Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: The Chemistry of Cold Packs

For Students 9th - 10th
If you stick water in the freezer, it will take a few hours to freeze into ice. How is it, then, that cold packs go from room temperature to near freezing in mere seconds? John Pollard details the chemistry of the cold pack, shedding...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Investigate Mpemba Effect Can Hot Water Freeze Faster Than Cold

For Students 9th - 10th
This physics project seems like it should have an easy answer. Instead, it turns out to be a great illustration of why it is important to base scientific conclusions on the outcome of controlled experiments. Things don't always turn out...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: What's the Fastest Way to Cool a Soda?

For Students 9th - 10th
When you are craving an ice cold drink of soda, the last thing you want is to be stuck with a bunch of soda cans at room temperature. This fun science experiment sends you on a discovery to find the fastest way to cool soda with...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Keep Your Candy Cool With the Power of Evaporation!

For Students 3rd - 5th
Did you know that your body has a built-in cooler? And it might not be what you think. Sweat is produced when you are hot, but its purpose is actually to cool your body as the water in it evaporates from your skin. In this science fair...
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Investigating the Water Cycle: Using Plants to Study Evaporation

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
In this science activity, students investigate the water cycle by testing the water evaporated from leaves (transpiration). They investigate concepts of evaporation and the movement of water through the different states of the water...
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Investigating the Water Cycle "Snow Fun"

For Teachers K - 1st
In this teacher directed inquiry indoor lab students collect snow in a cup. They will estimate how much water will be in the cup after the snow melts. Students will then make predictions about what will happen to the cup of water. After...
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Investigating the Water Cycle: Evaporation

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
In this water cycle activity, students investigate the evaporation process by participating in an outdoor evaporation experiment held on the school grounds. Students will determine where evaporation takes place the fastest and how nature...
Lesson Plan
BioEd Online

Bio Ed Online: How Much Water Do Humans Need?

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
In this lesson students learn how much water is used and lost during a variety of common daily activities. Student sheets are provided in English and in Spanish.
Lesson Plan
American Chemical Society

Middle School Chemistry: Chapter 2: Changes of State

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Five chemistry lessons about phase changes between the states of mattter complete with handouts and animations.
Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: The Sun and the Water Cycle

For Students 3rd - 5th
Learn about the water cycle through the adventures of two sisters. They will explain how the sun powers the water cycle and describe the different states of water. A glossary and labeled illustrations accompany the video. For the...
Interactive
University of Colorado

University of Colorado: Ph Et Interactive Simulations: Concentration

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn how concentration, evaporation, and saturation affect the concentration of a solution.
Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Liquids

For Students 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] In the following online tutorial students will describe a liquid according to the kinetic-molecular theory. They will also learn how a liquid exhibits surface...
Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Changes in Matter

For Students 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Students will describe methods for separating mixtures, such as chromatography, distillation, fractional distillation, evaporation, and filtration. They will also...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Moving Without Wheels

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
In a class demonstration, students observe a simple water cycle model to better understand its role in pollutant transport. This activity shows one way in which pollution is affected by the water cycle; it simulates a point source of...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Witnessing Evaporation

For Teachers 5th - 7th
The engineers at Splash Engineering (the students) have been commissioned by Thirsty County to conduct a study of evaporation and transpiration in their region. During one week, students observe and measure (by weight) the ongoing...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Swamp Cooler

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Using a household fan, cardboard box and paper towels, student teams design and build an evaporative cooler (swamp cooler). They learn about the process that cools water during the evaporation of water. They make calculations to...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: States of Matter

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Students act as chemical engineers and use LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT robotics to record temperatures and learn about the three states of matter. Properties of matter can be measured in various ways, including volume, mass, density and...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Natural and Urban "Stormwater" Water Cycle Models

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students apply their understanding of the natural water cycle and the urban stormwater water cycle, as well as the processes involved in both cycles to hypothesize how the flow of water is affected by altering precipitation.
Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Where Has All the Water Gone?

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Learners learn about the Earth's water cycle, especially about evaporation. Once a dam is constructed, its reservoir becomes a part of the region's natural hydrologic cycle by receiving precipitation, storing runoff water and evaporating...
Primary
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Science Education Center: Make It Rain

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
How do you show students that the water cycle is more than just the traditional model of the ocean, clouds, and mountains and actually a part of their daily lives? This video will show multiple models of different part of the water cycle...
Handout
Chem4kids

Chem4 Kids: Liquids

For Students 3rd - 8th
This overview of liquids explores what a liquid is and how matter becomes changes into a liquid.
Website
Enchanted Learning

Enchanted Learning: The Water Cycle

For Students 3rd - 5th
Great colorful chart of the water cycle, with background information. Provides additional links for more information on the water cycle.
Unit Plan
Texas Education Agency

Texas Gateway: Humidity, Evaporation, and Boiling

For Students 11th - 12th
By the end of this section, you will be able to explain the relationship between vapor pressure of water and the capacity of air to hold water vapor, explain the relationship between relative humidity and partial pressure of water vapor...
Website
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Biome in a Baggie

For Students Pre-K - 1st
This ZOOMSci video segment shows how to create self-contained environments and explore how plants grow under different conditions. [3:24]