Curated OER
Insulators
Young scholars design and carry out an investigation to test which materials is the best insulator: they predict which way heat energy flows in a system and analyze the flow of energy in a system from one point to another and from one...
Curated OER
Ice Melting
Students design investigations to test various materials to prevent heat gain in frozen water. The task assess students' knowledge of scientific inquiry including the following skills: observation, data collection, measurement,...
Intel
Plugging into the Sun
What's cooking? A sizzling STEM unit challenges scholars to build a solar cooker that can successfully cook an egg. The unit opens with a study of Earth's rotation, the sun's energy, and shadows. Pupils use a compass and thermometer to...
Curated OER
Melt Away
Students explore objects before and after heating using their senses. For this matter and energy lesson, students experiment with a variety of objects and use their senses (except taste) to make predictions and record observations about...
Curated OER
Make Your Own Temperature Scale
Differentiate between temperature and thermal energy. Your class will build a thermometer using simple materials and develop their own scale for measuring temperature. Discuss with your class and consider why engineers need to understand...
National Science Teacher Association
Middle School Sampler: Science
Focus on inquiry-based learning in your science class with a series of activities designed for middle schoolers. A helpful packet samples four different texts, which include activities about predator-prey relationships, Earth's axis and...
Curated OER
Thermal Expansion and Sea Level Rise
Placing a thermometer and a glass tube into a flask of cold water and sealing it, you can expose it to heat and very visually demonstrate thermal expansion to your earth science class. Follow it with a discussion about how the increasing...
STEM for Teachers
Temperature and Bounce
Take part in a fun experiment and hold an impromptu bouncing contest with your class. Young scientists heat and cool balls before bouncing them to determine whether temperature changes affect how they bounce. The set of STEM lesson plans...
Curated OER
"I'm Melting!"
Third and fourth graders engage with a worksheet designed to help them differentiate between melting and dissolving. After reading an informative paragraph about the two actions, they consider four scenarios, and choose whether they...
It's About Time
Metals and Nonmetals
Did you know you can melt the metal gallium with just the heat of your hand? Pupils observe and test materials in order to classify them as metal or non-metal. A reading passage and analysis questions wrap up the lesson.
It's About Time
Chemistry and Physical Changes
Engage the class like never before as pupils learn to differentiate between multiple physical and chemical changes by conducting a list of small experiments, most often with household materials. They make observations and discuss the...
Curated OER
Worksheet 12: Functions
In this math worksheet, students are given 7 problems in which they differentiate, figure rate of change, determine value, and prove formulas.
Curated OER
Our Natural Resources
Your class will learn about natural resources and man-made items and differentiate between them. They chart resources from seven pictures and explain how each natural resource is used.
Curated OER
Animals
Unifying themes in animal anatomy and physiology are displayed slide by slide. The main concepts involve the differentiation in cells and tissues, and details are given about fuel management, metabolism, and some other essential processes.
Curated OER
Making Changes
Students observe and record the changes they see when adding heat and cold to objects. In this changes lesson plan, students experiment with different objects and see if heat and cold change the makeup of the object. They then record...
Curated OER
Was Goldilocks Telling the Truth?
Sixth graders explore the movement of heat between objects. In this heat lesson, 6th graders use the scientific method to conduct guided experiments regarding conduction, convection, and radiation.
Curated OER
Why Is It Hotter At the Equator?
Students investigate the different heating effects of sunlight. They conduct an experiment that demonstrates the way sunlight strikes the equator, the poles and other parts of the globe.
Curated OER
Cool Times with Heat
Students work with thermometers to complete problems about temperature. They investigate cooling patterns, how location affects temperature, and what happens when water having different temperature is mixed. They measure temperature in...
Curated OER
Food-Borne Illnesses
Use this instructional activity to have your charges consider the differences between food spoilage and food-borne illnesses including the differentiation of food infections and food intoxication, including characteristics of each. Some...
Curated OER
Properties and Perfectly Polymeric Sodas
Students examine physical and chemical properties of plastics, interfaces of plastics, and forms of plastics. In three lab activities, students discover the two characteristic responses of plastics to heating, thermoplastic or...
Curated OER
Energy: Light -- Spinning Color Wheel
Second graders make spinning color wheels to determine how energy effects what colors look like. They paint or color a color wheel with the seven colors of the spectrum. Next, the spin the wheel to determine what happens. In order to...
Curated OER
Cylinder Volume Lesson Plan
Tenth graders define the formula for cylinders and use it to solve real world problems. For this geometry lesson, pupils differentiate between area, perimeters, 2D shapes, 3D shapes, and volume of prisms, cylinders and spheres. They...
Curated OER
The Science of Changing Seasons
Students explore basic principles of seasonal change, ponder the mechanisms that drive these changes, and perform experiments that show what causes the earth to heat differently during different seasons.
Colorado State University
What Is a "Convection Cell"?
Round and round in circles it goes! A hands-on activity has learners recreate a model of a convection cell. They watch as the difference in density of their materials creates a current.