Curated OER
Help Wanted: A Lighting Engineer For Popular Rock Group
Students are assigned to groups, and determine each member's role in the group. They will design an experiment to determine a way to produce the three primary and five secondary colors. Students discuss color and mood. They listen to a...
Curated OER
Using Environmental Models to Determine the Effect of Acid Rain on an Ecosystem
Demonstrate to your middle school science learners how chalk breaks down in a weak acid. Discuss what affects acidic rain might have on ecosystems. Lab groups then choose one of two questions: "How does acid precipitation affect an...
Discovery Education
The Everyday Science of Sports
Physical science juniors will enjoy this sensational enrichment on aerodynamics, especially if they are also sports fans! With a focus on physical features and behaviors, collaborative groups make observations on five different golf...
Curated OER
Altering a Plant Environment
Students investigate what a controlled group is by creating an experiment. In this plant growth lesson, students identify the different parts of a plant and discuss what is needed for a plant to be successfully grown....
Curated OER
Fortune Teller Fish
Students demonstrate how to create and test a hypothesis. They design an experiment and set up a variable, experimental group and control group.
Curated OER
Does The Type of Mulch Used Affect Plant Growth?
Students measure, record and graph the plants they grow in a controlled setting. They feed and water the plants as needed and use the scientific method to evaluate the growth.
Kenan Fellows
Terrarium in a Bottle: Modeling the Atmosphere, Greenhouse Effect, and Water Cycle
You've heard of farm to table ... but what about farm in classroom? Junior agriculturalists embark upon a two-week journey into the science of growing things. Based upon the classic terrarium in a two-liter experiment, the lesson goes...
Curated OER
Experimenting with Motion
Students design an experiment to change the motion of a rolling marble. In this designing an experiment lesson plan, students form a research question, they develop a hypothesis and they design an experiment using a graphic organizer to...
American Chemical Society
Crushing Test
Solidify understanding of the properties of crystals by crushing them to compare hardness. After some class discussion, a procedure is planned, and then small groups go about making observations as they crush five different crystal...
American Chemical Society
M&M's in Different Temperatures
Help your class come up with a procedure for comparing the dissolving rates of colored candy coating in different temperatures of water. If you are placing importance on controlled variables with your class, make sure that they use equal...
Curated OER
Solar Kit Lesson #11 - Power Maximum: An Electrical Determination
Collaborative groups connect resistors and solar panels in series and measure electrical resistance, voltage, and current. The objective is to order 16 solar panels from strongest to weakest. They graph current-voltage and power curves...
Mascil Project
Parachute Food Drop
Drop a perfect project into your lesson plans. Groups use different building materials to create models of parachutes for food drops. After testing out their prototypes, they make improvements to their designs.
Virginia Department of Education
Light and the Electromagnetic Spectrum
Lead your class in a fun-filled team activity that encourages collaboration while learning important concepts. Pupils actively participate in a discussion on the experimental design and the role of mirrors. They perform group activities...
American Chemical Society
Does Temperature Affect Dissolving?
When making sweet tea, why do people dissolve the sugar in hot tea instead of cold tea? The class discusses the previous lab and builds upon it. Working in groups, they design an experiment to determine how temperature affects the...
Curated OER
The Atlatl System
Fifth graders are introduced to the atlatl system and how to test and control variables. In groups, they use the Internet to research how the system has changed over time. They test various variables and record their results in a graph...
Curated OER
Experimenting with Motion
Pupils study motion and how different variables can change the outcome. In this motion lesson students answer questions about their experiment and see what the different variables did.
Curated OER
Environmental Graphing
Students experiment with graphing. In this graphing introduction lesson, students complete four activities: 1) a bar graph based on class birthdays 2) an estimation graph of the raisins in raisin bread 3) another estimation example with...
Curated OER
Marble Madness
Students determine the velocity of a marble rolling down the incline. In this physics instructional activity, students identify the independent and dependent variables in the experiment. They construct and analyze a graph.
Curated OER
Electromagnets
Students improve their science skills by designing an experiment for the relationship between electricity and magnetism. In this science skills instructional activity, students discuss the scientific method and use the given materials to...
Curated OER
Measuring Temperature and the Production of CO2 in Yeast
Young scholars use a model experiment to complete an experiment on yeast. In groups, they identify the independent and dependent variables and use the scientific method to complete the activity. They record their observations and discuss...
Curated OER
Testing the Accuracy of a Rain Gauge
Students identify and test variables that may affect the accuracy of a rain gauge. They share findings of their research with the class in a 'mini-meteorology-convention'. They design an experiment with a control setup to test their...
Curated OER
Graphing Pendulum Results
Sixth graders set up a pendulum experiment deciding which variable to manipulate (length of string or weight on the string). They create a hypothesis, collect necessary equipment, and write out each step of their experiment. They then...
Curated OER
Macromolecule Lab
During a macromolecule lab, young chemists perform multiple tests, including iodine starch tests, to determine if eight mystery foods contain lipids, sugars, or starches.
American Chemical Society
Temperature and the Rate of a Chemical Reaction
Putting glow sticks in the freezer makes them last longer, but why is that? Lesson focuses on how temperature impacts the rate of a chemical reaction. It begins with a teacher demonstration, then scholars design their own experiments...