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Activity
Museum of Science

Comeback Can

For Teachers K - 6th Standards
Convert energy within a can. Learners build a can that suspends a weight inside the can via a rubber band. The pupils roll the can away from them as the rubber band wraps around itself. The force of the band unwinding brings the can back...
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Activity
Museum of Science

Circuit Board

For Teachers K - 6th Standards
Light up the solutions. By following a set of directions, pupils build a circuit board with six different circuits. Learners use the circuit board to create a matching activity by connecting the questions to the correct answers via a...
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Activity
Museum of Science

Weather Station

For Teachers K - 6th Standards
Find out what it is like outside before braving the elements. Teachers follow directions to build a barometer, rain gauge, and anemometer. Class members use the built weather instruments along with a thermometer to record weather...
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Activity
Museum of Science

Water Balloon Catapult

For Teachers K - 6th Standards
Fire away! Using a couple of milk jugs, a dowel rod, and a yardstick, individuals build catapults to throw water balloons. Learners notice that the catapult is a simple machine. By making a target, the class has a chance to refine their...
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Interactive
Las Cumbres Observatory

Down2Earth: Making Impact Craters

For Students 3rd - 10th
Is the sky falling? Learners use a simulator to modify the mass and velocity of asteroids and collect data on how they influence the diameter and depth of the impact crater. They use their results to draw conclusions and make predictions...
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Activity
University of Waikato

Buoyancy in Water

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Change where an object floats in water. Pupils experiment with a Cartesian diver by squeezing on the side of a plastic bottle. Learners pay attention to the bulb of the pipette as the bottle is squeezed to determine what is happening...
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Activity
University of Waikato

Make and Use a Hydrophone

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
Using a home-built hydrophone, pupils investigate how things sound in water. Learners listen to sounds created in air and then compare that to the same sound picked up by the hydrophone. Individuals compare the loudness and the pitch of...
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Lesson Plan
Acoustical Society of America

How Loud Is Too Loud?

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
How loud was that? Individuals build wheels displaying different sounds. Then, learners use the wheels to find the number of decibels the sound creates and how long they could withstand the sound before potential hearing damage.
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Lesson Plan
Acoustical Society of America

Good Vibrations

For Teachers Pre-K - 12th Standards
Visualize vibrations within the classroom. Pupils see the connection between sound and waves. The learners use a tuning fork in two different ways to demonstrate the waves associated with sound. Scholars see how the sound waves from a...
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eBook
Utah Education Network (UEN)

Utah Open Textbook: 3rd Grade Science

For Students 3rd Standards
How do we interact with Earth? Scholars learn about the sun, Earth, moon, forces, gravity, and heat sources by reading a text and performing hands-on demonstrations. They also differentiate between living and non-living things using...
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Activity
DiscoverE

Build a Roller Coaster

For Students 3rd - 8th
Let the good times roll as young thrill seekers build a roller coaster on school grounds. Future engineers design and build a roller coaster from flexible tubing. The roller coaster is for a marble, so there will be plenty of room to let...
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Activity
DiscoverE

Build a Straw Bridge

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Build teamwork skills while building a bridge. Scholars work together in groups to create a bridge out of 20 straws and tape. There is a minimum span length of 25 centimeters, but otherwise, let creativity run wild.
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Activity
DiscoverE

Critical Load

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Help your class master the important concept of critical load. Pupils work together to build a structure using 12 playing cards. They test the critical load of the structure using pennies or paper clips.
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Activity
DiscoverE

Let's Make an Elastic Puppet

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Create bending joints—but don't break! The activity shows how to make a puppet using straws and fishing line. Pupils create cuts to make joints that rely on the elasticity of the straw to bend and return to their original shapes.
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Lesson Plan
DiscoverE

Textbook Support Challenge

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Textbooks are heavier than a sheet of paper, so how can paper hold up a textbook? Young engineers create a structure out of paper that can support a textbook. To add another wrinkle, they must stay within budget and time constraints.
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Activity
DiscoverE

Paper Tower

For Students 3rd - 8th
Read all about it! Challenge your class to build taller and stronger. Newspapers provide the means to build towers in a simple activity. Scholars try to build as tall a tower as possible with just two sheets of newspaper.
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Lesson Plan
DiscoverE

Tunnel Meetup

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Meet me in the tunnels. Scholars choose a tunnel entrance and mark it on their side of the cardboard. They describe the location to their partners and see if they can guess each other's locations. Punching a hole through the cardboard...
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Lesson Plan
DiscoverE

Oranges and Batteries

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Orange you glad you can make circuits using fruit? Young electricians learn about electric circuits and electricity. As part of the lesson, they build a circuit with an orange and then with a banana.
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Activity
DiscoverE

An Egg-Citing Ride

For Teachers K - 8th
Wheeeee! Young thrill seekers build a bungee jump—not for themselves, though, but for an egg. The egg must fall from a height of five feet and rebound within two inches of the ground or floor.
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Activity
DiscoverE

Dome Home

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Homes come in many different shapes and sizes. Building a model of a geodesic dome is the ultimate goal for the activity. Cutting and folding is the way to go here.
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Activity
DiscoverE

Electromagnetic Fishing Pole

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Let's go fishing ... for paper clips! Individuals create a device that attracts paper clips. This device relies on an electromagnetism, where a flow of electricity in a loop of wire wrapped around a nail causes magnetism.
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Activity
DiscoverE

Human Suspension Bridge

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
When is it okay to be suspended in school? When you're part of a human suspension bridge! Learners first model tension and compression in pairs. Once complete, they get together as a class to model a suspension bridge.
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Activity
DiscoverE

Human Arch

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Sometimes, we all need somebody to lean on. Scholars create a human arch by leaning against each other. They consider different approaches to making the arch sturdier and stronger.
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Lesson Plan
DiscoverE

Seismic Shake-Up!

For Students K - 12th
Shake your earthquake-resistant building prototype! Groups create structures using coffee stirrers and clay that can withstand seismic waves. They then test their structures against their own earthquakes.