BioEd Online
Bone Structure: Hollow vs. Solid
What is meant by the phrase "form follows function?" Allow your budding biologists to discover first-hand through two activities. In the first, groups work together to discover whether a solid cylinder or an empty cylinder can support...
BioEd Online
Spiders in Space
Does a spider spin its web differently in space? What other ways might microgravity affect an arachnid? Pick a topic to research, plan an investigation, and follow astronauts on the International Space Station as they perform some of the...
BioEd Online
Butterflies in Space
How does gravity affect the life cycle of a butterfly? Learn first-hand what types of investigations astronauts perform in space by following along with one of NASA's experiments. Create butterfly habitats in the classroom with specific...
Baylor College
Water in Your Body
Do you know how much water you have had in the last 24 hours? Do you know how much your body needs? In this hands-on activity, your class members will estimate how much water our bodies lose each day by filling and emptying one-liter...
National Park Service
Pulley Systems Used at Fort McHenry
What a great opportunity to integrate science into your lesson on the War of 1812! Discover how pulley systems were used to move 1,000 lb. cannons at the Battle of Fort McHenry, and to raise the flag that would inspire Francis Scott Key...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Wind Tunnel Testing
One of the factors that automotive engineers must consider is wind drag. The less wind drag, the more efficient the car will be. They perform many tests in wind tunnels, then refine their designs and test again. Using simple materials,...
Polar Trec
South Pole Ice Cream!
How can you turn an ice cream activity into a scientific investigation? It's easy if you know ionic compounds, heat transfer, and the exothermic and endothermic process. Learners will explore the science behind freezing, insulation, and...
Polar Trec
Do You See What Icy?
Here is a lesson that kicks off with a question. "How does ice floating on the ocean act as it melts?" As learners investigate this natural phenomenon, they'll discover that it has a lot to do with temperature, salinity, and the effect...
Perkins School for the Blind
The Germinator
How does a plant grow from a seed? Observe the process with a clever idea from the PBS television show ZOOM. Watch the video, then have your young botanists create their own germinators. The lesson described here is for visually impaired...
Physics Classroom
Action at a Distance Lab
The concepts involved with static electricity are typically taught in upper elementary physical science units. The lab described in this resource has pupils examine the behavior of small pieces of paper and a balloon when a charged piece...
National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium
Sun Printing
Ozalid acid paper is sensitive to the light. It reacts by getting darker, and it's the same paper photographers use when they print their pictures. Here, kids get to use photo-sensitive paper to create sun prints to find out how useful...
University of Las Vegas
Heart Rate and Physical Activity
What is heart rate? What is pulse? How do you find a heart rate by taking a pulse? What determines a person's heart rate? Will heart rate increase by doing some activity? Does exercising regularly strengthen the heart muscle? Take a look...
California Academy of Science
Composting: A Scientific Investigation: California Academy of Sciences
Garbage, recycle, compost: Does it really matter where we put our trash once we are done? By making detailed observations over seven weeks, kids will see which materials break down naturally to become a healthy part of the soil, and...
Micron Technology Foundation
States of Matter
Solids, liquids, gasses oh my! Young scientists will be amazed when they try this experiment, which uses dry ice to discover the states of matter through sublimation.
Scholastic
On or Off?
How does electricity work? Put an electric circuit into your own hands with a short experiment that makes a switch out of a battery, light bulb, and thumb tacks. Young scientists then respond to short answers about why the circuit works.
NASA
Egg Drop Lander
You have to crack a few eggs to make a good engineer! Working in small groups, young scholars design, build, and test devices that protect an egg from breaking when dropped from a ladder.
Curated OER
Rocks and Minerals
Take young geologists on an exploration of the collection of rocks and minerals that we call Earth with an upper-elementary science lesson. Through a series of class discussion and hands-on investigations, students learn about the three...
American Chemical Society
Colors Collide or Combine?
As part of a unit investigating the dissolving of M&Ms® candy coating, this lesson examines whether or not the different colors combine. There are no new concepts revealed in this particular lesson, but learners will see that the...
The New York Times
Laboratory Experiment
For any science class, learners can use this lab sheet to plan an experiment. It includes a space for the title, question, materials, setup, and procedure. If you want your class to complete this in typed form, you can provide the web...
University of Southern California
Wave Erosion Lab
Using a stream table, erosion enthusiasts examine how the density of sediment and how the slope of land contribute to the amount moved by waves. You will not be able to use this entire resource as is; there are teachers' names and...
Zebrafish in the Classroom
Mini‐Experiment with GloFish: Learning the Scientific Methods
If you need a way to reinforce the scientific method in your elementary classroom, use a science experiment about GloFish. The resource includes several pages of worksheets that guide learners through making a hypothesis, testing their...
US Environmental Protection Agency
Corals and Chemistry
After demonstrating the use of cabbage juice as a pH indicator, have your class experiment with their own breath, exhaling into the indicator, to show that carbon dioxide is acidic. As learners work, they also watch a video about coral...
Baylor College
Digestion
Digestion is an amazing and complicated process that provides humans with the energy they need to survive. Lesson six in this series on the science of food uses sliced turkey and a meat tenderizer to demonstrate how enzymes help break...
Science-Class.net
Rock Candy Crystals
Candy is one of my favorite words, and it's an even better word when it relates to science. Yes, candy science can happen when you grow rock candy crystals with your class. The entire process for growing these edible wonders of nature is...