Science 4 Inquiry
Maintaining Mass
Can you disprove the law of conservation of mass? Pupils observe the teacher weigh each part of a reaction. Then, the teacher weighs the result of the reaction and everyone sees that the products do not equal the reactants. Then they...
Integrated Physics and Chemistry
Law of Conservation of Matter
Does mass change during a chemical reaction? Demonstrate the Law of Conservation of Matter while encouraging class members to be creative with a two-part lesson. First, learners use Alka-Seltzer® tablets and water to demonstrate the...
California Academy of Science
How Big is Big?
In a math or life science class, "mini-me" models are created with cardstock to reflect a 1:10 scale of students' bodies. Learners measure each others' heights with meter sticks, and then reduce the size by 10. After this exercise, they...
Serendip
Photosynthesis Investigation
Can scientists increase the rate of photosynthesis to help clean the air? Scholars complete an experiment determining net photosynthesis. Then, they apply knowledge from the activity to design their own investigations of the factors that...
Curated OER
Glenbrook South High School Science Scoring Rubric: Student Laboratory Reports
Here is an unexpected, but practical resource. It is not a activity, but rather an outline of what a science laboratory participant should include in a report. Especially valuable is a grading rubric that spells out what is expected for...
Curated OER
Crafting Models of Efficiency
Students build and compare models of both an energy inefficient and efficient classroom. In this energy efficiency lesson, students creatively use recycled materials to build two separate classroom models. They factor in concepts such as...
Teach Engineering
About Accuracy and Approximation
How accurate are robots? Groups draw lines by moving robots backwards and forwards by one rotation of the wheels. Using the appropriate formula, they determine the percent error in the length of the lines in relation to the calculated...
Shodor Education Foundation
Playing with Probability
Review basic probability concepts with your class using different-colored marbles in a bag. Then pair up learners and have them play a cool online interactive game in which they race miniature cars using the roll of a die or...
Kenan Fellows
Sensors, Sensors…..Everywhere! Middle School Meteorologist Create Weather Bots!
My forecast is that you'll want to use the resource. Pupils design and create a weather bot as part of a project-based unit. These bots should be able to measure temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed and direction, and...
Teach Engineering
Earthquakes Living Lab: FAQs about P Waves, S Waves and More
Let's talk about earthquakes .... Using the Internet, pupils research what causes earthquakes, how scientists measure them, their locations, and their effects. The resource is not only informative, but it also builds crucial...
Curated OER
What Do Bread and Beer Have in Common?
Students listen to an explanation of yeast cells and how they effect bread and beer. They discuss the ways alcohol affects the human body and participate in an indirect observation about cell respiration in yeast-molasses cultures.
Teach Engineering
Physics Tug of War
Slide books with a little assistance from Newton. Using books, groups create a demonstration of Newton's Second Law of motion. Pupils compare the distance traveled by one and two books when they apply a force to them.
Teach Engineering
Maximum Mentos Fountain
A messy fountain is potentially an energy experiment in disguise. Groups investigate the variables in creating a fountain from soda and Mentos. The last activity in a six-part series on energy has the class observe the fountain in terms...
Teach Engineering
Earthquakes Living Lab: Designing for Disaster
Build and design to rock and roll. Pairs research building design in earthquake areas and use computer simulations to see the effects of earthquakes on buildings,. They then sketch and explain a building design that would withstand...
Curated OER
Which Muscles?- Olympic Learn and Play Sports
In this math, science, and physical education worksheet, learners brainstorm and study about the muscles that are used while participating in different Olympic sports. They color the muscle groups of the body by follow the directions...
University of California
Hot! Hot! Hot!
Calories are not tiny creatures that sew your clothes tighter every night, but what are they? A science lesson, presented at multiple levels, has learners experiment with heat, heat transfer, and graph the function over time....
Virginia Department of Education
Heat and Thermal Energy Transfer
How does radiation affect our daily lives? Answer that question and others with a lesson that discusses radiation and its use in thermal energy transfer through electromagnetic waves. Pupils investigate vaporization and...
Virginia Department of Education
Laboratory Safety and Skills
Avoiding lab safety rules will not give you super powers. The lesson opens with a demonstration of not following safety rules. Then, young chemists practice their lab safety while finding the mass of each item in a mixture and trying to...
Teach Engineering
Earthquakes Living Lab: The Theory of Plate Tectonics
Find out if your class agrees with Ice Age: Continental Drift ... or if it's just a fun family movie! Class members research the theory of continental drift, examine evidence of plate tectonics, connect...
Teach Engineering
Earthquakes Living Lab: Geology and Earthquakes in Japan
Sometimes it seems as if earthquakes hit the same places over and over again. Class members study Japan in order to determine why earthquakes keep happening there. Pairs work together to research and try to determine whether there...
Teach Engineering
Earthquakes Living Lab: Geology and the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake
We can learn from the past to protect the future. Pairs look at two historical earthquakes: San Francisco, Calif., and Kobe, Japan. Pupils compare the two earthquakes and their impacts, then determine how engineers may use the...
NOAA
Deep-Sea Ecosystems – A Tale of Deep Corals
Many have debated which came first, the chicken or the egg, but this lesson debates which came first, the hydrocarbons or the carbonate reef. After a discussion on deep-sea corals, scholars receive a set of questions to research and...
Cornell University
Catapults
Ready, aim, fire! Launch to a new level of understanding as scholars build and test their own catapults. Learners explore lever design and how adjusting the fulcrum changes the outcome.
Curated OER
Blow-and-Go Parachute
Students design a skydiver and parachute constraption to demonstrate how drag caused by air resistance slows the descent of skydivers as they travel back to Earth. They experience how gravity pulls the skydiver toward the earth and how...