Downloads

Download Centre

The Download Centre for this CRYSTAL Alberta Outreach website contains classroom resources/prototypes and supporting research documents. The classroom resources/prototypes are typically exercises or lessons to be used in K-12 classrooms. The mathematics and science resources are classified as text-based (textual) or visuals-based (visualizations). Some resources have a combination of text and visuals.

  • mathematics textual resources and research
  • mathematics visual resources and research
  • science textual resources and research
  • science visual resources and research

Select the specific area of interest from the links in the frame to the left.

CRYSTAL Alberta is a research and development project that creates and tests prototypes/resources for use in K-12 classrooms. The prototypes focus on promoting mathematics and science reasoning and deep understanding.

The copyright for the exercises is owned by CRYSTAL Alberta and its affilliates—NSERC (the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council), KCVS (King's Centre for Visualization in Science), the University of Alberta, and The King's University College. The exercises may be used in classrooms but cannot be used (without permission) for commercial purposes. The prototypes are meant to be copied/replicated for their ideas and purpose.

Math Text Downloads

The following downloads are textual in format and promote mathematics reasoning—see the types of mathematics reasoning described in the main menu of this website. The files are in MS Word format and may be adapted by teachers to suit their goals and objectives. Many of the visualizations can be either accessed and used online or downloaded to your local computer or computer network for convenience of work.

Some descriptive text and exercises appear for preview on the website pages and some are repeated as files to be downloaded and used in the mathematics classroom. Look for webpages and downloadable files in the following categories.

Reasoning by Deduction

Reasoning by Induction

Reasoning by Analogy/Models

Math Visualization Downloads

The science visualizations are available for teacher review and classroom use on the CRYSTAL Alberta's King's Centre for Visualization in Science (KCVS). At the KCVS website teachers may review the visualizations and can then use them on-line with your students or can download the visualizations to local servers or computers.

Mathematics teachers and students should look particularly for mathematical modeling; e.g., the spread of the West Nile virus. Although this applet must currently be run from the KCVS website, it can be run 7-24 from any computer anywhere.

Science Text Downloads

The science textual downloads are generally available on the page in this website where the text is presented in HTML/web format. For example, scientific attitudes are classified and described on a page in this website. At the end of this page there is a link that opens a Word document with the same page. Teachers can use this page as a Word document in their classroom. From the Scientific Attitudes webpage there is a Scientific Attitudes Exercise. The exercise appears as a page on this website. Again at the end of the webpage there is a link to download the exercise as a Word document—for use in your classroom. Use this strategy to review the textual and exercise documents available to promote scientific reasoning. Then download the Word documents directly from the webpage.

Alberta Ingenuity Oil Sands Resources

The Alberta Ingenuity oil sands resources illustrate laboratory work that promotes scientific reasoning. Each of the laboratory investigations is an example/prototype of

  • hypothetico-inductive reasoning (testing hypotheses)
  • open-entry laboratory work (students complete the Purpose, Design and Materials sections of the report)
  • open-ended laboratory work (students complete the Evidence, Analysis and Evaluation sections of the report)
  • research teamwork (five different groups of students test five different hypotheses and report to the class)
  • evidence-based reasoning (besides student evidence, lab exercise provide photographed evidence)

In the near future look for some primary literature and adapted primary literature to appear as documents and exercises—again to promote scientific reasoning.

The oil sands resources (in Word and PowerPoint format) were prepared through an Alberta Ingenuity program that has teachers writing lessons relative to ongoing research. For example, COSI is the Imperial Oil-Alberta Ingenuity Centre for Oil Sands Innovation at the University of Alberta. The downloadable oil-sands resources were prepared by Frank Jenkins and Art Bauer in consultation with COSI researchers. The resources that were available below now reside on the CMASTE website under Outreach, Alberta Ingenuity Resources, and Centre for Oil Sands Innovation.

Please direct any inquiries and provide feedback to Frank Jenkins.

Science Visualization Downloads

The science visualizations are available for teacher review and classroom use on the CRYSTAL Alberta's King's Centre for Visualization in Science (KCVS). At the KCVS website teachers may review the visualizations and can then use them on-line with your students or can download the visualizations to local servers or computers.