Unit Plan
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PBS

Blow the Roof Off!

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Blow the minds of young scientists with this collection of inquiry-based investigations. Based on a series of eight videos, these "hands-on, minds-on" science lessons engage young learners in exploring a wide range of topics...
Unit Plan
Colorado Unit Writing Project

Simple Machines

For Teachers 2nd - 5th Standards
Planning an elementary science unit has never been simpler! These twelve lessons guide young scientists through an exploration of simple machines and their many uses in the real world before asking them to apply their learning...
Lesson Plan
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network

Nanotechnology Invention and Design: Phase Changes, Energy, and Crystals

For Teachers 9th - 12th
What does it take to be considered a smart material? Learners investigate the properties of Nitinol, a smart material, through a hands-on lab activity. They examine the crystal lattice structure and the conditions required for Nitinol to...
Lesson Plan
Science Matters

Energy from Water Wheels

For Teachers 6th Standards
Historians believe the first vertical water wheel was invented in Rome during the Augustan Age. The sixth instructional activity in the series of 10 has scholars experiment with designing their own water wheels. Through testing various...
Activity
American Chemical Society

Energy and Entropy of a Stretched Rubber Band

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
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...
Lesson Plan
American Institute of Physics

The Black Scientific Renaissance of the 1970s-90s: African American Scientists at Bell Laboratories

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed Standards
A two-part lesson plan asks young scientists to research the contributions of African American scientists at Bell Laboratories. After presenting their findings, class members watch two demonstrations that introduce them to total internal...