Sugar isn't good for you, but it's great for microbes. A simple experiment has pupils investigate the digestion of starch by microbes to produce sugars. They apply two bacterial cultures, an amylase solution, and distilled water on a...

Why do I have to do bean counting if I'm not going to become an accountant? The 24th installment of a 35-part module has the class conducting experiments using beans to collect data. Learners use exponential functions to model this...

Young scientists investigate chemical and physical changes to the states of matter—gas, liquid, and solid—as well as solutions and suspensions with a variety of demonstrations, grand conversation, and an interactive quiz to check for...

Properly teach properties with three activities that allow learners to investigate properties of real numbers. The resource covers the identity properties for addition and multiplication, the inverse property for multiplication, and the...

Investigate the properties of rocks and minerals through a rockin' hands-on activity. Learners test rocks for various properties and, using a guide, attempt to identify different samples. They use various properties including hardness,...

Let the lab be a catalyst to learn about enzymes. Scholars create alginate beads filled with yeast. As part of an investigation into enzymes, they see how these beads provide a catalyst to the reaction of glucose into ethanol.

Imagine being forced against your will behind barbed wire for doing nothing but being yourself. Scholars investigate the impact Japanese-American internment camps had during World War II. Through video and archival evidence, they create...

Get an up-close look at energy transfer. Using a three-part activity, investigators first observe a teacher-led demonstration before building a model marble track to convert potential energy to kinetic energy. Scientists explore six...

Heat water up like a NASA engineer. Using the engineering design process, investigators create a system to trap and move heat through a water-filled tube. Designers participate in a post-activity discussion that highlights the role of...

Ninth graders design and conduct an experiment. They evaluate other's experiments. Students describe relationships between biological systems and the environmental contaminants. They work as a team to solve a problem.

Middle schoolers have years of experience when it comes to how their bodies work. Surely they have some questions as well. Here is an opportunity for them to practice the scientific method in an attempt to answer some of those questions....

Students investigate solar energy by making sun tea.  In this ecology and solar energy lesson plan, students prepare traditional tea and "sun" tea, then record and graph data comparing color, clarity, smell and taste.

Begin the year with an emphasis on the NGSS practice standards. The resource provides an 8x10 size poster for each standard. When hung in a classroom, learners have a consistent reminder of what it means to be a scientist.

If it's on the Internet, it must be true—right? How can someone tell if a website contains less-than-truthful information? Savvy surfers evaluate sources in the fifth of a six-part college and career readiness instructional activity...

High schoolers are introduced to the concept of biodegradability. In groups, they use the internet to research the types of materials that affect the process. They collect materials from their local community and develop an experiment...

Students discuss artifacts. In this social science instructional activity, students realize that artifacts can help one in determining about the person the artifacts belonged to. Students will be put into small groups and will look at...

Second graders study Earth's materials. In this air and weather lesson, 2nd graders note changes in the weather and examine tools that help us study the weather. Students analyze how changes in the environment make changes in the...

Best as an introductory lab, this "tornado in a bottle" experiment has learners trying out various methods of getting water in a bottle to create a "tornado." Using a simplified scientific method, they create a hypothesis before...

This is your brain on drugs ... literally! Your neuroscientists-in-training examine the evidence of drug use on the human brain and how neurons change their connectivity when altered by drugs. They then work together to create testing...

Requiring more than one class period, this resource takes earth science learners on a journey through a watershed. Using ArcGIS Explorer, an online geographic information system, they view maps of watersheds and surrounding landscapes....

After choosing one experiment from the four they conducted in the previous lesson, young investigators analyze the evidence they collected to determine if it proves or disproves their original hypothesis.

Third graders determine the outcome of each of the following situations and justify their findings: even number + even number = ?, even number + odd number = ?, odd number + odd number = ?, and odd number + even number = ?.

Are you looking for a shockingly good lesson? Check out one that has middle schoolers recreate four of Benjamin Franklin's experiments. Groups investigate, observe, and draw conclusions about static electricity and electrical current....

Can the class think like the scientists on the International Space Station? Engineers design, test, collect data, and improve a water filtration device similar to a system found on the ISS. Participants use pH strips, optional...