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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Get the Picture!

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Astronomers practice downloading data from a high-energy satellite and translate the data into colored or shaded pixels. As a hands-on activity, they use pennies to simulate high-energy satellite data and they convert their penny...
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Lab Resource
Colorado State University

How Can You Demonstrate the Different Efficiencies of Different Light Bulbs?

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Need a bright idea for an engaging lab? Watch your class light up as they explore the difference in efficiency between incandescent and LED bulbs! The resource makes use of simple materials and encourages learners to infer what's...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

WiTricity Explained

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explain how electricity is transferred from source to load without actual wires connecting the two. For this physics lesson, students explore how wireless electricity was discovered. They cite practical applications of this...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

CONVECTION

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers experiment to produce a visual convection current in the classroom and compare it to the images taken of convection cells in the Sun. They analyze the source of the Sun's energy and this type of energy transport.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Using Bubbles to Learn about Light Interference

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars explain the wave properties of light.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Using Bubbles to Learn about Light Interference

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students explore constructive interference and destructive interference. In this light travel lesson, students follow procedures to discover how light waves travel and experience interference.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What happens to water before we use it?

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Students examine how water is treated prior to becoming available for human consumption. In this water treatment lesson, students conduct an experiment in which they filter water. Students formulate a hypothesis, test, analyze data, and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Chemiluminescence

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore chemiluminescence through various experiments. In this chemistry lesson, students explain the chemical reaction that drives the process. They give real life applications of chemiluminescence.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Do We Know...?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers identify and explain how various inventions and astronomers have improved our appreciation of the universe. Students identify at least two constellations in the sky and discuss how they were used in ancient times to tell...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Determining Red-Shift in a Receding Star

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students practice manipulating algebra formulas with more than one variable. They examine the topics of velocity, wavelength and frequency. They determine the amount of red-shift in a receding star.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Incandescent Light Bulb

For Teachers 5th - Higher Ed
Students study the history of the light bulb and how an incandescent light bulb works.  In this electricity lesson students complete several experiments on the light bulb.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Climate And the Greenhouse Effect

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students demonstrate the greenhouse effect. They recognize that relatively small changes to our environment can stimulate significant climate changes. They determine that the "scientific method" is a process of testing hypotheses and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Daily and Seasonal Cycles

For Teachers 1st
First graders identify the sun as a source of heat and light. They identify features of houses that help keep use sheltered and comfortable throughout daily and seasonal cycles. Students are told that summer is the best season to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Connection Between Pigment and Light Colors

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students learn the procedure for mixing secondary colors from primary pigments and observe the results of mixing two primary colors.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

You, Me and UV

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore the validity of claims of UV protection. Students research UV rays and the cancer danger presented by these rays. Working in groups, they perform tests on sunglass and sunscreen products to determine if their claim of UV...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Measuring the Speed of Light

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers explore physics by completing measurement problems in class. In this speed of light lesson, students discuss the importance of knowing the speed of light and how it affects many aspects of human life on Earth. High...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Remote Sensing and the Electromagnetitc Spectrum

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders conclude that each color of the spectrum has a different amount of thermal energy by measuring temperature with a thermometer. They infer that there is an invisible band of the spectrum by measuring temperature beyond the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

It's All In The Surface: The Effects Of Color & Texture On The Ability Of A Surface To Absorb Solar Energy

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders examine how dark surfaces absorb more light than light surfaces. They perform an experiment that compares various surfaces abilities to absorb heat, then record and analyze the results.