Embedded Files
Ocean Acidification Lab
Ocean Acidification Lab
Sophomores simulated the process of ocean acidification and observed a decline in pH levels after using a straw to blow into the "ocean water".
The picture to the left shows the water before expelling carbon dioxide, and the right shows the acidic solution turned yellow, indicating pH drop.
Theory of Island Biogeography Lab
Theory of Island Biogeography Lab
Using different beans to represent species, sophomores gained a visual representation of the Theory of Island Biogeography, examining the differences in organism numbers on different islands based on size and distance from the mainland.
Beaks as Tools: Adaptations Lab 🐦🦜🦅
Beaks as Tools: Adaptations Lab 🐦🦜🦅
Examining natural selection leading to evolution, the sophomores used different tools to represent large and small beaks to determine how easy it is for them to pick up and crush different sizes of seeds.
What we see is coevolution between beak depth and size with food availability on the differing Galapagos islands off the western coast of South America.
Tectonic Graham Cracker Lab
Tectonic Graham Cracker Lab
To explore the movement of tectonic plates, sophomores used graham crackers to model different types of plate boundaries, such as divergent, convergent, and transform. By applying pressure to the crackers, students observed how the interactions between plates led to the formation of geological features like mountains, faults, and ocean trenches. This lab demonstrated the dynamic nature of Earth's surface and how plate tectonics shape the planet over time (with a tasty twist of using graham crackers and frosting)!
Endangered Species License Plate
Endangered Species License Plate
Sophomores were tasked to create a license plate that highlights an endangered species, incorporating various design elements to raise awareness, combining APES with engineering! Teachers then voted on their favorites, and the winner is the license plate on the left!
Coriolis Effect Lab🍃
Coriolis Effect Lab🍃
In the Coriolis Effect Lab, sophomores simulated Earth's rotation by rotating a map with a fixed point while drawing a straight line. As the map spins, the line curves, demonstrating how Earth's rotation causes moving fluids, like air and water, to deflect. This experiment helped students understand the Coriolis effect and its influence on weather patterns and ocean currents.
Click here if you are interested in learning more about the Coriolis Effect!
Tragedy of Commons Fishing Lab🎣
Tragedy of Commons Fishing Lab🎣
In this lab, students simulated overfishing to understand the "Tragedy of the Commons." By managing a shared "fish" population (represented by different colored marshmallows), students saw how individual overuse of resources leads to depletion, highlighting the importance of sustainable resource management to avoid ecological collapse.
Cool Your School Activity ❄️🥶
Cool Your School Activity ❄️🥶
To reduce North Gwinnett High School's environmental impact and contribution to the Urban Heat Island Effect, the sophomores assessed energy use and generated strategies (e.g. planting more vegetation, adding a green roof, using permeable pavement, etc.) to be implemented. Students learned how small-scale efforts in conservation can collectively reduce a school’s carbon footprint, emphasizing the importance of energy efficiency in combating climate change.
Cookie Mining Lab ⛏🍪
Cookie Mining Lab ⛏🍪
In this activity, students “mined” chocolate chips from cookies to simulate resource extraction, examining the environmental costs of mining. By balancing the extraction process with the costs of environmental damage, students gained insights into the trade-offs involved in resource extraction by examining the impact of mining on biodiversity, water pollution, etc.
Click here if you are interested in learning more about the impacts of mining!
M&M Half Life Lab Ⓜ️🔴
M&M Half Life Lab Ⓜ️🔴
In this lab, sophomores visualized radioactive decay and examined the concept of half-lives. This is related to the issue of storing nuclear waste (byproduct of nuclear energy generation), as it takes thousands or millions of years for the waste to decay into stable, non-radioactive forms.
For each "half-life" simulation, M&Ms were placed into a cup and shaken up. After being dumped out, the M&Ms that were face-down were now stable forms. Most results found that it took 5 to 6 half-lives to make all 40 M&Ms to become stable.
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