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Activity
PBS

Bogged Down

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Enjoy a hands-on lesson that will certainly hold water with your classes. Young scientists design an experiment to determine the materials that absorb water the best. They test both man-made and nature-made materials and conduct...
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Activity
PBS

House Warming

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Things should heat up during a hands-on lesson exploring solar energy. An enlightening activity challenges young scientists to design a structure that collects solar energy efficiently. They keep track of temperature data over time and...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Creating a Graphic Novelette and Peer Critique: Sections 2, 3, and 4

For Teachers 5th Standards
Let's get creative! With the fun resource, pupils continue working on their graphic novelettes about an invention, adding text and images to each section. When finished, they engage in a peer critique process, giving and receiving...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
Bonneville

Solar Pathfinder Tutorial

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Find the right path to learn about solar energy. Scholars set up and use Solar Pathfinders to take measurements related to solar insolation at a particular site. Based on the data, they estimate the solar potential in kWh/m^2/day of a...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
Bonneville

Macro-Scale Solar

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
There's no substitute for the power of the sun. The second of four installments of the Solar Resources Assessment unit looks at macro-scale photovoltaic (PV) technology. Future scientists first learn about PV modules with a PowerPoint...
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Lesson Plan
Bonneville

Simple Solar Tracker

For Teachers 4th - 12th Standards
Let the solar cells fight each other for supremacy! Given a functional solar tracker that moves toward light, groups copy the design to build their own devices. They use two sets of solar cells that have reverse polarization, so that the...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
University of Florida

Six Bits of Abiotics

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Collect clues and unwrap a mystery in an intriguing study about air pollution and urban forests. Teams share information to explore abiotic interactions and forest health. Scholars create a concept map using newly acquired knowledge and...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
University of Florida

A Walk in the Woods

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Take class members on a field trip to the forest without leaving the classroom. Scholars learn content-related vocabulary and factors affecting forest health with class discussions and during a presentation. Scientists combine forestry...
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Activity
Exploratorium

A Splash of Color - Is Pure Water Colorless?

For Students 6th - 12th
What makes the ocean blue but a glass of ocean water nearly colorless? Investigators prepare tubes of water to examine the color of water. Scholars discover the relationship between light absorption, color variations, and water depth as...
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Activity
Exploratorium

Antibody Attack - Discover How Antibodies Launch Attacks on Invaders

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Jump into the action and help antibodies defend against an antigen attack! Investigators match antibodies with antigens to model the body's identification and recall of specific pathogens. Young biologists also recognize that each...
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Activity
PBS

Sink or Swim?

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
What's with all the numbers on plastic products? Learners complete an in-depth analysis of the physical properties of the different plastic types. They connect the properties of the plastics to uses and test their observation skills by...
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Activity
PBS

Plants Count

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Changes to habitats mean changes to resources. Groups examine aerial maps to predict areas of low and high plant resources. After formulating a plan, they visit the areas to collect data about the plant resources and then share their...
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Activity
PBS

Light Bulb Challenge

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Efficiency equals money where homes are concerned. A comparative lesson asks learners to measure heat output of incandescent and compact fluorescent light bulbs. They follow their investigation with calculating the cost of using the two...
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Activity
PBS

Going Green

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Trash is where it's at! Using bags of garbage collected from the school, learners sort the contents into categories based on type of material and collect data on the results. The data may include weight, volume, and/or percent of the trash.
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Activity
PBS

Color Code

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Don't let your brain play tricks on you! Learners test brain reaction rates while it is receiving multiple stimuli. They time each other reading a set of color words written in different colors and again when they are written in black....
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Activity
PBS

Breaking Point

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Leaf toughness can add to its herbivore appeal. Learns design an experiment to quantify leaf toughness and then perform their procedures. They follow the experiment with a set of questions that ask them to think about how leaf toughness...