Curated OER
Wind Power
What a wonderful way to explore wind power! Through this lesson, learners get a background in the history of wind power, create their own wind turbine, and the test their designs. This is a terrific way to tie scientific principles to...
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Boomerangs Keep Coming Back
Students investigate the flight of paper boomerangs. In this flight lesson, students examine the flight variables of paper boomerangs, which they make, by investigating the concepts of lift and drag. They examine what happens when an...
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Rising Water!
Students observe water change from a liquid to a gas state when heated and then return to its liquid stage when cooled. They learn that gas molecules move faster than liquid molecules. They discover physical properties that describe how...
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Magnetism
Students examine the concept of magnetism by doing several activities using magnets and compasses. They explore poles and polar repulsion and attraction.
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Kure Waste Chase Game Lesson
Students work together to identify marine debris. They explain the effect of the debris on various ecosystems. They draw different types of ocean currents as well.
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Truss Strength
Students are introduced to the design of Old Faithful Lodge at Yellowstone Park including its use of trusses. They work in groups and use straws and modeling clay to design and test a variety of building supports.
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Principles of Flight: Bernoulli's Lift
Students discover how air pressure effects flight. In this physics activity, students create two types of airplane wings so they can observe the way air pressure creates lift. Students utilize a printout to create the...
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Principles of Flight: Gyrocopter and the Scientific Method
Students explore the concept of the scientific method. In this investigative lesson plan, students investigate which direction the blades will spin on a gyrocopter. Student will practice using the scientific method to complete the...
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Sports Science
Students explore athletes and how they perform. In this physics lesson, students investigate how physics is involved in sports. Students go online to interactive sites that explain physics and biomechanics. Students also research...
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Communications
Students incorporate different disciplines into this lesson. In this science lesson, students investigate the use of communicating without words, and how it is different than communicating with words. They discuss the pros and cons of...
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Snack Attack: Food Packaging Activity
Students design and create packaging material for food. For this snack attack lesson, students design a package to protect a food item from heat and water. Students consider costs of materials, design, and test the package to see if it...
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Applied Science - Technology (2A) Post Lab
Second graders explore simple machines. In this technology activity, 2nd graders look at pulleys and gears and what the uses are for each. They complete a worksheet comparing the two.
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Magnets
Students explore how the earth is a magnet and that magnets have two "poles". In this magnetic lesson students complete an activity by designing their own compass.
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Sleet and Hail Have Their Own Seasons
Second graders explain the definition of hail and sleet. In this precipitation lesson, 2nd graders discuss when hail and sleet fall and the results of hail falling.
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Circle of Pong
Students, in groups, use given materials to devise a way to deposit a ping-pong ball into a paper cup that is located in the middle of a 6-foot diameter circle, while standing outside the circle.
Curated OER
Harnessing Solar Energy
Students discover the properties of light (radiant) energy from the sun by experimenting with solar collectors, cookers, and calculators. After a lecture/demo, students create their own solar collectors and test their efficiency.
Texas State Energy Conservation Office
Investigation: Crank It Up!
Following this procedure, eager engineers construct a working model of a piston system, similar to that in an internal combustion engine. Perfect for STEM or automotive technology classes, the activity comes complete with analysis and...
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Rat Round Up
Students build a device that captures and carries a pet rat safely back to its cage with out "harming" the rat or themselves. They build and experiment with wind-up or battery operated rat cat toys after predicting the outcome of their...
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Pooper Scooper
Science Students build a pooper scooper tool that helps them clean up after a dog without getting their hands dirty or their noses too close. They research the diseases that can be transported through animal waste and work in teams to...
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Suited for Space
A fantastic lesson on survival in outer space should excite your learners! Pupils explore the challenges that living, working, and surviving in space elicit. They focus on the spacesuit itself; how it protects astronauts, and enables...
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Design a Bobsled
Young scholars apply their knowledge of friction, drag, mass and gravity as they design, build, and test mini-bobsleds.
Texas State Energy Conservation Office
Investigation: Conservation of Energy
By rolling marbles down a six-foot length of track, physical scientists determine how much energy is lost to heat. It is recommended that you opt for the foam pipe insulation track because more friction slows the marble, allowing...
Virginia Department of Education
The Particle Theory of Matter
Demonstrate the particle theory of matter to high school scientists with an engaging experiment that allows them to visually see the results as substances change from one state to another. The class concludes with a discussion about how...
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Roller Coasters
Twisting and turning through the sky, roller coasters are popular attractions at amusement parks around the world, but how exactly do they work? Explore the physics behind these thrilling rides with an engineering design activity....