Discover the effectiveness of wind, water, and steam as energy sources. The hands-on activity has young scientists create a turbine from common materials. After constructing the turbines, they use wind, water, and steam to turn them and...

Explore the wonderful world of earthworms as your class learns about the requirements of animal life. After building soda bottle terrariums, learners observe worms over the course of a couple weeks, building an understanding that all...

Though the publisher designated this unit for use with third through eighth grades, this particular activity would be best used with middle schoolers due to the specific measurement skills required. Basically, they set up the reaction...

By both demonstration and hands-on investigation, physical science fanatics come to know that some materials react when they come together. Adding vinegar to both baking soda and to baking powder, the difference between the two is clear....

If you have taught the first lesson in this mini unit, learners already know that cabbage juice and vinegar cause chemical changes in some materials. Now, they get a chance to use them to compare the liquids' reactions to five known and...

The United States is the world's largest producer of biofuel. During an in-class investigation, young scientists produce their own biodiesel. They burn a sample of it to determine the heat of combustion. Then they discuss the...

Bubble, bubble, boil and trouble! What causes common substances like baking soda and vinegar to react the way they do? Welcome your junior chemists to the wonders of acid-base chemistry using a comprehensive and fun...

Density comes to life as investigators place soda cans into containers of various liquids to find if they sink or float. They layer different density liquids, compare densities of different gases, and more. A total of six different...

Clean up the environment with a lesson that focuses on replacing hazardous cleaning supplies with green, environmentally-friendly products. Using a dirty patch of surface as a control area, kids clean other parts of various surfaces...

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...

What do skateboarding and baked goods have in common with math? You can use them to connect half-pipe ramps and cakes to arcs and sectors. Pupils compare the lengths of three different ramp options of a skate park. They calculate the...

You won't regret being stuck with this activity. By mixing a variety of household items, pupils create their own glue. They test the tensile strength of their glue and compare it to that of other adhesives.

Help learners identify habits that interfere with sleep and to understand the importance of adequate rest and its impact on not only physical health, but also emotional wellbeing.

A presidential election is a lot like the 2004 World Series, and it's also a lot like choosing an orange in a paper bag. Apply the process of the electoral college to these two analogies with a set of lessons about government...

Study heart health and math in one activity. After measuring their resting heart rates by finding the pulse in their wrists, learners build a stethoscope to listen to their heart rate, and note the differences between the two methods.

Caffeine affects your heart rate — or does it? Learners study experimental design while conducting their own experiment. They collect heart rate data after drinking a caffeinated beverage, create a box plot, and draw conclusions....

Looking for a terrific chemistry lesson for your 5th graders? This one could be for you! After a teacher-led demonstration, learners are broken up into groups and perform an experiment using cabbage juice, water, window cleaner, and...

Someone stole a diamond-making machine. Who done it? Scholars use forensic science at six different stations to determine the culprit. They analyze fingerprints, use their senses, and complete chemistry experiments to determine the...

Give your littlest learners the opportunity to learn how to discuss, observe, and visualize. First, they determine if the image they are looking at is a photograph or a painting. Then they work together to brainstorm words that describe...

Creating buildings that reach hundreds of feet into the sky is no easy task. The third instructional activity in this series begins with four activities that engage young architects in exploring the major challenges that are faced when...

Can the force of falling water through a tube vary by altering the diameter of the tube or its height? That is what physical scientists aim to discover in this activity, the third in successively more revealing activities on the power of...

Here is part one of a two-part lesson in which scholars investigate the changing states of water—liquid, solid, and gas. With grand conversation and up to three demonstrations, learners make predictions about what they think will happen...