Worchester Polytechnic Institute
Interactive Laboratory Activities for Secondary Education
Do you think the lab smells like rotten eggs? Sorry to hear about your sulfering. A set of five experiments covers many different topics including seasons, gravity, food, precipitation, and photosynthesis. Though not presented as a...
Curated OER
Preparation of Crystalline Derivatives of Aldehydes and Ketones
Chemistry explorers prepare a crystalline derivative and find its melting point. Once they discover the melting point, they are able to identify whether or not the substance is pure, and whether it is an aldehyde or ketone. This is an...
Santa Monica College
Introducing Measurements in the Laboratory
We use basic units of measurement to break down things and communicate clearly. The first lesson in an 11-part series teaches the proper way to measure various items. It starts simply with measuring the dimensions and areas of geometric...
Curated OER
Displacement Reaction of the Halogens
This publisher has put out some terrific laboratory activities for your aspiring chemists! In this edition, displacement reactions are used to develop a reactivity series for three halogens. Not only do they explore the reactivity of...
Virginia Department of Education
Moles Lab Activities
Want my name and number? It's 6.0221415 times 10 to the 23rd, and my name is Avogadro. Providing nine different activities, experiments, and labs, this lesson keeps Avogadro relevant to your class all year long.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Survival of the Fittest - Variations in the Clam Species Clamys sweetus
It's not often that you come across a clever laboratory activity that is both imaginative and comprehensive! Using M&M's and Reese's peanut butter candies to represent two different clam species, young biologists test for "relative...
Curated OER
Velocity of Traffic on Highway 26
Physics fanatics time five cars as they pass on the highway. They use the times and a 20-yard distance to calculate velocity. They also graph distance vs. time. A page of student pre-lab questions is provided in addition to the activity...
Curated OER
Laboratory: Observing a Candle
In this observation worksheet, scientists observe a burning candle and answer eight post-lab questions. Topics include the phase changes occurring during the observations, the role each part of the candle plays in the chemical reaction,...
Curated OER
Activity: Leaning Tower of Pasta
A well-laid-out lesson plan, this can be used in an engineering, STEM, or physical science course. Laboratory groups design a structure using pasta and marshmallows, measure its height and weight, and then discover the load that it can...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Microarrays and Stem Cells
Background reading is available in the first two pages of this worksheet, along with reading comprehension questions and a laboratory activity in which students use mircroarray technology to identify genes used in cell differentiation....
Curated OER
Activity: Float a Clay Boat
Written to introduce pupils to buoyancy, this activity has collaborative groups work to design a floatable clay boat. They first observe that a stick of clay sinks in water and then are given their own stick to reshape into a floating...
NOAA
A Laboratory Simulation of Ocean Surface Currents
Stimulate interest in ocean currents with a simulation. The first installment of a five-part middle school series teaches future oceanographers about the forces that interact to cause ocean currents. A simulation shows how wind and the...
LABScI
Botany: The Plant Dissection Lab
Study everything about plants! The 12-part series of lessons continues with an examination of many aspects of plants. Components of the laboratory activity address the growth and structure of plants by evaluating familiar plants. The...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Classroom Activities: Planaria Regeneration Activity
Observe a flatworm as it regenerates its own head. A laboratory exploration asks learners to cut a planaria worm at different locations and then observe it regenerate. Using data collected during the exploration, they make conclusions...
Curated OER
Measuring Quantities of Gases Activity
Learners use a pipette to mix small amounts of food coloring into water. They visualize the small quantities of parts per million and parts per billion. Contrary to the title, the activity is about liquid amounts rather than gas amounts....
Curated OER
Summer Activities: Our Amazing Bodies
Students use the body as a sensory laboratory to explore their five senses, heartbeat, bones, and even size. In this early childhood science lesson, students build science and critical thinking skills as they take part in up to 6...
Rochester Institute of Technology
Artificial Lung and Diaphragm
She had a terribly busy day converting oxygen into carbon dioxide; now she just needs a moment to breathe. In the activity, scholars review the function of the respiratory system and discuss bioengineering's role in medicine/health and...
American Chemical Society
Energy Foundations
Only 10 percent of an incandescent bulb's energy is used to create light; the remaining 90 percent is heat. In the unit of activities, young chemists examine energy through hands-on activities, videos, discussions, and readings. Scholars...
Curated OER
#17 Determining the Accuracy of Selected Laboratory Glassware
Students calculate the volume of a specific mass of water placed in selected pieces of common laboratory glassware, using the density formula. They then determine the accuracy of the volumetric measurement for selected pieces of...
Curated OER
# 03 Laboratory Ventilation and Risk Assessment Exercise
Students are introduced to the analysis of health risks in the laboratory, particularly from vapors from organic solvents. They consider quantitative measure of risk such as threshold limit values (TLVs), the amount of the compound that...
Curated OER
Investigating Plant Pigments: A Guided Inquiry Laboratory Experiment
Students participate in a three-part lab in which they investigate plant pigments. Part I is designed to teach basic laboratory techniques of column chromatography, in Part II students design an experiment to separate the components of a...
Curated OER
Laboratory: Fe and Cu (II) Redox Reaction
For this redox reaction laboratory sheet, chemists answer eight post-lab questions about oxidizing agents, reducing agents, oxidized and reduced substances, and percent yield of products. You will need to provide a proedure for...
Teach Engineering
Things That Matter to Flocculants
How does the dirt get out of your drinking water? A hands-on activity introduces the use of flocculants to help clear solid particles out of water. The plan walks learners through the process of setting up an experiment that controls the...
Teach Engineering
Designing a Spectroscopy Mission
In this mind-bending activity, young engineers explore this question of whether or not light actually bends. Using holographic diffraction gratings, groups design and build a spectrograph. The groups then move on research a problem...