Curated OER
Matter and Energy
Students explore energy by completing a science worksheet in class. In this principles of matter instructional activity, students define the vocabulary terms force, gravity, nuclear, and electromagnetic before reading assigned text about...
Curated OER
Steamship Portland: Where's the Energy?
Young scholars examine how steamships operate. They describe the necessary energy conversions. They construct a model paddlewheel ship. They use rubber bands as examples of potential and kinetic energy as they unwind and set the models...
Curated OER
Electromagnetic and Physical Waves
Students compare and contrast electromagnetic and physical waves. In this wave lesson, students discover that all waves reflect, refract, and diffract energy. Students work in small groups to experiment with waves and evaluate the type...
Curated OER
Light and Elements
Here is a full-fledged investigation of light waves, the electromagnetic spectrum, and element spectra. Physicists research a scientist that contributed to our understanding of the behavior of light. They take notes on your lecture, and...
Curated OER
Electromagnets
Students explore electricity by completing a scientific worksheet in class. In this electromagnetism lesson, students discuss the history of magnets and how electromagnets are most commonly used in our daily lives. Students complete a...
Curated OER
Power: Work and Energy
Students explore how work and energy create power. They complete activities involving simple machines, energy, energy conversion, and the role of conductors and insulators. They choose from a menu of options the activities they would...
Curated OER
The Photoelectric Effect
After some online instruction, chemistry aces use their creative abilities to produce a poster describing the photoelectric effect and one type of imaging technology that uses electromagnetic radiation. This simple, straightforward...
Curated OER
Science: Generating Electricity
Eighth graders examine the various methods of generating electricity and explain their commonalities. They determine what is the most common source of energy and what are the potential environmental health hazards due to electrical...
National Wildlife Federation
Quantifying Land Changes Over Time Using Landsat
"Humans have become a geologic agent comparable to erosion and [volcanic] eruptions ..." Paul J. Crutzen, a Nobel Prize-winning atmospheric chemist. Using Landsat imagery, scholars create a grid showing land use type, such as urban,...
Curated OER
Applied Science - Built Environment (3) Pre Lab
Third graders discuss types of transportation. In this transportation lesson, 3rd graders discuss common ways people get around and the effect of electric energy on our society. They write a paragraph about different kinds of...
Curated OER
Forces And Energy
Learners investigate the atom and how it is formed. They conduct research using a variety of resources and then construct a model of the atom. Then students have class discussion. The instructional activity includes background...
NASA
Things Are Not Always What They Seem
Science is magic that works. Magical color-changing beads and a coffee can that follows voice commands are just two examples of magic tricks that rely on science. After completing a hands-on activity and an experiment investigating the...
Curated OER
Physics- global warming
Young scholars discuss the concept of global warming and view a multimedia clip on the global warming phenomenon. They statistically analyze mean temperature data and compare a given set of data. Data on atmospheric CO2 is done then...
Curated OER
Measuring the Speed of Light
Students 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. Students identify...
Curated OER
To See or Not to See: The Colors of Light
Seventh graders describe and conduct an experiment that identifies the physical properties of light. They explore sources of visible light and an electromagnetic spectrum. Students explain the conversion of one form of energy to another.
Curated OER
Ways to See the Sun
Students examine how the regions of the Sun are studied using spectroscopy. They investigate the electromagnetic spectrum and the types of radiation that are associated with it. They use prisms and CD's to examine the light spectrum....
Cornell University
Shedding a "Little" Light on Cancer Surgery
Many types of cancer treatments now depend on nanotechnology—a big "little" discovery. Scholars begin by removing "malignant" tissue from simulated brains, one using fluorescent markers thanks to nanotechnology and one without. This...
National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science
Cell Phone Use and Cancer
The cell phone you're using is making you deaf: news at 11:00. Oftentimes, the media uses fear tactics and other techniques to increase its audience base. In an intriguing look at the difference between scientific journals and...
Curated OER
Wavelengths of Light
Explore physical science by participating in a visual spectrum experiments. Budding scientists identify the colors in the color spectrum and view the colors in class by utilizing cellophane, flash lights, and other arts and crafts...
Curated OER
Sound Observations
Students explore sound waves by conducting an experiment in class. In this sound frequency instructional activity, students utilize a tuning fork in class and identify which objects in class create different sound pitches on the fork....
Curated OER
Online Exploration: Telescopes From the Ground Up
Students explore a web-based illustrated text and interactive graphics to determine the relationship between the operation of telescopes and light. optics. They work in small groups to become an expert on one of the ten eras of telescope...
Curated OER
Magnetism
Middle schoolers experiment with the concept of magnetism. Working in small groups, students design an experiment to test the magnet attraction of various substances. After completing their experiments, middle schoolers research...
Curated OER
How Did That Get in My Lunch?
Middle schoolers view "The Danger Zone" to learn about food poisoning and the bacterial causes and prevention. Students look at slides, use a worksheet, "Microbial Bugs"and the internet to identify and learn about each bacterium.
Curated OER
Identifying Clouds
Eighth graders research and present to the class information about cloud categories. They observe clouds and describe the characteristics of their cloud observations. They take a cloud identification quiz.