Teams must determine the size of cavern needed to house the citizens of Alabraska to protect them from the asteroid impact. Using scaling properties, teams first determining the number of people that could sleep in a classroom and then...

Are your household devices eating up a lot of energy? Pupils investigate household energy efficiency through a set of activities. They find ways to improve energy efficiency and reduce consumption. This is the 21st installment of a...

Math rocks! Cavern design teams determine the rankings of rock types based upon desirability points. The points are connected to the properties of the rocks and their usefulness in building a cavern. 

Think you can solve the energy problem? You'll first need to know about current energy use. Analyzing a set of circle graphs lets scholars see where energy consumption is the greatest, both by sector and by household use. They develop a...

Tired of waiting for hot water? Groups of three determine the efficiency of an electric water-heating device. They calculate the amount of energy it takes to heat the water and the theoretical amount of energy required to heat the water....

There's nothing sticky about the resource, unless you count the gumdrops! Scholars create a model of a lithium atom, complete with protons, neutrons, and electrons. It's just that these models are made with gumdrops and toothpicks.

How high will it bounce? Groups determine the height different balls bounce off of different surfaces. By performing the necessary calculations, they determine the initial and final momentum of the balls. The included worksheet provides...

Get into the swing of things. Pupils use a pendulum to demonstrate the conversion of potential energy to kinetic energy and back. After measuring the speed of a pendulum and compare it to the calculated theoretical speed, they...

Designing the right package — it's more than a pretty picture. Challenge small groups to design a food package. They must consider the type of food they are packaging and the package's ability to control the physical and...

It takes a strong foundation to build a house and a stronger one for a bridge. This resource presents the effects of geology and soil on bridge foundations. Working in groups, the class investigates the interaction of shallow and deep...

Introduce your class to map projections and coordinates, the basics for the work done in a GIS, with an activity that uses Google Earth to challenge learners to think about the earth's shape. 

What does stretching a balloon have to do with equilibrium? Groups explore preconditioning by stretching a balloon to a point of equilibrium. They then measure the amount of force required to stretch the balloon to the same point several...

Mass and density — aren't they the same thing? This activity has groups use balance beams and water displacement to measure several objects. The pupils use the measurements to calculate the density of the objects. 

Groups suspend objects within layers of liquids to determine the densities of different liquids and compare them to the densities of objects calculated in Part 1. The groups then carefully test their calculations by layering the...

How do you measure surface tension? The fifth installment of a nine-part series is an experiment where young scientists use tubes of different sizes to measure surface tension. They calculate the average and standard deviation of the...

Discover the properties of water-loving and water-hating surfaces. In the seventh installment of a nine-part series, scholars explore hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces by conducting an experiment. They observe surface coatings,...

High schoolers complete research to enhance their reading of "The Grapes of Wrath". Using the text, they identify and locate cultural artifacts and discuss their symbolic connotations. As a class, they create a museum exhibit of the...

Students examine how the heart functions and the concept of how electrical currents can affect muscle contractions.  In this cardiovascular lesson students identify P, QRS and T complexes.

Students learn about the phases of the moon. In this moon phases lesson, students learn about what causes the moon to look different to us everyday and how the Earth and Sun's position determine what phase the moon is in.

Students explore the simple machine of a wedge. In this wedge activity, students test wedges on different materials including wax, soap, clay and foam. They learn how a wedge was used to build the ancient pyramid and modern day skyscrapers.

Students explain how laser security systems work.  In this security system design lesson students create a presentation of their system that they designed. 

Students study technology and the different reproductive technologies available today.  In this human reproductive technology lesson students describe how engineers create technologies to improve the health of mothers and babies. 

Eddy currents, Faraday's Law and Lenz's Law provide the connection between train brakes and and MRI machines in a lesson that asks teachers to provided the material needed so the pupils can understand the properties of changing magnetic...

Learners explore nonfiction text. They identify the cover, title page, and table of contents of a nonfiction book. Pupils work in groups to create a chapter for a nonfiction class book about heroes.