SEPUP Science Grade 8: Student Links
Online Resources
Select any unit from contents
Unit 1: Ecosystems
Activity 1 A Whooping Crane Population
Activity 4 Texas Ecosystems
Activity 5 Stream Sampling
Activity 8 Population Ups and Downs
Activity 1
A Whooping Crane Population
Journey North: Whooping Crane
This site, maintained by Annenberg Leaner, provides facts and photos on the life history of whooping cranes.
Cornell Lab of Ornithology: Whooping Crane
Find information, a sound clip, and video clips of whooping cranes on this Cornell Lab of Ornithology website.
USGS The Cranes
The U.S. Geological Survey Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center provides lots of information about whooping cranes.
Activity 4
Texas Ecosystems
Texas Parks & Wildlife–Learn about Texas Regions
Links to more information about each of the seven Texas ecoregions described in this activity can be found here.
What are the Ecoregions of Texas?
The Native Prairies Association of Texas website has information about the plants found in 10 ecoregions of Texas.
Trees of Texas
Texas A&M Forest Service contains information about elevation, precipitation, topography, and trees of 13 Texas ecoregions.
StreamWatch: Macroinvertebrate Pictures
Links to photos of both larval and adult stages of lots of macroinvertebrates.
Missouri Stream Team: Macroinvertebrates
These photos are divided into pollution-sensitive, somewhat pollution tolerant, and pollution tolerant macroinvertebrates.
Activity 8
Population Ups and Downs
International Crane Foundation: Whooping Crane Updates
The International Crane Foundation focuses on conservation and research of all 15 crane species. This page provides the latest news on whooping cranes.
Aransas National Wildlife Refuge Whooping Crane Updates
Visit the Texas Aransas National Wildlife Refuge website to get the latest updates on what is happening with the whooping cranes at that site.
Whooping Crane Conservation Association
Recent news and links to flock status are provided by a conservation group working to protect whooping cranes.
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Unit 2: Force and Motion
Activity 16 Interpreting Motion Graphs
Activity 19 Force, Acceleration, and Mass
Activity 20 Inertia Around a Curve
Activity 21 Newton’s Laws of Motion
Activity 26 Crash Testing
Activity 28 Fatal Accidents
Activity 16
Interpreting Motion Graphs
PhET Simulation: Moving Man
Learn about position, velocity and acceleration graphs using this interactive simulation.
FMA Live
This website contains music videos and Power Point presentations of Newton’s Three Laws of Motion. There are additional links to information about Newton’s life and everyday examples of the three laws of motion.
Crash Test Videos
See how your car would fare in a crash — view crash test videos for recent vehicle types and models. Conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) the crash tests show several different vehicle types including small cars, SUV’s, and pickup trucks.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Find out why is it important to wear seat belts, put infant seats in the back seat, or never hold an infant on your lap in the car. See video clips of crash test dummies in these situations and many others.
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Vehicle Research Center
Have you ever wondered how crash test dummies were constructed or how the vehicle safety rating were determined? Read about these topics and how the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) tests vehicles to determine safety ratings.
Activity 28
Fatal Accidents
US Census: 2012 Statistical Abstract
Latest accident statistics from the government.
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Unit 3: The Chemistry of Materials
Activity 30 The Impact of Electronic Products
Activity 31 Families of Elements
Activity 32 Elements and the Periodic Table
Activity 30
The Impact of Electronic Products
Electronics Recycling and Waste Reduction—Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
State Legislation—Electronics Takeback Program
Electronics/Recycling in the Lone Star State
Activity 31
Families of Elements
Los Alamos National Laboratory Periodic Table of the Elements
IUPAC – International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry: Periodic Table of the Elements
Click on “Periodic Table of the Elements” to download the latest version of the table approved by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemists (IUPAC).
Activity 32
Elements and the Periodic Table
History of the Periodic Table of Elements and the work of Dmitiri Mendeleev
Dmitiri Mendeleev Online
Maintained by Eugene V. Babaev at Moscow State University.
Multilingual dictionary of the names of chemical elements
This website lists the names of elements in more than twenty languages.
