Discover the properties and purpose of chemical solvents. Continuing with the theme of shampoo ingredients, the 10th lesson of this 24-part series investigates the choice of solvents in shampoos. Through their exploration, they learn how...

How do the products you use rate on a greeness scale? Scholars use a tool to analyze shampoos and cars for their sustainability. They consider factors that affect the environment, the economy, and equity. This is the ninth lesson in...

Cookies and chemical equations have a lot in common! Using cookies as a reference, scholars learn to balance chemical equations. Pieces of the cookies represent different parts of the compounds and elements. This is the sixth installment...

Is it possible to create an environmentally friendly shampoo? Learners accept this challenge in the fifth lesson in a green chemistry series of 24. The analysis of their shampoo ingredients must address pH, exothermic reactions, and...

Does your shampoo contain carcinogens? Scholars learn how cosmetic companies create and market their products, many of which contain toxic chemicals. They examine the bias and consumer responsibilities in the industry.

What is the difference between chemistry and green chemistry? The first lesson plan of the 24-part green chemistry series introduces scholars to its 12 principles. The tendency is toward nontoxic materials and sustainability.

Young environmentalists learn how to craft a persuasive essay about an environmental issue they consider important. After studying the components of a persuasive essay and examining a student model, writers brainstorm possible topics and...

How does your garden grow? An inquiry-based, organic gardening unit asks young scientists to research a vegetable or flower, create an environment for it, and then plant and tend to the seedling. Gardeners develop their own research...

Explore the process of wastewater treatment. Scholars analyze different samples of water before drawing conclusions about the types of chemicals in the water that leaves our homes. 

E is for economics, environment, and social equity. The fifth installment of a 15-part series has scholars first considering ecological impacts, such as determining how much water it takes to produce a can of soda. They then use decision...

The rich and famous sure have interesting houses. The first installment of a 15-part series has scholars look at provided images of houses in an attempt to match them to their owners. They then generate of a list of features important to...

How does inertia affect an object's trajectory? After watching a video on safety belt use, pupils discuss the notions of inertia. Using their knowledge, individuals try to drop a ball on a target while running, and classmates observe the...

Lead your class on a search for precious bones. Using a presentation, the class investigates the golden ratio in art and nature. Groups of pupils measure specific bones and find the average ratio for the class. To further cement the...

Some say a picture is worth a thousand words—even from a hundred miles away! Learners review satellite data to analyze ocean variables such as temperature, salinity, evaporation, and precipitation. They look for patterns in the data and...

Modern Jewish holidays have ancient roots with many connections to today. Using photographs of primary sources, such as fragments of a shofar, as well as texts, such as the Hebrew Tanakh, learners explore how Jewish holidays reflect...

Moisture can affect air temperatures and so much more! An analysis of NASA soil moisture data allows pupils to make connections between climate and weather features. They first review general data and then select a specific location to...

Could the seasons be changing? Using National Park data, learners recognize patterns in the growth of seasonal plants. They look specifically at the first bloom date of cherry blossoms in Washington DC and compare them to temperature...

Making a claim without supporting it has little value. Learners work on their claim-making skills in a well-designed lesson. They view still images from a video and make claims using support from the visual representations. They then...

Hurricanes are a destructive yet fascinating phenomenon. Individuals examine evidence that hurricanes use thermal energy from the ocean as they approach land. Learners use images, charts, and graphs to collect data and then draw...

It's 268 words, but one only needs to consider 10 of them at a time. A data collection and analysis activity has learners investigate the lengths of words in the Gettysburg Address. They first self-select a sample of 10 words and...

Chew on an activity for probability. Given information on the number of gumballs in a gumball machine, scholars consider how likely it is to randomly draw a blue gumball and how many of each color they would draw in 10 trials if the...

While the Roman empire often conjures up images of soldiers and emperors, its culture was more complex. Using primary sources, including ancient historians and pictures of artifacts, pupils consider the religious influences on Roman...

We take for granted globalization today, but its roots run deep within China centuries ago. Using texts from ancient Chinese historians and photographs of items showing growing Eurasian trade, scholars look at the traces of...

It doesn't take long to change the world! Alexander the Great's reign may have been short-lived, but his vision for a multi-cultural Hellenistic world shaped Afroeurasia for centuries. Pupils examine documents, such as excerpts from...