Looking for a terrific chemistry activity 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...

Whoa! What just happened? That's right, change is everywhere. But what exactly is changing? Middle school science sleuths get to the bottom of the changes matter can experience. Through simple demonstrations, engaging videos, and an...

Getting back to the beginning of the unit, learners use reactions with red cabbage juice to determine if solutions are acidic, neutral, or basic. This is a straightforward and classic investigation, but what you will appreciate is the...

Is there more to evaporation than just less liquid? Show young scientists the energy transformation that occurs during a phase change through a series of simple experiments. Lab partners place drops of water, ethanol, and ethoxyethane on...

Meant to follow an activity in which young chemists identified an unknown substance by chemical reactions, they now take their data and use it to determine which materials combine to make up baking powder. This lesson is one that can be...

Conclude this chemical change unit by having your class combine two liquids that result in formation of a precipitate. The learners discover that chemical reactions result in new materials. Make sure to consider all of the preceding...

Chemical and physical properties give compounds an identity. Learners use the identity of a compound to predict what it is. By performing different tests like solubility, flame, heat, and reactions, individuals attempt to identify an...

From gas to liquid condensation to solid frost, water undergoes phase changes before young scholars' eyes! Using ice, salt, water, and a metal can, they set up an investigation that can be used in a physical science setting, or as part...

Designing the right package — it's more than a pretty picture. Challenge small groups to design a food package. They must consider the type of food they are packaging and the package's ability to control the physical and...

My room isn't messy — it's a scientific experiment in entropy! Scholars investigate entropy, enthalpy, and spontaneity through a guided procedure and set of questions. The lesson connects the Second Law of Thermodynamics, energy...

There are five types of frost: ground frost, air frost, hoar frost, glaze, and rime. Scholars mix ice and salt in a metal container to observe frost forming on the outside of the can. Animations and videos enhance the learning. 

The solar energy industry in the United States added more jobs in 2015 than the oil and gas extraction and pipeline industries combined. With the field growing so rapidly, it's essential to understand what solar energy is and how it...

Some chemical reactions produce heat, but what is really going on? Lesson focuses on the concept of energy changes, both exothermic and endothermic. Scholars perform multiple experiments, hands-on activities, and view videos of the...

If the area you live in is arid, or the preceding experiment in this unit didn't yield obvious results, use this one in place of it to help reveal where condensation comes from. The mini unit that this is part of a comprehensive...

On Earth, a candle flame points up, but on the International Space Station, it forms a sphere. Young scientists practice their skills by recording observations before, during, and after a candle burns. Chemical and physical...

Here is a lesson that offers a great hybrid of forming new skills and using current knowledge to come up with a plan. The class brainstorms information they would need to know or already know about hybrid vehicles. They then group...

Can turning on the television lead to toxins in the food supply? The lesson offers an opportunity for young scientists to complete guided research. A worksheet lists each question as well as the web page necessary to answer the question....

Here's a great geology lesson for 3rd graders on weathering and erosion of soil. After a class discussion on how nature can "move a mountain," learners take a look at how a modern phenoma called acid rain can also cause weathering and...

Steal cubes sink, but steal ships float. Lesson explores the density of solids as well as the density of water in determining what will sink and what will float. A hands-on group activity helps pupils see that weight and volume are...

What has more energy than a room full of pupils after a fire drill? This lesson plan! Explore the changes in energy during different chemical reactions, discover why some reactions feel cold and others feel hot, and tackle the concept of...

Imagine a race to complete a puzzle where each person has the same 50 pieces, knows they are missing other pieces, and must figure out how everything fits together. The winner gets fame, listed in books for years to come, and a financial...

What a big job for such a small particle. Young scientists learn about the role of nanoparticles in catalytic converters for cars. They conduct an experiment to create alginate-MnO2 catalytic spheres. 

Dry ice is extremely cold — it is -109.3°F or -78.5°C. Scholars observe and explain the molecular motion associated with melting. Then they design their own experiments to speed up the melting process. Finally, a teacher presents a...

Precipitation reactions are always interesting. How about one that forms a precipitate using a gas? Chemists of any age will enjoy this twist on a standard solubility lab. Partners observe the lack of interaction between sodium...