Virginia Department of Education
States and Forms of Energy
Energy is just energy, right? Explain various forms of energy to your young scientists by using an interactive experiment that contains common objects to demonstrate complex concepts. Pupils conduct experiments for radiant, thermal,...
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Reflections
Fifth graders create a reflection of a poygon using a Mira. They discover that a line connecting a vertiex of a polygon and the corresponding vertex of its reflection is perpendicular to the line of reflection. Students create a glide...
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Car Maze competition
Students use graphs to calibrate an RCX car. They must then program the car to traverse a maze using their calibrations
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The Strongest Shape
Students work collaboratively to design and construct a roof out of Legos for a house that was built in a previous lesson. The roof must be structurally sound and pass certain criteria determined by the teacher.
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RCX Car Line Graph
Students develop a line graph based on distances that an RCX car drives in specified amounts of time. They then are given a specific amount of time for the car to drive and be asked to extrapolate the car's distance from the graph.
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Discovering Density
Students explore the physical properties of density. In this hands-on lesson, students calculate density and distinguish between intensive and extensive properties.
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Geometry in Nature
Students examine how the circumference, diameter, and the relationship of Pi of a circle are related. They count the summer rings of a tree to determine its growth.
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The Egg and I
Students collect as much information as possible about their egg and record the information in a systematic way. They prepare a description of the egg your team was given that enable you to distinguish your egg from everyone else's egg.
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Understanding Cloud Formation
Learners view a demonstration that simulates cloud formation. They read a poem about clouds, participate in a class demonstration using warm water and ice and write a paragraph summarizing their observations.
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Tiling the Plane
Fifth graders use pattern blocks and triagular grid paper to reivew shape names, be introduced to the concept of a tiling of the plane, and determine which pattern blocks tile the plane. They are asked if they comprehend what a...
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Tomb Explorer/Temple Explorer
Fourth graders build an explorer vehicle which they program through an obstacle course to enter the tomb or temple to discover artifacts.
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Commutative Property
First graders investigate the Commutative Property of Addition. It is introduced using models such as students, counters, balances and dominoes. They discover the order of the numbers in an addition sentence does not change the result...
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Too Many Tamales
Pupils investigate Mexican holiday celebrations and compare them to American Christmas holidays. They conduct a Mexican Christmas Scavenger Hunt. The activity uses a streaming video in order to engage students in the main objectives.
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Clockwise
Second graders investigate angles through this series of lessons. They determine how angles turn in both clockwise and anticlockwise directions. They examine the characteristics of quarter half turns and how they can begin from any...
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What's Your Line?
Fifth graders collect temperature readings over a period of time, enter the information into a spreadsheet and choose the appropriate graph to display the results.
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Respiratory System
Students identify the parts of the respiratory system and how they interact. They define vocabulary words and draw an outline of themselves and label the parts of the respiratory system. They distinguish between healthy and unhealthy...
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Heredity, Genetics, Traits
Eighth graders study how an embryo develops into a fetus by undergoing many physical changes which they observe on a poster. They examine the metamorphosis of fruit flies as they develop through a series of changes. They record the...
Improving Measurement and Geometry in Elementary Schools
The Sum of the Interior Angles of a Polygon
Junior geometers discover that polygons can be decomposed into triangles and that the number of triangles can be determined by a rule. Note that the Geometer’s Sketchpad® software is required to carry out all components of this...
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Tick Around the Clock
Students examine and discuss the differences between clocks they are shown. Using the internet, they research how people used to tell time before clocks. They review what the long and short hand on the clock represent and practice...
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Minnesota-China Connections:What Time Is It?
Learners calculate the time difference between Beijing, China and their local community. They discuss how time difference affects intercultural communication.
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Triangles
This unit enables scholars to apply the rule for area of a triangle (area equals half base times height). They practice multiplication and division strategies as they calculate areas.
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Box and Whiskers
Middle schoolers discover how to relate collected data with a box and whiskers graph in a number of formats. They collect, organize, create, and interpret a box and whiskers graph. Pupils interpret the difference between sets of data,...
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Garden Variety Geometry
A home improvement plan can help adult learners preparation for the GED exam. They review vocabulary, prepare diagrams, complete a worksheet, calculate perimeters and analyze how to approach a story problem. They identify many geometry...
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Geoboard Area
Students explore the basic geometric shapes and geometric shape vocabulary through the use of geoboards and virtual geoboards. They create a variety of shapes with a partner, build ten different rectangles on their geoboards, and...