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Measuring the Sun's Diameter
Students project and measure the suns image using a refracting telescope. In this sun's diameter lesson students calculate the magnification of the telescope and determine the diameter if the Sun.
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Making Craters
Young scholars study craters and identify the different things that characterize craters. In this crater lesson students create a model of an impact crater.
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Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram
Students examine the relationship between temperature and brightness. In this astronomy lesson students will correlate the evolution of stars to the HR diagram plotted.
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Float or Sink?
Learners examine why some objects float while others do not. They place various objects in water to observe their floating capability. Students record the object, its weight, and if the object floated. They construct a graph plotting...
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Up, Up and Away
Third graders are presented with the problem of: Do all liquids evaporate at the same rate? The lesson contains adequate background information for the teacher. They participate in a lab experiment in order to test the scientific...
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Liquid Logic: Experiments in Viscosity
Students examine specific characteristics of liquids through a hands-on lab activity. An experiment with teacher prepared viscosity tubes is conducted in which liquid identities are predicted based on data. A hypothesis is written to...
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Skyscraper Capers
Students discuss skyscrapers and listen as the teacher introduces the project. They use the Internet to perform research on one skyscraper. Students use information they gather to create a brochure of their building . They create an...
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Carbon Adventures Game
Sixth graders examine the processes and transformations that occur in carbon pools. They play a game to identify paths taken by carbon through the environment.
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Urban Impact on Chollas Creek (California): A Field Study
Students, in groups, take samples from a creek and keep a field journal on their samples. They also perform tests on their samples.
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Attenuation of Light in Water
Students explore what happens to light intensity as depth increases using a light intensity logger. They construct a PVC model to hold water and identify what factors could influence the amount of light attenuation.
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Chemical Reactions
Learners work in groups to define chemistry vocabulary including the terms reactants, products, exothermic and endothermic. They then combine the group definitions to arrive at a consensus definition for the class. Students also listen...
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Frozen Film
Students are introduced to the topic of light interference through this hands-on activity. They observe how light reflects off two surfaces and then meets to form an interesting variation of color on a film surface.
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Spectral Surprise
Students experience a model that produces, separating, and displaying spectral colors.
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Food and Fiber: Helping the Environment and You
Fourth graders explore the many uses of corn-based products and the importance of water resources. They consider how biodegradable products help to keep water clean. They perform experiments to observe how corn pellets dissolve while...
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The Effects on Flight Characteristics/Performance Due To Variations in Design of Sled Kites.
Students expand upon previous lessons with sled kites by varying the dimensions or materials while building a news sled kite while working in a team. They fly their original kites and the new ones under similar conditions to determine...
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The Importance of Water
Young scholars explore the importance of water. They discuss why water is important and students design an experiment that evaluates the water quality and methods of improving water quality. Young scholars perform testing and report...
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How Warm is the Water?
Students research how surface sea temperature changes throughout the year. They draw a time series of sea surface temperatures for each month of the year and a depth profile for a summer and winter month using an OceanExplorer Profiler...
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Where Does the Water Around Our School Go?
Students in groups, map quadrants of the area around the school and make predictions about the direction of waterflow and zones of accumulation that will occur when it rains. Then when it does rain they check to see if their prediction...
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Weather is Cool, Hot or Somewhere In-Between
Students access the Internet to record data on weather. They use email to answer a younger classes' questions about the weather.
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Lake Superior Ecology Unit
Sixth graders research Lake Superior and its ecosystem. Students investigate the lake's cycles of mixing and stratification and how these cycles affect the biology of the lake. This lesson contains five days of activities.
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"Investigating Hazardous Materials"
Eighth graders gather Internet information on a variety of related topics concerning hazardous waste.
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Good Vibrations
Students demonstrate sound waves and make changes in the waves
resulting in changes in pitch. Students associate changes in pitch in various "musical instruments"with size and shape and the sound waves they produce.
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Cloud Sort
First graders gain a better understanding of types of clouds. They recreate clouds using Kidspiration. The types of clouds they study about are cirrus, cumulus, and stratus clouds.
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Solar
Students study solar energy. In this renewable energy lesson students complete several lab activities using different controls and variables.