Serendip
Homeostasis and Negative Feedback – Concepts and Breathing Experiments
More asthma attacks happen at higher altitudes, but why? Scholars complete worksheets, learning about homeostasis and feedback related to breathing. Then, they work in small groups to experiment with breathing in limited amounts of...
Virginia Department of Education
Osmosis, Diffusion, and Active Transport
No, it really is okay to play with your food! Emerging scientists manipulate popcorn, eggs, and other household objects as they demonstrate multiple cellular processes. The activity, capable of modifications, is designed to reflect the...
Curated OER
Shadows & Light, Science & Puppetry
Lights, shadows, action, and inquiry await your artistic scientists. They explore the way light travels, absorbs, reflects, and transmits through shadow play. They create folktale-inspired shadow puppets, explore the science of light,...
CK-12 Foundation
Scientific Models: Mathematical, Physical and Conceptual
This is one super model interactive! Middle and high school science scholars examine scientific models through a simple resource. Guided, hands-on practice allows them to classify conceptual, mathematical, and physical models. Other...
Curated OER
Sensing Energy: Designing to Stay Cool
Students examine the energy the sun produces on a daily basis. In groups, they discover the properties of visible and invisible light. They also adjust the exposure time to change the properties of various objects. To end the lesson,...
The New York Times
Laboratory Experiment
For any science class, learners can use this lab sheet to plan an experiment. It includes a space for the title, question, materials, setup, and procedure. If you want your class to complete this in typed form, you can provide the web...
Kenan Fellows
Designing a Water Treatment Plant
How does dirty water get clean enough to drink? After viewing a PowerPoint that outlines the process water goes through at a water treatment plant, groups work together to design a chlorination chamber for a treatment plant.
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Spring Scale Engineering
After examining how a spring scale works, teams work together to design their own general measurement device. Reading material provides background information, but there is no part of the procedure in which learners handle an actual...
Virginia Department of Education
Vapor Pressure and Colligative Properties
Hate to vacuum, but enjoy using a vacuum pump? Explore a instructional activity that starts with a demonstration of boiling water at various temperatures by using a vacuum pump. Then scholars design their own experiments to measure vapor...
Curated OER
Roller Coasters
Twisting and turning through the sky, roller coasters are popular attractions at amusement parks around the world, but how exactly do they work? Explore the physics behind these thrilling rides with an engineering design activity....
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Solar Structures
It's time to soak up the sun! Youngsters read about active and passive solar heating systems, then they collaborate to create a miniature solar-heated building. Provide a variety of materials for them to incorporate and watch their...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Chair Lift Challenge
During the Winter Olympics, this would be an engaging task to include in your STEM lesson. Design teams plan, construct, and test a miniature ski lift that can carry a pingpong ball up and down a rope line without falling out. With this...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Tracking Genetically Modified Mosquitoes
What's that buzzing in your ear? An insightful lesson about genetically modified mosquitoes! Partnered pupils explore the creation, release, and monitoring of mosquitoes designed to reduce the mosquito population. After watching a video,...
University of California
Heating and Cooling of the Earth's Surface
Scholars collect data from heating sand and water before forming testable hypotheses about why sand heats up faster. Afterward, they develop and run experiments to test their hypotheses.
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Keep it Cool
This cool lesson plan is ideal for elementary engineers or physical scientists, especially when learning about heat transfer and insulation. After reading a page of background information, engineering teams collaborate to design and...
American Physiological Society
Why is Kettle Corn Cooked in Copper Pots?
The kitchen — it's not just for eating anymore! Specific heat is often a difficult concept to grasp, so give it context by relating it to cooking. Learners gain experience in the principles of thermal energy transfer by designing an...
American Museum of Natural History
Train of Thought
Hop aboard the train of thought. A remote learning resource has learners consider thought experiments to consider scientific theories. It provides two examples, one on orbiting bodies and the other on the speed of light, for them to work...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Arduino Blink Challenge
Emerging engineers read about Arduino software and how it can be used. Then they follow a nine-step tutorial to connect an Arduino board to a computer and put it to work! The objective is to code a program that will cause an LED to...
American Physiological Society
Thermal Insulators: Keep it Hot!
There's nothing like a cup of hot chocolate on a chilly winter's day. Except for when that hot chocolate quickly becomes lukewarm chocolate ... or even cold chocolate. What material provides the best insulation to keep the chocolate from...
American Physiological Society
What Environmental Conditions Lead to the Hatching of Brine Shrimp?
Will changing the environment in which brine shrimp live impact their reproductive success? Young scientists get hands-on experience studying the habitat of brine shrimp in a two-week immersion lesson. The teacher's guide provides all of...
Curated OER
Water Experiment
Here is a great lesson designed for very young scientists. In it, they act out the famous Aesops fable, "The Crow and the Pitcher." In doing this, they get to experience water displacement first-hand. Some terrific extension activities...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Pulse Chase Primer: The Meselson-Stahl Experiment
Experimental design can make or break an experiment. Young scholars analyze the pulse-chase analysis procedure by studying the Meselson-Stahl experiment. Using a video presentation, they discover how the pulse-chase analysis led to the...
Purdue University
Can You Design a Hot or Cold Pack?
You're getting warmer. Groups conduct an experiment to determine which of four chemicals are in hot/cold packs. They learn about exothermic and endothermic reactions and use this knowledge to design a hot/cold pack that is small enough...
Curated OER
Dental Chemistry Analogy
After taking in background information on teeth, marble, eggshell, and fluoride, chemistry aces design an experiment. Their goal is to demonstrate whether or not fluoride has a similar effect on marble or eggshell as it does on tooth...