

Time Zones
Determining the time in different regions of the world involves the use of positive and negative values. A similar approach is sometimes used to describe profit and loss or to describe changes in climate around the world.
http://www.figurethis.org/challenges/c46/challenge.htm


National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration -
Marine Trivia

www.noaa.gov, www.education.noaa.gov

TRIVIA QUESTIONS

1. The teeth of sharks are actually modified...
    a) bones
    b) fins
    c) scales

2. Sharks lack the following:
    a) fins
    b) bones
    c) gills

3. What filter feeding mollusks do red tide toxins sometimes contaminate?

4. Does the statement "he drinks like a fish" have any basis in nature (do fish drink)?

See Answers

For more marine trivia questions and answers, visit http://www.education.noaa.gov/books/puffy/page1.html


U.S. Department of Agriculture -
Agriculture Research Service - Amber Waves of Grain

www.usda.gov

Spaghetti, Twinkies, sourdough bread, puffed wheat, Oriental noodles, and concrete (yes, concrete...) are just a few of many products made from wheat. Try your hand at the following grain game. For the complete quiz and answers, visit http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/kids/teachers/AmberWaves.pdf. Also see http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/kids.

FACT or FICTION?

1. Though there are many different wheat varieties, their use is basically
    the same.

2. Tomorrow, you may be skating on sidewalks made from wheat.

3. Breeding is an important focus in wheat research.

See Answers




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