Curated OER
Indicator Sponge A Discrepant Event Demonstration
Students explore the use of acid and base pH indicators. The teacher saturates an indicator sponge with congo red solution. Afterwards, the sponge is placed in a blue base solution. Students observe that the blue sponge actually turns...
Curated OER
What's the Matter? (Experiments)
Students observe a scientific discrepant event, and are then challenged to create experiments to solve the dilemma.
Curated OER
Our Solar System and Seasons
Sixth graders investigate the relative diameters of planets and distances between them and the cause for seasons on Earth using the 5-E Learning Model. They appreciate the size and distances involved with objects in the real universe....
Polar Trec
Polar Detectives: Using Ice Core Data to Decode Past Climate Mysteries
How does examining an ice core tell us about weather? Learners set up and explore fake ice cores made of sugar, salt, and ash to represent historical snowfall and volcanic eruptions. From their setups, scholars determine what caused the...
Curated OER
Nailing Rust
When your upper elementary or middle school class is learning about chemical changes, these activities help demonstrate the concepts. In Part A, they submerge and place a nail partially underwater, then after a week they make...
Curated OER
Melting the Ice: Energy Transfer
Students study thermal energy and energy transfer to sea ice processes. In this energy transfer lesson, students make their own ice cream and discuss energy transfer and thermal energy. Students view a radiation overhead and its role in...
Curated OER
More on Conduction and Convection
Why do some items feel colder when they are the same temperature? How should you keep your soda cold? What makes the wind blow? These are just some of the things middle schoolers discover when completing a lesson on conduction and...
Curated OER
temperature and the Scientific Method Lesson Plan
Sixth graders study heat, temperature, and heat transfer. Using probeware, the teacher demonstrates boiling points. Students participate in experiments and record the beginning and ending temperatures and mass of objects. After...
Curated OER
Electrostatics
Middle schoolers examine ways positive and negative charges are attracted and repelled by watching teacher demonstrations, and complete activity sheet related to classroom demonstration activities to prove proficiency of knowledge of...
Curated OER
The Water Cycle - Main Components
Present the water cycle to your middle schoolers with this lesson. After an anticipatory set, they participate in a Q & A session about the terms associated with the water cycle: evaporation, transpiration, condensation, and...
Curated OER
Will It Sink Or Float?
Have your class predict whether objects will sink or float in water. Learners consider a data table of mass, volume and whether the object sank or floated. They develop an evidence-based explanation for the results.
Curated OER
Newton's Laws and Rocketball
Students investigate Newton's Three Laws. In this Newton's Law lesson, students write the laws in their own words. Students then do an experiment with a ping pong ball. Students drop the ball from a set distance and record their results,...
Curated OER
Observations and Inferences
Students observe how to distinguish observations form inferences. In this examining inferences instructional activity students list observations relating to the activity and discuss the importance of them.
Curated OER
Heat And Heat Transfer
Students role play molecules in a container as the container is heated to develop a definition of heat and temperature. They also observe demonstrations of conduction, convection, radiation, and phase transfer. Using these observations...
Curated OER
Where Did the Water Go? An Investigation in Scientific Methods
Students view a teacher demonstration that prompts them to solve a problem using the scientific method. In this scientific method lesson, students guess which cup has water and are presented with a conundrum when the water does not...
Curated OER
Three-Hole Bottle
Pupils participate in an experiment with a 2-liter bottle. They develop their own hypothesis about what they believe will happen when certain items are tested on the bottle. They discuss results.
Curated OER
The Great Volume Exchanger...or the Magic Matter Maker ®
Young scholars pour water into a "magic" box and examine how it comes out with a much larger volume of water. They, working in small groups, design a volume exchanger and explain its design to the whole class.
Curated OER
Investigating Density: Heavy Ice
Students end up learning the formula for density and calculate the densities of various materials, and predict if they sink or float.
Curated OER
Why is the Average Temperature Greater on Venus than on Mercury?
Students examine the reasons why the temperature is higher on Venus than on Mercury. In groups, they analzye both planet's atmospheres and determine the rate of global warming on each. They use the internet to research the planets in...
Smithsonian Institution
Dia de los Muertos: Honoring our Ancestors Through Community Celebration
Oral storytelling has been an important part of every culture. The time-honored practice uses stories as a conduit for a culture's values and customs from one generation to the next. Keep the tradition going with a family interview...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Bear Factory Probability
By examining a set of dice roll data, statisticians determine the probability of different sums occurring. They visit an interactive website and determine how many different vacation outfits Bobbie Bear will have based on the colored...