Adolescence and teenage years are very difficult in terms of emotions, primarily due to the amount of change going on in growing teens' lives. Guide middle schoolers through disruptive changes and transitions with a set of activities...

More than 90 percent of chemical products are made using a catalyst. Lesson demonstrates the way a catalyst changes the rate of reaction without altering the chemical reaction. A catalyst doesn't appear as a reactant or a product, yet it...

What makes particles attract? Here, learners engage in multiple activities that fully describe colligative properties and allow the ability to critically assess the importance of these properties in daily life. Young chemists...

Young historians discover the early people of the western hemisphere. The unit explores how the land changed, how it was used and homes of early Americans such as Incas, Mayans, Inuits, Aztecs, and Pueblos. Individuals also examine these...

Students practice making change. In this money instructional activity, students complete worksheets in which they find the amount of change they would receive from a dollar bill amount. Students go online and play games on this same...

Tired of waiting for hot water? Groups of three determine the efficiency of an electric water-heating device. They calculate the amount of energy it takes to heat the water and the theoretical amount of energy required to heat the water....

An object in motion will remain in motion, and your physics learners will really get moving by viewing this PowerPoint! They examine each of Newton's laws of motion, learning about force, inertia, acceleration, and equilibrium. They are...

A 10-item activity challenges scholars to change verbs to adverbs using their knowledge of adjectives and suffixes. 

Feeling a little uncertain about your materials for teaching the quantum mechanical model of the atom? Here is an interactive that will help! Chemistry and physics scholars alike will benefit from a simple resource that illustrates the...

What does popcorn have to do with math?  Seventh grade mathematicians are provided an opportunity to develop a conceptual understanding of the formula for volume and to use it as a tool to solve problems. The lesson begins with a...

Students find the percent of oxygen in potassium chlorate. In this percent composition lesson plan, students heat a solution of potassium chlorate using a catalyst, manganese dioxide, to decompose the potassium chlorate and release...

Why do athletes load up on carbohydrates the evening before a competition? The instructional activity helps answer this question as it relates the type of food to the amount of energy it contains. After a discussion, scholars...

Sharing is caring—especially with brownies! Young mathematicians use an interactive to split a batch of brownies between several friends given constraints. They answer some challenge questions to check that each friend has the correct...

Scholars become experts on the eight major impacts of climate change through a jigsaw and grand conversation. They then research and present what they learned about effects specific to their region.    

The fourth activity in a series of five has classes participate in a jigsaw to learn about global impacts of climate change and then share their new information with a home group. Groups then research impacts of climate change (droughts,...

Do spontaneous reactions really occur? Activity 12 in a series of 36 focuses on spontaneity of chemical reactions. Learners read about, discuss, and answer questions pertaining to entropy, explain the third law of thermodynamics, explore...

What happens when ice melts? Well ... water happens. When that melting ice is a glacier, the amount of water that results produces change throughout the world. Middle school science sleuths uncover the truth about global...

Get your class outside to observe their surroundings with a instructional activity highlighting weather patterns and seasonal changes. First, learners take a weather walk to survey how the weather affects animals, people, plants, and...

How did Charles Darwin support his controversial theory of evolution with evidence? Use an excerpt from his 1859 work On the Origin of Species to reinforce the importance of making inferences within an informational text, and to...

If a car gets heavier, it goes farther? By running an activity several times, teams experience Newton's Second Law of Motion. The teams vary the amount of weight they catapult off a wooden block car and record the distance the...

With the global temperature on the rise, the effects of climate change are starting to be seen. However, many people have a difficult time conceptualizing the long-term effects, such as sea levels rising. Given an easy and effective...

Take a look at acceleration within the context of automotive technology. They vary the mass on a toy car and run it down a ramp, exploring Newton's second law of motion. Though this is a classic lab activity, you will appreciate the...

Are you nuts? An engaging experiment burns nuts to find their kilocalories. Young chemists analyze at least two different types of nuts with their experimental results versus what is on the package. The resource offers a great lab...

In this recognizing ways to make the given amounts of money activity, students read the total amounts of change and fill in the columns telling the numbers of pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters needed. Students solve 10 problems.