Teach Engineering
Balsa Glider Competition
Change one variable and try again. Teams build basic balsa gliders and collect data on their flight distances and times. Through collaboration, the team decides on two modifications to make to the basic design and collect data for the...
Curated OER
Swinging Pendulum
Learners engage in an activity which demonstrates how potential energy (PE) can be converted to kinetic energy (KE) and back again. Given a pendulum height, students calculate and predict how fast the pendulum will swing by understanding...
Teach Engineering
Insulation Materials Investigation
Don't melt away! Pairs investigate different insulation materials to determine which one is better than the others. Using a low-temp heat plate, the teams insulate an ice cube from the heat source with a variety of substances. They...
Curated OER
The Pythagorean Theorem and Classifying Triangles
Through the examination of the relationship between the lengths of the sides of a triangles students will learn the classification of triangles (acute, right, or obtuse).
PBS
Blow the Roof Off!
Blow the minds of young scientists with this collection of inquiry-based investigations. Based on a series of eight videos, these "hands-on, minds-on" science lessons engage young learners in exploring a wide range of topics...
Indian Institute of Technology
Could King Kong Exist?
The title says it all: Could King Kong exist? Investigate how increasing the dimensions of an object affects its surface area and volume to mathematically conclude whether a creature with the weight and height of King Kong could actually...
Shodor Education Foundation
Squaring the Triangle
Teach budding mathematicians how to square a triangle with an interactive that shows a graphical proof of the Pythagorean Theorem. Pupils alter the lengths of the legs using sliders. Using the inputted lengths, the applet displays the...
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
Silver Nanoparticle Synthesis and Spectroscopy
Certain materials do not always maintain the same physical properties when they exist in the nanoscale. Help your classes to explore this idea through an experimental instructional activity. Scholars use spectroscopy with samples of...
Space Awareness
Global Warming of the Atmosphere
Scientists know the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today is higher than at any point in the last 800,000 years. Scholars learn about the amount of thermic radiation absorbed by air and what happens to the rest of the...
Curated OER
Good Vibrations Remote Sensing data Collection: Thermal Emission Spectrometer
The Mars Global Surveyor spent two years creating a mineral map of the planet Mars using thermal emission spectrometry. To help young astronomers understand this remote sensing instrument, have them simulate how data is collected and...
Discovery Education
The Time of Our Life
Mammals are some of the newest organisms to appear on Earth. Young scholars complete an activity that results in a timeline showing the appearance of different types of living organisms. Provided with a list that spans from prokaryotes...
Shodor Education Foundation
Plop It!
Build upon and stack up data to get the complete picture. Using the applet, pupils build bar graphs. As the bar graph builds, the interactive graphically displays the mean, median, and mode. Learners finish by exploring the changes in...
Teach Engineering
Concentrate This! Sugar or Salt...
Heat up your lessons on boiling points. The resource provides a three-part activity: first, groups find the boiling point of solutions; second, they create boiling point curves for salt and sugar solutions; and third, they mix a solution...
CK-12 Foundation
Properties of Rational Numbers: Lollipop Trees
A six-question interactive takes mathematicians to Lollipop Land where they manipulate lollipop trees to make equivalent ratios. Question types include multiple-choice, true or false, and a discussion.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Stickleback Evolution Virtual Lab
How quickly do animals evolve? Can comparing different samples of the same fossil answer timeline questions? Scholars use virtual labs to examine fossils and learn about stickleback evolution. They compare pelvic morphology in lakes...
NASA
Blinded by the Light!
Pupils learn of multiple ways astronomers look for planets outside of the solar system. By completing a hands-on activity, scholars discover that trying to see the planets directly because of the glare from the nearby star is nearly...
Curated OER
USGS Seismometer
A large black-line diagram of a seismometer fills this page. It is not a worksheet, but rather an explanation of how a seismometer works. You could make a transparency of it or display it via a video screen when teaching about...
Curated OER
2011 Nobel Prize Winners Announced
This assignment has young scientists read four different news articles about the 2011 Nobel Prize winners. Six questions are posed for children to write the answers. It is a relevant activity for getting middle schoolers to meet the...
Exploratorium
Rotating String Shapes
Here is a very interesting way of studying triangles and polygons. Pupils work together and use pieces of string to create a variety of shapes. Depending on how many kids are manipulating the string at any one time, the number of...
Curated OER
Introduction to Lego Robotics
Young scholars utilize computer programs to operate a simple robot. In this technology instructional activity, students create robots using Lego pieces and simple motors to move them. Young scholars measure the speed of the...
Curated OER
ExplorA-Pond:4th Grade Perimeter Estimation
Fourth graders visit a real pond. They mark the pond's curvilinear perimeter using string. They measure the string to find the actual perimeter of the pond.
Curated OER
Wind
Students conduct an experiment. In this wind measurement lesson, students learn about instruments that measure the wind and then make a weather vane. Students record wind speed over a few days.
Curated OER
Weather "Whys" : Introduction to Weather
Students discuss weather forecasts and different types of weather. In this weather instructional activity, students observe the weather and learn a weather song. They listen to a story and see weather measurement tools.
Curated OER
Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs
Second graders explore weather. In this weather lesson, 2nd graders read Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs and participate in four supplemental science activities. Students participate in Internet research, create weather maps,...