What can layers of rock teach us about the climate? Young scientists solve a mystery about who stole a cookie by applying the law of superposition. Then, they apply the same concept to solve a more difficult mystery, trying to determine...

A curated exhibit at a museum has a point of view. Artifacts are selected and arranged to cause viewers to contemplate this point of view or theme. An interactive provides class members with an opportunity to create an exhibit, to curate...

Don't shine like a diamond, refract light like a diamond. Young scientists use an acrylic block and a laser light to observe refraction. Advanced scholars figure the sine of the angles of reflection and incidence as well as mastering...

Are you searching for a purpose for geometric constructions? Use an engaging approach to explore dilations. Scholars create dilations using a construction method of their choice. As they build their constructed dilation, they...

Do polar opposites attract? After an introduction on the polarity of molecules, pupils are asked to design a self-assembling model using materials with different polarity. The challenge should motivate learners to develop a workable...

Using a pinhole in an index card, learners of light find that it can be used as a magnifier. 

Looking for an interesting text to share the world of microbes with your middle school classroom? The edition contains explanations, worksheets, experiments, discussions, and links to outside sources for a true and complete...

Help your class make sense of nutrition labels with the ninth lesson of this series. After explaining the different information provided on packaged food labels, perform an activity that demonstrates the amount of sugar in a single can...

Familiarize your young learners with the parts of a computer and some basic key terms relating to technology. As the teacher demonstrates using an LCD projector, class members practice moving a mouse, opening the Internet, typing in a...

Models are an important part of science; they help us see the world on a scale that works for us. In the first of five lessons on HIV, learners make a paper model of the HIV virus that is about 500,000 times larger than the actual virus....

An interactive website traces the history of Juneteenth celebrations from their origin in Galveston, Texas, on June 19th to the present day.  Using interactive maps, learners can find information about the African-American...

There's nothing negative about this mini-unit on integers! Engaging young mathematicians in a series of hands-on activities and collaborative learning opportunities, this resource offers an excellent way to introduce your class...

Arithmetic and geometric sequences are linear and geometric patterns. Help pupils understand the relationship and see the connection with an activity that asks them to write the rules and classify the patterns correctly. A sorting...

Three activities stem from one hands-on project designed to explore character traits. Scholars create an action figure that reflects their personality to teach others about themselves and role play conversational skills.

Discuss how diseases have impacted human history. Divide your class into groups and assign each group one of the following: tuberculosis, malaria, plague, cholera, smallpox, and AIDS. They read up on, complete a concept map, and present...

Don't just teach learners to fish, but to create fish. The class discusses fish heads and predicts whether where the fish might live and what it eats. Given an index card with a fish adaptation written on it, pupils construct an...

Imagine being part of a team of scientists that discover the oldest human remains in North America. Imagine being part of the crew that documents this discovery. Class members get a change to be part of such an exciting adventure in a...

Inflate your knowledge, not the economy! Pupils learn more about inflation with detailed worksheets and exciting activities such as role play, an interactive PowerPoint presentation, and a project in which they design...

Explore various ecosystems from around the world as your class discovers the interdependence of all living things. Using the provided sets of ecosystem cards, young scientists work in small groups building food webs to demonstrate the...

One of water's claims to fame is as the universal solvent. Young physical scientists experiment to discover which materials dissolve in this special compound. You could never be more prepared for teaching this lesson than by using this...

Ecology candidates culture pond water organisms over a few days time, then they experiment to find out how increasing nutrients affects the population. As part of a unit on water, this exploration gives your class an understanding of how...

Water may appear to be crystal clear, but there could be dissolved substances present. Lab groups make a one-part-per-million of a food coloring solution to demonstrate this concept. As part of an outstanding unit about water, this...

In lab groups, young scientists place aluminum cans with a bubble-solution cap into different temperatures of water to see what size of bubble dome forms. As part of an atmosphere unit in preparation for learning about convection...

Using paper chromatography, water watchers discover that several substances might be dissolved even though they aren't visible. In this case, you will prepare a mixture of three different food colorings for them to experiment with. A...