Lesson Plan
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Dynamic River Model

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students develop the concepts of flood stage, levees, floodplain, and the dynamics of river flooding. They construct river models and test various flow rates and volumes. This lesson has an excellent experiment for students to do.
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The Strongest Shape

For Teachers K - 3rd
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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Camping with a Triangular Prism and Its Net

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Students differentiate triangular prisms from other prisms using nets. In this geometry lesson plan, students define the properties of a triangular prism and its symmetry. They build a triangular prism moving lines around.
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Betrayal of Penn's Promise - The Walking Purchase

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Pupils role-play the 1737 Walking Purchase. In this Pennsylvania history lesson plan, students role-play the 1737 Walking Purchase and analyze its effects. Pupils also consider how it would affect their community today.
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Universal Proportions: Earth and Moon

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students create scale models of Earth, the Moon, and the distances within the universe. Working in groups, they construct their models of Earth and the Moon on a scale of 50:1 and calculate how far apart to place their models. They...
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What Is The Matter?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students engage in a activity about the scientific concept of matter. They use essential questions in order to guide the research process. Students engage in several class inquiries that are hands on in order to investigate the...
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Building Models

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders build models. In this measurement lesson, 5th graders build paper models to represent square centimeters, square inches, square feet, cubic centimeters, cubic inches, cubic feet, and perimeter.
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Pyramids on Parade/Nets

For Teachers 8th - 11th
Students sketch the shape of three dimensional pyramids using nets. In this geometry lesson, students differentiate a pyramid from other three dimensional shape. They define the attributes of pyramids.
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A Sphere and Its Net

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Learners identify and sketch the nets for sphere. For this geometry lesson, students differentiate between two and three dimensional shapes. They find the surface area of each sphere.
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GUM: More, Less, or the Same?

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students confirm the law of conservation of matter by weighing chewing gum before and after it is chewed.
Lesson Plan
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The Causes of Differences in Density

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore the causes of differences in density. Students choose objects, measure the mass and volume, and calculate the density of each. They perform additional density experiments to model atoms and their correspondence to...
Lesson Plan
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Causal Patterns in Density Phenomena

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students investigate the relationship between volume and mass in different liquids such as vegetable oil, rubbing alcohol and water. They measure the mass of several different volumes of each liquid and then graph the results as well as...
Lesson Plan
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Too Many Tamales

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
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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Global Change: Where Land, Air and Water Meet

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students discuss the atmosphere as a mixture of gases. In this science instructional activity, students explore the world's oceans and fresh waters understanding that there are dissolved chemicals. Students realize that many substances...
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Surface Area of Pyramids

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students identify the surface area of pyramids and other polygons. For this geometry lesson, students find the different measurements for the different parts of a polygon. They use the surface area formula to solve for the surface...
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In the Rain Shadow

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students charts the rainfall averages on either side of a mountain range. In this water cycle lesson plan, students discover that mountain ranges affect weather patterns. Students pretend they are air traffic controllers and...
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School-Wide Recycling

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Students investigate recycling. In this environmental activity, students design a recycling program for their school. Students collect data about how much recyclable materials they use in one week. Students also survey classmates about...
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Pyramids- Slant Height and Altitude

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Students calculate the height and altitude of a pyramid. In this geometry instructional activity, students define the parts that make up a pyramid. They use the Pythagorean Theorem to find the missing parts of a pyramid.
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Finding Mass

For Teachers 8th
Student measure mass to discover how pennies have changed in their composition. In this measurement lesson, 8th graders investigate through an open-ended problem to discover how the US pennies composition changed in the 1980's.
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Density: Float or Sink

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students discover density.  In this density lesson, students discover the properties of objects that allow them to float or sink in water.
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Parachutes: What Affects a Parachute

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Students create a simple paper parachute. In this parachute design lesson, students examine the effects of the wind and make napkin parachutes.  
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Water Ecology Lab

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students determine the characteristics of a stream ecosystem and its organisms.  In this water ecology lesson students complete several labs that shows them presence of life, water appearance, and water flow.
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Why Are Cells So Small?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine the relationship between cell surface area and the ability of materials to diffuse through a cell. They participate in an experiment in which they determine which materials diffuse easier than others. They complete...
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Human Body Explorations

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students examine genetics and the DNA of a kiwi.  For this DNA lesson students complete a lab to extract DNA and interpret their results.