7th & 8th Grade Cases

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Introductory Case - Scientific Inquiry
The government of Dogleg Island has called on the aid of Professor Marisa Powers, a scientist with years of experience, for help in examining some of the country's most pressing issues. Having spent the last 30 years of her life working in a stuffy laboratory, Professor Powers views an ad in the newspaper this as a chance to rediscover her love of science and travel to another country for six weeks. But she doesn't want to do it alone. She also wants to use this as an opportunity to inspire future scientists by bringing five students with her.

Agriculture & Nutrition
Professor Powers and her students must find out why the locals on Dogleg Island are of poor health. Visiting a local farm they find out that it is now difficult to grow many vegetables and the ones that they do grow are not very nutritious. How can this be, and how can they save the Santos' Farm.

Alternative Energy
Modernization of Dogleg Island is making its current power production inadequate. Does the Island need to build a new generator or can they use energy conservation and alternate energy sources to meet their needs? What kinds of energy generation are possible and what are the pro's and con's of each system?

Chemical Reactions
A mysterious fire starts in a cabin near where Prof. Powers and the students are camping. The students must use there knowledge of chemical reactions to help determine if this fire was set by natural circumstances or was this a case of Arson.

Currents &Weather
A local fishing village is inundated with dead fish on their beaches. It is the students' job to find out more about how weather and currents are related in order to discover what might be killing them.

Ecosystem & Ecology
The students are recruited by the Conservation Society of Dogleg Island to make a presentation about the threatened ecosystem of the Davis River Estuary. Farmer's fertilizer is suspected to be a harmful source of pollution, but as the students make observations in the estuary, they learn about energy transfer in ecosystems and discover the presence of a toxin, potentially more dangerous than fertilizers.

Evolution & Conservation
The Council is considering logging part of the Bowen Rainforest for lumber. Billy and Professor Powers head to the Bowen Rainforest in hopes of finding species unique to the environment, so that they can convince the Council to rethink the logging project and protect the rainforest environment. However, this is a complex issue, involving ethics and economics as well as science.

Greenhouse Gases & Global Warming
Sea Side College is having a forum on "The Environment vs. The Economy" and the students can get in free if they present research on greenhouse gases, information on the state of global warming, and potential solutions to the problem.

Light Waves
A nice day off turns into an investigation into light as the students become curious about a rainbow they see over Landrumville.

Newton's Laws
A short excursion in the van with cups of water, gives the students a wet lesson in physical laws of motion.

Plate Techtonics
A new resort is proposed by the Board of Tourism, but Professor Powers is worried that it may be situated on top of a volcano. The students must explore tectonic plates and local geology to determine if Mount Diablo is indeed active.

Simple Machines
Simple machines are introduced with a trip to a local boatyard. Then the Students use those principles to figure out how ancient Doglegians created a pyramid structure without modern equipment.

Solar System & The Seasons
Why is it snowing in June? Waking up to snowfall at first shocks the students, who later find out this was one of Professor Powers' gags. But they are shocked again to find out that June is considered winter in the Southern Hemisphere. How can this be? The students must find out and present a scientific explanation to the people of Dogleg Island.

States of Matter
The students are asked by Dogleg Travel Association create a pamphlet about Mount Karmit. As they climb up the students discuss how boiling points change for cooking and how the thin atmosphere can cause medical problems for some climbers.

Water Cycle
A Drought has struck Dogleg Island and its up to Prof. Powers and the science kids to settle an argument that two farmers are having about cloud seeding and water availability.

Properties of Water
Landrumville Chemical is producing a new product with an unknown byproduct. Not having any chemical analysis equipment the students must use their knowledge of the properties of water to examine the liquid byproduct and discover if is just water or something more toxic.