Unit Plan
University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania: Gary Soto "How Things Work"

For Students 9th - 10th
This site, part of online course materials for a poetry class at the University of Pennsylvania, provides an overview of Soto's life and career, as well as the full text of his poem "How Things Work."
Website
Other

University of Virginia: How Things Work

For Students 6th - 8th
A site maintained by A. Bloomfield, the author of "How Things Work: The Physics of Everyday Life." You can read old questions or ask Bloomfield your own. Great explanations of everyday physics.
Interactive
American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History: Optical Illusions and How They Work

For Students 9th - 10th
What you see and what you think you see are different things. Find out what your brain doing behind-the-scenes!
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: How Transistors Work

For Students 9th - 10th
Gokul J. Krishnan describes what a transistor is and how this small device enables all the amazing things computers can do. [4:54]
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: How Menstruation Works

For Students 9th - 10th
At this moment, three hundred million women across the planet are experiencing the same thing: a period. The monthly menstrual cycle that gives rise to the period is a reality that most women on Earth will go through in their lives. But...
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: I Break Stuff for a Living

For Students 5th
[Free Registration/Login Required] An autobiographical text about a young man who grew up interested in taking things apart to find out how they work, and how that later became career. A question sheet is available to help students build...
Unit Plan
Concord Consortium

The Concord Consortium: What Are Some Patterns in How Things Stick Together or Push Apart?

For Students 9th - 10th
In this learning module from The Concord Consortium, students will start to develop their own computer simulation models of how attraction and repulsion between charged objects work.
Lesson Plan
Education.com

Education.com: Ask Me How

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] In this lesson, your students will become familiar with using this question word to investigate how things work. At the conclusion of this lesson, students will be able to ask and answer questions to...
Website
Stanford University

Stanford University: How Everyday Things Are Made

For Students 9th - 10th
If you've ever wondered how things are made - products like candy, cars, airplanes, or bottles - or if you've been interested in manufacturing processes, like forging, casting, or injection molding, then you've come to the right place....
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Mother Nature's Funnest Play Things: Magnets

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
In this experiment, students will investigate magnets and how they work. They will understand that two like poles "repel" while opposite poles "attract." They will also observe how a natural force is created by two magnets and answer the...
Website
Virtual Museum of Canada

Virtual Museum of Canada: Community Stories: The Work of the Blacksmith Green Family Forge, Trinity, Nl

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about the tools used by the blacksmith at the forge and how iron was worked with to create such things as horseshoes and the iron bands for cart wheels. Selecting the print story provides for more detailed information.
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: How Bright Is Your Glow Stick? Measure It!

For Students 9th - 10th
Objects that glow in the dark hold a special place in the imagination of both children and adults. The lights go out at night, but these odd things refuse to disappear. Where does the light come from? Do they work in any climate? In this...
Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: "Let's See What You're Made Of" by Bird Brain Science

For Students 4th - 6th
This informational, scientific text explains how cells, the smallest unit of a living organism, make up every living thing in the world. As you read, take notes on the comparisons used in the text to explain how cells work. [Free account...
Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Physical Science: Catalysts

For Students 7th - 9th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] How catalysts work and their role in living things.
Unit Plan
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Super Scientists

For Students Pre-K - 1st
Grab your science tools and explore with PBS KIDS. Through hands-on activities and exciting media that transports you to space and in the Earth, this collection will bring science to life in your classroom. These resources help students...
Article
Harvard University

Harvard U.: Agency by Design: A Take Apart Toolkit: What We Learn From Unmaking

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This article discusses the benefits of teaching students how to take things apart. Includes examples of how students record the process of disassembling something, what the parts are named, and their relationships of components to each...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: What Is the Coldest Thing in the World?

For Students 9th - 10th
Lina Marieth Hoyos explains how low temperatures give scientists a window into the inner workings of matter, and allow engineers to build incredibly sensitive instruments that tell us more about the universe.
Lesson Plan
Better Lesson

Better Lesson: Comparing Things!

For Teachers 2nd Standards
Second graders explore numbers in a variety of ways to understand how to compare three-digit numbers based on an understanding of place value. This lesson includes an interactive number line video, samples of student work, and a...
Activity
Harvard University

Harvard University: Project Zero: Agency by Design: Take Apart [Pdf]

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Mechanical dissections are a practice that allows learners to discover the often hidden design of objects and how the parts work together as a system.
Graphic
Hunkins Experiments

The Secret Life of Machines

For Students 9th - 10th
An entertaining site that communicates ideas through cartoon drawings. Discover how simple machines and gadgets operate, such as fax machines and washing machines.
Unit Plan
NASA

Nasa: The Space Place: Why Is the Sky Blue?

For Students 5th - 8th
Learn about colors of light by exploring how prisms work. Discover the different colors of the spectrum and how the visible light is what we see.
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: The Cells That Make Us

For Students 6th
[Free Registration/Login Required] A literary text about a boy who skins his knee and then learns all about cells and how they work to form living things. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Article
Scientific American

Scientific American: Smart People Believe Weird Things

For Students 9th - 10th
This article, published by Scientific American (September 2002), explores how smart people can believe weird and silly things. The article comes to the conclusion that our beliefs are shaped more by our environment than our understanding...
Unit Plan
E-learning for Kids

E Learning for Kids: Science: Scotland: How Can We Group Non Living Things Based on Characteristics/purposes?

For Students K - 1st
Montgomery is a true Scot, and even wears a kilt. He works in his dad's store and needs help learning about materials.

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