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Teaching The Scientific Method Using Adhesives
Young scholars use the six step scientific method to experiment with the differences in adhesives. Students test for tack, shear, and peel in these activities.
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WHAT HOLDS US TO EARTH?
Students they imagine they are Galileo and try to duplicate Galileo's experiments and results.
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Water Density Boundaries
Students create observable layers in water that represent a separation based upon density differences. They model density boundaries using differences in temperature and salinity. They, in groups, perform a meaningful experiment...
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Assessment & Evaluation
Seventh graders study elapsed time, radioactive decay and half-life. In this time machine lesson students complete several activities and view a presentation.
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pH Testing
Students explore the use of variables in the scientific method. They identify the dependent and independent variables through pH testing. Students construct graphs of their data and analyze their findings.
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Clean Sweep
Students organize and conduct a cleanup of a local beach, lake, or stream. They keep track of the types and amounts picked up and analyze this information in the classroom.
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WHY DO SOME THINGS FLOAT WHILE OTHERS SINK
Students explore how density can cause things to sink or float by experimenting with a jar, oil and corn syrup.
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Nuts & Bolts: is Classification, Arbitrary, Or Not?
Students, in groups, classify furniture, share their categories and rationales, then note how their different schemes vary, perfectly logical and useful, but completely arbitrary.
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May The Fastest Toy Win
Students determine which wind-up toy is the fastest. However, they can NOT race the toys. They must find another way. On the first day of the activity, students work in pairs or small groups to develop and write a plan.
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Algebra, Multiplication, and Division of Fractions
Students gain knowledge by measuring time and distance for solving unknowns in an equation. They also will design an airplane and chance to communicate mathematically by writing essays.
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PROJECTILE MOTION
Students measure muzzle velocity, and predict range of a projectile device. In this motion lesson students complete a lab and explain the outcomes of their experiments.
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Slow Down - Speed Up
Pupils explore the concept of distance and time as they use a CBR to mimic distance v. time graphs. Learners walk towards and away from the monitor to create various distance v. time graphs, then discuss what motion creates certain graphs.
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Bringing Forestry into the Classroom
Here are ways to incorporate science, math, and language arts while learning more about the forests that sustain us.
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A (Class)Room of One's Own
Students assess the educational and social issues of boys and girls in school as a springboard to interviewing women in the fields of science, in order to study of their early interests and experiences in these typically male-dominated...
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Roll with the Punches: Depression Era Machinery
Students construct models of simple and complicated machines with Legos. Then they design an experiment using the scientific method. ESE modifications included.
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Letters from the Japanese American Internment
Learners examine letters of Japanese-American children during internment in World War II. They discover what it was like in the camps and how they were treated once they were released. They also view photographs of the camps.
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Manufacturing Technologies: Making a Picture Frame
Students use cereal boxes, paint, buttons and glue to design and make a frame for a photograph. They consider the different processes involved in making the frame and discuss how their observations apply to manufacturing systems that are...
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An Exploration of Leonardo da Vinci's Life and Work
The original Renaissance man, da Vinci is a wonderful subject through which to discuss history, art and science.
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Bad Brother
Students deal with the historian's dilemma of how to write about people in the past who committed wicked deeds. They analyze a well-known cartoon, "Satan Tempting Booth to the Murder of the President."
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Spin Me a Story
Students examine the motif of spinning and weaving in myths and folktales. They read various myths, complete a WebQuest, develop a mind map of story elements, and write an original "spider" story.
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Explore More About Bottle Construction
Students explore Green Construction. For this lesson based on the experiences of Peace Corps volunteers, students gain insight into alternative construction in Guatemala. They examine the pros and cons of using alternative building...
Teach Engineering
Clay Boats
Clay itself sinks, but clay boats float. Why? Young engineers build clay boats to learn about buoyancy. They test the weight the boats can hold using washers and then tweak their designs to make improvements, following the engineering...
Teach Engineering
Machines and Tools (Part 2)
Which pulley system will give us a whale of a good time? Teams compare the theoretical and actual mechanical advantages of different pulley systems. They then form a recommendation for how to move a whale from an aquarium back to the ocean.
Illinois Valley Community College
STEM Activities for Middle School Students
Use STEM activities within the class to provide connections to concepts. The resource includes activities that range from working with buoyancy to building rockets and launching them. Other activities involve the engineering design...