Young scientists investigate the scientific concepts and principles that help make common toys such as hula hoops, yo-yos, slinkies, and silly putty work. As a class, they read "Backyard Rocket Science, Served Wet" to get a look behind...

Inquiry-based learning and investigations form the basis of a deep understanding of quadratic functions in a very thorough unit plan.  Learners develop recursive and closed methods for representing real-life situations,...

Ideal for your electricity unit, especially with middle schoolers, this lesson plan gets engineers using multimeters in electrical circuits to explore the relationships among voltage, current, and resistance. Older learners may even plot...

Middle schoolers engage in a lesson that is concerned with the concept of a simple machine and uses the law of motion to justify why they operate. Students explore the laws by constructing some simple machines to illustrate the concepts.

Learners calculate the speed of string racers. In this physics lesson, students measure the time in several trials and get the average. They graph their results using a spreadsheet.

Fourth graders apply concepts of Newton's Laws in scientific inquiries. Use this lesson to have your charges test and identify the characteristics of objects that make them easier or harder to push. After a teacher-led demonstration,...

Students investigate aircraft design to learn many concepts of physics. In this aircraft design lesson, students use balsa wood and styrofoam to build an aircraft based on their study of wing designs, aviation, and through the use of an...

Four activities demonstrate the chain reaction of nuclear fission to your physical science fans: falling dominoes, snapping mouse traps, throwing paper wads, and igniting a series of matches. They perform additional...

Think outside the box - and think about education beyond the classroom walls - with a resource that has your critical thinkers watching a video about a nursery in Scotland that lets youngsters roam wild in a forest....

More than a week's worth of investigation is provided in this source. Physical science stars experiment to describe specific heat, conduction, convection, and radiation. They also discover the relationship between mechanical and thermal...

Get things moving with this elementary science unit on simple machines. Through a series of nine lessons including teacher demonstrations, hands-on activities, and science experiments, young scientists learn about forces, motion,...

Students analyze water quality and turbidity of collected samples. In this physics lesson, students conduct tests to identify the suspended particles in the samples. They explain how human activities affect water quality.

Physical science starters play with a pendulum in order to experience periodicity. Detailed procedures and a worksheet are included for day one. For day two, learners will use a graphing calculator to help them plot orbit data from a...

This set of seven activities attracts physical science stars to concepts concerning magnetism. Pupils play with a lodestone, magnets, needles, and iron filings to understand magnetic forces, fields, and applications. If you are new to...

Fourth graders use tangram sets to investigate the congruence of shapes. They use congruent shapes to demonstrate the properties of slides, flips, and turns. They complete a math journal entry that describes and illustrates each concept.

Pupils investigate conservation laws using a potato launcher. In this physics lesson, students measure angles, time and distance of the potato. They discuss applications of experiments like this.

Sixth graders explore the concept of density as a relationship of an object's mass to its volume. Densities of a variety of objects are compared and used to identify an unknown object.

Students perform experiments that demonstrate the characteristics of air pressure. In this physics lesson, students participate and observe experiments using simple household items. The results of these experiments are used to help the...

Young scholars examine and discuss how water changes from a liquid to a solid to a gas. They explore this concept by having an ice cube race, competing to see which group can change the solid water back into liquid water first.

An educational lesson plan focuses on the idea of conservation of matter through a demonstration of the water cycle, a discussion of digesting food, and the path of carbon and oxygen atoms as they change form. 

Students examine the effects that cultural background and specific historical events have upon the development of a colony. They research the colonies to design their own.

Fourth graders investigate Newton's Second and Third Laws of Motion. They determine what makes objects harder or easier to push. While investigating they determine how applying force in order balance out gravity allows things to stay...

Learners explore Earth science by participating in an environmental care activity. In this natural resources lesson, students discuss ways to protect themselves from the environment if they are ever in need of shelter in the wilderness....

Students examine worm habitats. In this animal habitats lesson, students participate in a lab activity that requires them to explore the adaptations that earthworms make to their environment.