Teach Engineering
Get the Word Out at McDonald's!
To get the word out that the Great Pacific garbage patch (GPGP) contains millions of pounds of non-biodegrading plastics, individuals research the GPGP and write an article for a newsletter. Researchers present their facts in a way that...
Curated OER
Plastic Identification Lab
In this plastics worksheet, students experiment with an unknown plastic and determine the polymer name and resin code by using a flow chart of various tests. They answer five questions after they collect their data.
Education Outside
Grains and Food
Gather up a variety of foods made from grains. Cereal, oats, pasta, rice, breads, cookies, crackers, to name a few. Put them in plastic containers or plastic bags. Then do a show-and-tell type demonstration and present all the types of...
Curated OER
Build a Rain Gauge
Learners use a glass container, coat hanger, measuring spoons, and more to make their own rain gauge. In this rain gauge lesson plan students measure the rain.
Science Friday
Make a Model Eardrum to Detect Sound Waves
Make sound waves visible with an experiment that asks middle schoolers to build a model ear drum using plastic bottles, rubber bands, plastic wrap, and sand-like substances.
Beyond Benign
Water Bottle Unit
How much plastic do manufacturers use to create water bottles each year? The class explores the number of water bottles used throughout the years to determine how many consumers will use in the future. Class members compare different...
Center for Learning in Action
Challenge with Solids, Liquids, and Gases
There's a container for every matter—liquid, solid, and gas. Pupils design three different containers, each with the capability to hold one of the states of matter, and share their design with the class.
AAA
Oil, Fuel, Coolant & Fluids
Although designed for vocational and auto shop classes, this image of a pamphlet contains everything anyone would need to know about automobile engine the fluids, how to check them, and when to replace them.
Curated OER
Make A Thunderstorm!
Young scholars create a thunderstorm by putting ice cubes and food coloring into a container and observe what happens to the food coloring. In this thunderstorm lesson plan, students discuss the cause and effects of thunderstorms and...
Curated OER
Jello Cells
Learners create a three dimensional model of a cell. In this cellular structure lesson, students use gelatin, plastic bags, plastic containers, and fruit to construct a model of a cell. They compare the cells structures and stack them to...
Curated OER
How Big is a Breath?
Young scholars demonstrate how to use math skills to measure their lung capacity. In this human biology lesson, students use a clear plastic container, measuring cup and rubber balloons to demonstrate how the lungs work. Young scholars...
Curated OER
Biodegradability
Students test a variety of plastic bags to test its biodegradability. They record their observations and discuss them once the experiment is complete. They identify materials best suited to be placed in a landfill.
Beyond Benign
Recycling Polylactic Acid
Show your class how to recycle during this simulation with polylactic acid. Pupils use a plastic cup, made of PLA, and convert it into a cleaning solution. They conclude the activity by using the newly made cleaning solution to...
University of Waikato
Growing Soil Microbes
View how microbes grow in soil. Class members first create a Winogradsky column to grow bacteria. They then set up the column of mud in a plastic bottle and include a food source for the microbes and observe the column of mud over the...
American Chemical Society
Great Electron Ripoff
Create a charge in the classroom. Using pieces of cellophane tape, a plastic grocery bag, and a balloon, learners investigate the effects of static electricity. Pupils create different charges in the materials and observe whether they...
Curated OER
Volcano Contour Models Activity
Students experiment with water levels and plastic topographic volcano models to determine the contour lines that would be used to create a topograpohic map of a volcano. They use the traced lines to actually develop the map.
PBS
The Caterpillar or Larva
The larval stage of the butterfly life cycle is quite exciting. Start a discussion about the specially designed body parts unique to caterpillars. After examining images of caterpillars, learners use plastic soda bottles, string, and...
Teach Engineering
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is one of several garbage patches around the world where garbage accumulates naturally. As part of a GIS unit that combines oceanography, environmental science, and life science, class members investigate...
Curated OER
Plastic Bag Pond
Young scholars investigate the pond water from a local water source. They collect the pond water from the bottom or near vegetation in order to obtain the best sample possible. Then they use microscopes in class in order to examine the...
Curated OER
Packaging and Containers
How would you carry a cat? Learners view a slide of a carrying case for a cat, and discuss the features of the design that led them to know what it was used for. The final slide has them looks at three other packages, and try to decide...
Exploratorium
Blue Sky
Use a container full of water as a prism and show that as light is bent, the individual colors from different wavelengths become visible. This explains why the sky appears to be blue midday, and why as the sun nears the horizon, it looks...
Baylor College
Greenhouse S'Mores
Your class will agree that this is the best way to demonstrate the greenhouse effect: making solar s'mores! Using a clear plastic cups as mini atmospheres, lab groups compare how adding different materials affects the melting rate of...
Discovery Education
Sonar & Echolocation
A well-designed, comprehensive, and attractive slide show supports direct instruction on how sonar and echolocation work. Contained within the slides are links to interactive websites and instructions for using apps on a mobile device to...
McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center
Global Warming in a Jar
This well-organized lab activity introduces earth science pupils to the greenhouse effect. They will set up two experiments to monitor temperatures in an open jar, a closed jar, and a closed jar containing water. Ideally, you would have...