Curated OER
A Shocking Experience
Learners differentiate between current and static electricity, conductors and insulators, explain how energy is converted from chemical to electrical, measure voltage of batteries, collect data on voltage, and predict voltage of...
Curated OER
Traveling Through the Digestive System
Second graders learn about how the food is broken down in our bodies and the job of each body part involved in our digestive system. The utilize the CD ROM game, "Body Works." This wonderful game takes pupils through the human body's...
Curated OER
Electrical Circuits
Wow! Here is a coherent and cleverly designed tool for teaching physical scientists about electric circuits. Animations help learners to visualize what is happening within the parts of a circuit. Components are displayed to teach them...
Teach Engineering
Powering a Device Using Food
Eat up a resource on using food to power electrical devices. Future engineers first experiment with different fruits and vegetables to determine the amount of electrical energy they provide. Based on the data, they design and create an...
Curated OER
Can You See the Light?
Third and fourth graders use this worksheet to help them draw their own version of a fully functioning circuit. They see the battery, the light bulb, and two wires with clips. They must draw the complete circuit, using these elements, on...
DiscoverE
Arts and Engineering Activity Packet: Grades 3-5
Art and science sometimes go hand in hand. A set of four activities for learners in grades 3-5 teaches engineering concepts as part of art projects. Class members build homemade robots, elastic puppets, musical instruments, and...
PBS
Hidden Alarm
It's time! The fourth lesson in a five-part series has teams of scholars build a circuit for an alarm. A switch lets them turn the alarm on and off and allows them to hide the alarm—just as long as they don't hide it in the classroom!
Perkins School for the Blind
Building a Basic Series Circuit
Make science a fully accessible subject for your learners with visual impairments. They'll use tactile models to explore the nature of basic electrical circuits. Template board, wires, batteries, and Velcro are used to construct the...
Exploratorium
Seeing Your Retina
Using a dimmed flashlight, life science learners can see the network of blood vessels that line the back of their eye. Darken the room and let them try this activity as part of your unit on the eyeball. Also consider some of the other...
Curated OER
Monster Cars: Slope
Students examine how a rate is calculated from two points. Using battery operated cars, pairs of students measure time and distance. Afterward, they use this data to calculate the rate. Students then plot four ordered pairs and discover...
It's About Time
Exploring Energy Resource Concepts
Please turn off the lights to conserve energy. Or not, after all energy is always conserved. This first lesson in an eight-part series includes three parts. Part A contains one hands-on activity and two inquiry-based experiments on heat...
NOAA
Oceans of Energy
Are the earth's oceans really just giant batteries, waiting for their energy to be harnessed? Middle school mechanical engineers will be shocked by the amazing amount of energy that forms around them after diving into part four of a...
Curated OER
On The Light Side
Kindergartners identify different sources of light in a science activity. They view pictures of a flashlight, a match, and a lamp, among others, and color the part of the picture that creates light. A science activity prompts them to...
Teach Engineering
Introduction to Circuits and Ohm's Law
Take a very basic understanding of circuits and develop a strong understanding of the parts and function of a circuit. This activity is developed to be an independent exploration of circuits from the basics to series and parallel models....
University of Colorado
Terra Bagga
Earth's magnetic poles switch positions about every 200,000—300,000 years. In the activity, groups create a planet with a magnetic field. Once made, they use a magnetometer to determine the orientation of the planet's magnetic field....
Discovery Education
Cushion It!
Sugar cubes, collide! Groups design protection systems using bubble wrap to protect sugar cubes from being destroyed by falling batteries in the STEM lesson. They consider how the experiment relates to collisions in real-world...
Teach Engineering
Building a Piezoelectric Generator
In pairs, learners build a piezoelectric generator from readily available electric components in the second and final installment of the two-part series. Tapping the piezoelectric element produces enough electricity to light an LED....
Teach Engineering
Exploring Energy: Kinetic and Potential
The potential of the energy in the class is moving. The third segment in a six-part unit on energy provides a deeper understanding of kinetic and potential energy. Learners understand the relationship between mass, speed, and energy and...
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
Save the Dinosaurs with Copper and Zinc!
Create a coat of armor for dinosaur volunteers. Young scientists explore the oxidation-reduction reaction facilitated by electric current. The result of the reaction is a dinosaur coated in copper and zinc, which leads to an...
Curated OER
Electrical Energy
Students compare and contrast a cell and a battery. In this physical science instructional activity, students explain how they create energy. They conduct an experiment to apply what they have learned in this instructional activity.
Curated OER
Electric Circuits
Students determine the power dissipated in the combination of two resistors connected in series to a 6 volt battery. This task assesses students' abilities to develop procedures for an investigation, develop a plan for recording and...
Curated OER
Bulbs & Batteries in a Row
Students investigate simple series circuits and their properties. In small groups they draw a circuit diagram on their Series Circuit Building worksheet, follow step-by-step directions to construct a simple series circuit, and solve...
Teach Engineering
Basically Acids
Base your lesson plan on acids and bases on an informative resource. The first installment of a five-part module on the science behind Harry Potter has individuals investigate acid/base chemistry with the use of invisible inks. They also...
Curated OER
DC Series Circuits
In this circuits worksheet, students review how series circuits work, how volts are created, and how resistors effect the voltage. This worksheet has 11 problems to solve and includes the answers.