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Unit 4: The Earth and Weather
Activity 43 Natural Disasters
Activity 45 Investigating Local Weather
Activity 50 Oceans and Climate
Activity 51 The Causes of Climate
Activity 52 Measuring Wind Speed and Direction
Activity 53 Worldwide Wind
Activity 43
Natural Disasters
Significant Weather Events in Texas History
Japan Tsunami: Before and After
Activity 45
Investigating Local Weather
Local Weather Information
Use this link to investigate your local weather. On the site, enter your city in the search box, then look for the “Seasonal Weather Averages” link about half-way down the page (above the Astronomy bar).
Activity 50
Oceans and Climate
Geologist Profile
Meet Dr. Randy Keller, a geologist who studies the chemistry of volcanic rocks to learn how explosive a volcano is, how old it is, how deep the lava came from, and what that lava encountered on its way to the surface.
Careers in Atmospheric Science
Activity 51
The Causes of Climate
Check back here soon to see predictions from your class and others around the country on how the climate might change.
Activity 52
Measuring Wind Speed and Direction
Activity 53
Worldwide Wind
Worldwide Wind Interactive
Use this link to collect data about wind direction for cities all over the world.
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Unit 5: Cycles and Seasons
Activity 66 As Earth Rotates
Activity 67 Sunlight and Seasons
Activity 68 A Year Viewed From Space
Activity 70 The Earth on the Move
Activity 71 The Predictable Moon
Activity 73 Moon Phase Simulator
Activity 74 Tides and the Moon
Activity 75 Marking Time
Activity 66
As Earth Rotates
The North American Sundial Society
This site provides answers to questions about sundials and gives information about how to make or set up your own sundial. It also provides references and links to other sites.
Making a Sun Clock
This site from the Exploratorium tells you how to make a simple sun clock.
A Walk Through Time
This site of the National Institute for Standards and Technology provides information on both ancient and modern methods for measuring time.
Educational Exhibits about time, clocks, daylight savings, or calendars
This site lists the official U.S. time and has links to additional sites about time.
Activity 67
Sunlight and Seasons
Sun-Earth Day 2005—Ancient Observatories
This NASA site contains links to a timeline and photographs of ancient structures used to observe the Sun and indicate the seasons.
Activity 68
A Year Viewed from Space
SEPUP Seasons Interactive
Use this link to explore the seasons on Earth as viewed from space.
Activity 70
The Earth on the Move
Seasons Reasons
This NASA site explains the seasons and includes an animation.
Seasons
The animation at this site shows the change in seasons as the Earth orbits the Sun.
Activity 71
The Predictable Moon
Virtual Reality Moon Phase Pictures
This site of the United States Naval Observatory provides virtual views of the Moon for any date in the past or future.
Earth View
This site provides today’s view of the Moon.
Activity 73
Moon Phase Simulator
Lunar Phase Simulator – NEW
Activity 73 Handout to use with the new Lunar Phase Simulator
The handout only includes changes to the Procedure, Materials, and Analysis Question 3. The rest of the activity remains the same.
Moon Phase Simulator
The United States Naval Observatory Eclipse Home Page
This site provides information about eclipses of the Sun (solar eclipses) and the Moon (lunar eclipses).
Activity 74
Tides and the Moon
NOAA: Tide Animation
This animation from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the Moon’s rotation around Earth helps you understand how the phase of the Moon relates to extreme tides.
Tide Region Selection
This site allows you to look up tides at numerous sites in the United States.
Activity 75
Marking Time
Calendars and their History
This site provides information on the history and astronomical basis of calendars. It includes information on the Gregorian, Julian, Jewish, Islamic, Indian, and Chinese calendars.
The Classic Maya Calendar and Day Numbering System
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Unit 6: The Universe
Activity 78 Modeling the Milky Way
Activity 80 Star Classification
Activity 83 Measuring the Universe
Activity 84 The Dynamic Universe
Activity 85 Future Research
Activity 78
Modeling the Milky Way
Explore the Milky Way
This website provides a 3-D Model of the Milky Way.
Activity 80
Star Classification
The Classification of Stars
A diagram that shows most of the major types of stars.
Activity 83
Measuring the Universe
Evidence for the Big Bang
This short video excerpt adapted from Nova describes the work of Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson.
Activity 84
The Dynamic Universe
Astronomy for Kids: Redshift
An explanation of redshift geared for a student audience.
Galactic Redshift Simulator
Simulate how a spectrum changes based on a galaxy’s redshift.
Activity 85
Future Research
Cryogenic Dark Matter Search II (CDMS)
Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope
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