Curated OER
Engaging Young Scientists with Inquiry: Part One
Building inquiry into your science lessons will make science concepts more concrete for your class.
Curated OER
Generating Hypotheses & Experimental Design 2
An outline walks your scientists through the steps of the scientific process. It begins by taking a general idea and developing a hypothesis based on related factors. Each investigator then plans a method for testing the hypothesis,...
Curated OER
Open Inquiry Using C. elegans
Ever wondered what motivates a roundworm? Introduce your biology class to C. elegans, a non-parasitic model organism that can help them understand behavioral stimuli. Paired pupils design an experiment to test the worm's reaction to...
Curated OER
Dental Chemistry Analogy
After taking in background information on teeth, marble, eggshell, and fluoride, chemistry aces design an experiment. Their goal is to demonstrate whether or not fluoride has a similar effect on marble or eggshell as it does on tooth...
Bonneville
Setting Expectations for Science and Engineering Projects
What is science? Sitting in a whole group discussion, scholars first share their ideas on science and how to conduct investigations. They learn about the steps for scientific inquiry and experimentation. Once finished, individuals then...
Towson University
Looking Into Lactase: Structured Inquiry
Why is lactase important? Biology scholars explore enzyme function in a structured inquiry lab. The activity tasks lab groups with observing how temperature and pH affect enzyme activity, as well as determining which milk products...
Curated OER
Fractals, An Inquiry: Day 4
Students put their growing understanding of the scientific inquiry process to work. They use paint to implement their plans to experiment with how changing one aspect of the fractal making process influences their appearance.
Curated OER
Science As Inquiry
Students practice problem solving through the inquiry approach. They are divided into small groups and given various problems to folve regarding the germination of radish seeds.
American Physiological Society
An Inquiry into Alcoholic Fermentation
Introduce life science students to their new "best buds" yeast! Using a wide variety of materials, lab groups design an experiment that illustrates how yeast acquires the resources it needs to undergo cellular respiration. The teacher's...
Curated OER
Research Question, Hypothesis and Experimental Design
Students discuss steps of the scientific process, as well as, observe a picture of the beach that they will visit. Students create a testable hypothesis about marine debris at the beach. In this science lesson, students create a...
Curated OER
What Makes a Seed Breathe Faster?
Here's a five-star lesson plan in which inquisitors conduct sophisticated experimentation with cellular respiration in plant seeds. Placing seeds in a closed system they measure the amount carbon dioxide produced and relate it to...
Curated OER
Ships 2: What Floats Your Boat?
Students design, build, and test the specifications (water displacement and load line) for a model boat. The instructional activity focuses especially on integrating design principles with inquiry-based experimental skills.
Cornell University
Beam Focusing Using Lenses
Explore optics using an inquiry-based experimental approach! Young scholars use a set of materials to design and build a unit capable of focusing a beam of light. They experiment with different lenses to determine the best approach to...
Curated OER
Breathing is Essential to Life
Learners explore the job of the lungs. In this Human Body lesson plan, students participate in five activities in order to develop a better understanding of the lungs. Each of the activities relates to how the lungs help us breathe and...
Curated OER
Mentos Geyser! What's the Fizz Factor?
What is it that makes Mentos candy and cola such an explosive combination? Find out through scientific inquiry and experimentation. This presentation walks learners through the scientific process and allows them to speculate whether it...
Curated OER
Introduction To Fractals: an Inquiry
Students evaluate a playful case study about a dog searching for fetching sticks to identify the steps in the science inquiry method. They read the case study and fill in a worksheet with the examples of questions, observations and...
Curated OER
Apply Scientific Inquiry and Scientific Habits of Mind
Young scholars review the components of the scientific inquiry method. In groups, they develop hypothesis on a variety of different topics and design an investigation or experiment to test it. They share their conclusions with the class...
Curated OER
Standard One: Lab Design and Appendix A Lab Skills
In this lab design and lab skills worksheet, students answer questions about experimental design including finding variables, determining controls, and graphing data. They answer questions about microscopy and label the parts of a...
Curated OER
Fractals, An Inquiry: Day 3
Students develop questions for their inquiries and plan their experiments. They are supported by a modeled case study of Max the Dog's Inquiry Planning Process, as well as supported by a planning template, The Inquiry Organizer.
NASA
X-Gliders: Exploring Flight Research with Experimental Gliders
Young engineers build a glider, and they experiment with ways to change the flight characteristics of the glider. There are some templates embedded in the plan that learners can use as guides to cut out their gliders. The templates are...
Curated OER
Riding on a Pendulum
A comprehensive resource gets fourth grade physical scientists making observations about the period of a pendulum and then applying knowledge to a playground swing. Through seven different stations, they will record observations and...
American Chemical Society
Temperature Affects the Solubility of Gases
Dare your class to drive dissolved carbon dioxide out of carbonated liquid at different temperatures to discover if there is a difference in rate. To make this experiment more sound, have explorers use equally measured amounts of soda...
Curated OER
Density and Buoyancy Experimental Design
Students must plan, design, and conduct an experiment that answers the scientific question: "Come up with a question that addresses the factors (variables) of the water and its effect on whether an object floats or sinks."
Curated OER
How Do We Use Scientific Inquiry To Solve the World's Problems?
Ninth graders examine how a scientific investigation is performed. They read and discuss examples of various scientific experiments, design an experiment involving fast growing plants, and create graphs and charts to present their...