Curated OER
Make Your Own Recycled Paper
Paper Lesson Plan - Students discover how paper is made. Working together, they make their own paper. This activity introduces students to recycling; what it is and its importance. Students study the process of how paper is made, and...
Curated OER
Not So Neutral Views
Students explore ways to use indicators to distinguish between acids and bases. They conduct an experiment to model and discuss the harmful effect of acid rain in our living and non-living environment.
Curated OER
Kids and Chemicals - Facts and Laws
High schoolers examine the impact of everyday toxins on the health of people. They conduct a cost-benefit analysis, watch a video, conduct Internet research, complete a Synthetic Chemical Exposure Chart, and write a one-page summary.
Curated OER
Engineering For The 3 Little Pigs
Students engage in a lesson which demonstrates the importance of rocks, soils and minerals in engineering and how using the right material for the right job is important. The students build three different sand castles and test them for...
Curated OER
World In Motion Curriculum
Students explore the night sky and its solar system. Using a Digitarium planetarium system, students observe four constellations. They discover the phases of the moon and eclipses. Students recognize the difference between normal and...
AIMS Education Foundation
Shifty Shapes
Shape shifters examine and experiment with pattern shapes. For this geometry lesson, they work in groups to name and describe pattern block shapes, and they discover the combinations of shapes that can be placed inside a hexagon.
Curated OER
Jumping to Solutions
Students explore two-step linear equations. In this middle school Pre-algebra instructional activity, students create and solve equations that describe how a person got to an end postion on a ruler by jumping. After...
Curated OER
Earthquakes Rock!
Students study the main methods to measure earthquakes; the Richter Scale and Mercalli Scale. They make a model of a seismograph and investigate which structural designs are most likely to survive an earthquake.
Curated OER
Fighting Back!
Fifth graders inspect the basic functions of the immune system and determine how viruses and bacteria invade the immune system. They also explore what happens to the immune system in outer space.
Curated OER
Science: Motion Commotion
Young scholars examine Newton's three laws of motion to discover what causes it and how it changes. They conduct motion experiments by building catapults and constructing balloon rockets. Finally, they conduct peer studies correlating...
Curated OER
Powerful Pulleys
Students explore the building of a pyramid and how pulleys were used to change the direction of applied force. They demonstrate the mechanical advantage of using a pulley and apply it to modern engineering.
Curated OER
The Other Water Cycle
Learners examine human impacts on the water cycle. They compare/contrast the permeability of various materials for the purpose of engineering landscape drainage systems, and answer discussion questions.
Curated OER
Geography: Water, Water Everywhere
Students discuss flooding and its causes. They view a Powerpoint presentation about floods and prevention methods. After creating a model with clay and pans, they investigate river behavior in various terrains with different amounts of...
Curated OER
One World Ocean
Young scholars compare and contrast the properties of salt water in the oceans/seas and freshwater elsewhere on the planet. They also analyze mixing caused by currents in the ocean, including the effects of warm and cold water as well as...
Curated OER
Stop Heat from Escaping
Students explore the uses of insulation and describe how insulation helps to conserve energy. They work in groups and use plastic, wool, paper and aluminum to experiment with the heat-retaining properties of various materials.
Curated OER
Electricity: Will It Conduct?
Students build conductivity testers and investigate which solids and solutions conduct electricity. Working in groups, they predict which items will conduct electricity and record their answers on worksheets.
Curated OER
Digestive System
Students analyze how the digestive system works by taking the food we eat and breaking it down for our bodies to use for various reasons. They list the major components of the digestive system and draw a diagram. They explain how...
Curated OER
One Path
Students discover that charge movement through a circuit depends on the resistance and arrangement of the circuit components. In a hands-on activity, students build and investigate the characteristics of series circuits. In another...
Curated OER
Oil Spill
Students explore an important role of environmental engineers by studying the Exxon Valdez oil spill. They experiment with different strategies in order to clean up their own manufactured oil spill.
Curated OER
TE Lesson: Out of Breath
Students study the parts of the human respiratory system while examining the gas exchange that takes place in the lungs. They make a model lung. They look at how the respiratory system is affected by spaceflight.
Curated OER
Red Light, Green Light
Students investigate the friction between tires and the road and how it affects the movement of cars while driving. They discuss and define friction, experiment with sandpaper and wax paper to determine which material provides the least...
Curated OER
Aqua-Thrusters!
Students construct their own rocket-powered boat called an "aqua-thruster." These aqua-thrusters will be made from a film canister and will use carbon dioxide gas - produced from a chemical reaction between an antacid tablet and water -...
Curated OER
Design Packing to Safely Mail Raw Spaghetti
Learners investigate and determine a way to mail raw spaghetti. In small groups, they package their raw spaghetti using various packing materials, mail the package through the postal system, and evaluate their packing design after...
Curated OER
I Can't Take the Pressure!
Learners explore the concept of air pressure. Using candy or cookie wafers to model how air pressure changes with altitude, they conduct an aluminum can crushing experiment, compare the magnitude to gravitational force per unit area,...