New!! From Forests to Faucets (appropriate for 6th through 12th grades)
Explore the factors that affect the quality and quantity of water we drink in Colorado!
The storyline in this STEM kit takes students on an exploration of different aspects of the water cycle as they use a physical model to measure infiltration and runoff in forested and burned trials. Students then use a topographic model to analyze how precipitation patterns cause water scarcity on Colorado’s eastern slope and learn how people divert water under the Continental Divide. The kit mimics the science of Dr. Tim Covino’s lab at CSU!
New!! Fossil Forests (appropriate for 6th through 12th grades)
Explore how fossil wood is used to determine the climate of Wyoming 50 million years ago!
The storyline in this STEM kit takes students on an exploration of tree structure to determine the similarities and differences between hardwoods, conifers, and palms. Using a physical model, students simulate fossilization and study real fossil wood. Students use information about nearest living relatives, graphing temperature and precipitation ranges of various plants to characterize the ancient climate in the same way as a paleobotanist for National Geographic does.
GetWET Field Experience (appropriate for 8th through 12th grades – available only in September & October)
The GetWET Observatory is one of two outdoor hands-on groundwater education facilities in the Rocky Mountain Region. Located on CSU property along Spring Creek is a groundwater well field that allows students to study the interaction between the creek and the groundwater. Using the GetWET field backpacks, students study water quality and quantity issues and how they relate to use, conservation, and flooding. This is an OUTDOOR STEM Friday experience available on 9/27, 10/4 and 10/11 ONLY.
Salts of the Earth (appropriate for 6th through 12th grades)
Explore how farmers can reduce soil salinity on their croplands and improve crop yields!
The storyline of this kit explores drought and its effects on cropland within Colorado. Students use models to visualize groundwater wells in confined and unconfined aquifers and discover where salt in soil comes from. Another model of the Big Sandy watershed in the Arkansas River Valley is used to measure and analyze salinity data that mimics techniques that Dr. Ryan Bailey’s group uses at CSU. Students think of solutions to this real-world problem based on the data they collect.
Wonder of Wolves (appropriate for 6th through 12th grades)
Explore how scientists study wolves to learn about their pack dynamics and biology!
Wolf biology comes alive in this storyline. Students become wildlife biologists as they learn about wolf behavior. A pack hunting simulation based on actual computer modeling and scat analysis of hair samples analyzed microscopically demonstrate the wide variety of food sources used by wolves. Audio recordings of wolf communication convey another data point. Each kit represents a separate wolf, and the data collected throughout is used to build a class map that is analyzed to identify wolf packs, a den, and possible human conflicts.
Colors of Life (appropriate for 9th through 12th grades)
In this investigation, students act as both chemists and psychists while studying light using a 3D- printed spectrometer. Students use the spectrometer to take pictures of different light and analyze how the intensity of specific colors fluctuate with the presence of different light filters. With this knowledge, students are able to confirm if a reaction occurred in different solutions by comparing the spectra before and after the pH was altered.
Note: This lab would be a great supplemental activity for AP Chemistry and AP Physics classes.
Bees, Please! (appropriate for 4th through 12th grades)
Students will become bee entomologists! Bees are one of the most important pollinators of our food crops. Students will become experts on different native bee types and share what they learn about their bee with the class to explore bee biodiversity and behavior. Data from this kit comes from the Native Bee Watch citizen science project that started at CSU and is now being used at the Gardens at Spring Creek (teachers may consider taking their students to visit the Gardens after doing the kit). Students will also learn about the structure of flowers and why specific bees are attracted to different flowers. To end the experience, students will collaborate as a class to interpret the preferred flower choices of the different types of bees.
Get Energized! (appropriate for 4th through 12th grades)
Explore how we systematically test different metals to make a better rechargeable battery!
The storyline in this STEM kit takes students through systematic testing of four metals to determine combinations that produce the greatest voltage. As students learn to use a digital balance and multimeter, explore the concept of electrolytes and electricity, and share ideas with their partner on which combinations of metals to try, they mimic skills and techniques straight out of Dr. Amy Prieto’s research laboratory at CSU!
Get Critical! (appropriate for 6th through 8th grades)
Explore how digital information travels around the world so quickly!
The storyline of this kit has students exploring properties of light including reflection, refraction, diffraction and wavelength. Students then experiment with fiber optic cables to investigate how digital data is transferred from one place to another. Students use Morse code to send text messages to each other. Drs. Kaarin Goncz and Martin Gelfand helped to develop these activities mimicing experiments they are doing in their physics labs at CSU.
Going Viral (appropriate for 6th through 12th grades)
Explore how a community can protect itself from a viral outbreak!
In this storyline, students model the spread of a virus in an unvaccinated community and study a variety of microbes, using a microscope to estimate the size of a virus compared to a bacterium and a blood cell. Through a simulation, students use manipulatives to model an immune response. The spread of the virus through the community is repeated, this time with a vaccinated population. Dr. Jennifer McLean’s laboratory at CSU helped to develop this research project.
High-Tech Rocks! (appropriate for 7th through 12th grades)
Explore how natural mineral resources are optimized for high-tech electronic devices!
The storyline in this STEM kit takes students on an exploration of how the shape of the unit cell of a crystal structure causes different useful properties. Students use dynamic tools to model quenching and annealing of molten metal and use a phase diagram to predict what metal they are electroplating from a green liquid. The students gain an understanding of the techniques used by solid-state chemist, Dr. Jamie Neilson, in his lab at CSU.
Secrets of the Hibernators (appropriate for 6th through 12th grades)
Students will act as biologists to study how the metabolism changes in marmots, ground squires, and bears seasonally and yearly. These animals may hold the answers to human obesity and bone loss! Students will model how hibernator metabolism works through experimentation with yeast and analyze data to explain how climate change may affect hibernating animals.
Soils of Fire (appropriate for 5th through 12th grades)
Explore how the intensity of a wildfire affects where a tree’s carbon goes!
In this kit, students analyze three soil samples from the 2020 Cameron Peak wildfire of Colorado. Through physical and chemical analysis, they determine which sample was unburned, moderately burned, and intensely burned in the fire zone to discover how carbon moves from trees to the soil and atmosphere as part of the carbon cycle. The science is straight out of Dr. Francesca Cotrufo’s lab at CSU.
Vital Ice (appropriate for 6th through 12th grades)
Glaciers are in danger world-wide! Students will analyze data collected from Denali National Park in Alaska in this kit and look for trends over an almost 200-year span by using model ice cores and techniques used by real glaciologist. They will also learn about permafrost (which can be found here in Colorado) using a unique modeling method.
