Whether determining orbitals of space craft or designing experiments with conductive dough, many young scientists discover physics is phun and attempt the AP exam to get college credit. Use the free response questions from the 2018...

Continental drift happens over millions of years, but new perspective shows much faster changes. An informative resource offers a short term perspective using a series of satellite images. Viewers observe major changes to a coastline in...

The story "Santa's Dirty Socks" provides learners an example of a search algorithm that uses a divide and conquer system similar to a binary search algorithm. The included questions expand upon the concepts that follow the story.

Let the true colors shine through. Pupils conduct a flame test to identify an unknown element. Class members calculate and prepare specific molarity solutions of three chemicals. Using their observations of the colors emitted, they...

Pupils attempt to solve the Wireless Hotspot Problem and learn why it is considered a computationally hard problem in the ninth lesson of the series on 12. They also learn about one-way functions and how the Wireless Hotspot Problem is...

Four lessons, each following the same routine, explore the careers of a teacher, nurse, electrician, geologist, plumber, and police officer. After listening to a read-aloud and thoughtful discussion, young scholars construct puppets...

The intent of this lesson is to introduce young scientists to the steps of the scientific method. To this end, they consider the question, "Which brand of battery lasts longest?" In this case, the experiment is carried out as a class,...

Students must plan, design, and conduct an experiment that answers the scientific question: "Come up with a question that addresses the factors (variables) of the water and its effect on whether an object floats or sinks."

Students explore the idea of scientific observation and the use of a journal to record their observations. They examine the proper vocabulary used when describing scientific inquiry. Students observe a science experiment and they discuss...

Students delve into science fiction. In this Doctor Who lesson, students discuss the success of the British television show and then create pieces of writing and art that characterize Doctor Who. Students also visit selected websites to...

Second graders experiment to find if pollinators have color preferences.  In this plant and bug lesson, 2nd graders gather information about how flowers pollinate. Students participate in a pollination experiment using the...

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.

Over the course of three class periods, middle schoolers design an experiment to provide learner input to administration about which rock band to invite to play at school. They practice several random sampling exercises, all well...

Make your lesson on radioactive decay pop with this lab exercise. Using popcorn kernels spread over a tabletop, participants pick up all of those that point toward the back of the room, that is, those that represent decayed atoms. As the...

High schoolers work together to brainstorm their obstacles in testing different scientific principles. In groups, they are given a scenerio with a specific dilemma and they use the internet to research how to solve the problem. They...

Students build a device that captures and carries a pet rat safely back to its cage with out "harming" the rat or themselves. They build and experiment with wind-up or battery operated rat cat toys after predicting the outcome of their...

Science Students build a pooper scooper tool that helps them clean up after a dog without getting their hands dirty or their noses too close. They research the diseases that can be transported through animal waste and work in teams to...

After reading an interesting account of how the X-1 aircraft was designed, built, and utilized, young engineers try their hand at constructing a paper glider version of the airplane. They cut out the plane out of a nicely designed...

This is the grown-up version of the classic "float an egg in salt water" experience, plus an experiment in soap making. High schoolers explore density, but more importantly, practice accuracy, precision, and the use of significant...

What a wonderful way to explore wind power! Through this lesson, learners get a background in the history of wind power, create their own wind turbine, and the test their designs. This is a terrific way to tie scientific principles to...

An excellent lesson on the water cycle! In it, learners should gain a general understanding of the water cycle, along with how water first falls as precipitation, then ends up coming out of our faucets. This lesson nicely integrates...

Learners extract DNA from their own hair roots. They run an electrophoresis gel to examine patterns of their DNA along with standard DNA. The experiment is based on a crime scene scenario.

After a discussion of chemical reactions and electricity, scholars break into groups and follow a scripted activity to discover if fruit can power a clock. After a concluding discussion, the class a presented with a challenge.

Students discover the properties of light (radiant) energy from the sun by experimenting with solar collectors, cookers, and calculators. After a lecture/demo, students create their own solar collectors and test their efficiency.