After reading about polymer materials, engineer trainees examine how plastics have been integrated into everyday products. In groups, they compile a list of products made entirely without plastics and then, as a closing activity, try to...

Polymers are an important part of our day-to-day lives, but how much do your pupils know about them? Learn the basics and beyond in a series of activities designed to build skills in observation, planning, organic chemistry, and bonding.

Stephen Perry invented and patented the modern rubber band in 1845. Young scientists put his discovery to work as they use rubber bands to observe entropy and enthalpy. They determine the change in free energy to figure out if it...

Students create a polymer out of glue, water, and borax. They discuss the resulting substance and perform several experiments with it.

How do green plastics reduce waste and environmental pollution? Budding scientists create and test a variety of compounds used in green plastics during an insightful experiment. Beginning with startling statistics and ending with...

Sometimes it's okay to eat your science experiment. A hands-on activity has pupils create models for algae to learn about its cellular structure. The best part of the experiment? The resulting juice-filled gels are edible—yum!

From molecules to nanotubes, an engaging unit explores the world of tiny science. Fifteen hands-on experiments and lessons engage young scientists as they learn chemistry. Discussions, worksheets, and data analysis reinforce the concepts...

Carbon, the base for all organic compounds, exists in nature in its purest form as graphite or diamonds. The 25th lesson in a series of 36 teaches pupils the nomenclature of organic compounds. Learners read about how to use the IUPAC...

From the start of the Industrial Revolution, it only took 147 years for someone to invent plastic. This may seem like a long time, but in the history of inventing or discovering new materials, this is incredibly fast. An informative and...

Mold your learners into materials engineers. Using glue, Borax, and water, scholars create a viscoelastic material. But your class might know it by another name—Silly Putty.

Learners discuss methods of building forms with clay (ball and variations, snake, flat sheets). They draw a stick figure of what their sculpture may look like, including correct figure proportion.

We have all heard that we are what you eat, but what are we eating? An informative lesson opens with a discussion of the foods pupils have recently eaten. Then, young scientists perform four experiments on seven...

Students build anatomically correct dragonflies of polymer clay, use vocabulary for body parts, and define the function of the body parts as adaptations for survival.

Young scholars identify and use the elements of the scientific inquiry to solve problems. They explain concepts about the structure and properties of matter. Pupils write an explanation of polymers and how the characteristic of...

High schoolers are able to give specific examples of what to do and what not to do during given safety situations, and classify materials as metals, polymers, ceramics/glass, or composites. They are able to distinguish between chemical...

Young artists use Paintstik colors on paper, canvas, metal, fabric or another surface to create a work of art to be presented in a gallery. Students research the origins of the "Snakebasket" they are creating. These art lessons produce...

Students view images of Warhol/Basquiat collaboration and discuss them using the questions listed in the lesson. They work in groups to choose a theme or topic relating to American culture and discuss ideas about symbols that could be...

Students are able to identify start and stop sequences in DNA. They are able to model using restriction enzyme and ligase to remove sections of DNA and reattach them. Students are introduced to the process of recombinat DNA through the...

Students explain the basic concepts of polymerization. Students participate in a lab to create a crude preparation of carboxyl esterase and test its effectiveness in reducing the residual monomer in an emulsion such as paint.

Students examine the law of conservation of momentum. In this physics instructional activity, students play marbles in order to compare the mass of the marble and velocities effects. Students receive directions of the marbles game and...

Students examine identity represented in contemporary drawing. In this art analysis lesson, students analyze identity in the art images. Students complete image based discussion. Students create a work on paper with a message. Students...

Students examine the different artistic styles of three artists and the stereotypes of women they represent in their art. In this art analysis instructional activity, students analyze the art of Willem de Kooning, Roy Lichtenstein, and...