Through scientific inquiry, middle schoolers discover how to arrange solar cells in order to produce electricity. This activity is intended to prepare learners to be able to design and construct solar cars. As with other resources...

Young seismologists learn more about plate tectonics with a set of pre-lab, lab, and post-lab lessons plans on earthquakes. After exploring how waves travel through various materials, sixth graders record their observations and...

Take a "conservative" approach to planning your next unit on mass and matter! What better way to answer "But where did the gas go?" than with a lab designed to promote good report writing, research skills, and detailed observation....

Friction and gravity are always at odds! Learners complete a set of activities to explore the relationship between friction and gravity. Groups make conclusions about the factors that affect the amount and type of friction between surfaces.

Explore the connection of surface area to bonding within atoms. Learners complete lab investigations to model changing surface area with different sizes and concentrations of atoms. A flour fireball demonstration follows the labs to...

Clouds are nature's insulator! A lab investigation asks learners to use an infrared thermometer to measure differences in infrared temperatures. They find that pointing the thermometer at a cloud has a much different result than pointing...

This concise collection of images speaks volumes about the trends in the periodic table of elements. Different versions of the periodic table are displayed demonstrating different trends. Teachers' notes are included to assist your...

How can organisms light up in water? Bioluminescence is light produced in a chemical reaction that can occur in an organism's body. First, learners determine what happens to light/color as you move into the deep ocean. In groups, they...

Test scholars' knowledge of ecosystems with a 20-question pre-assessment. Assessment challenges learners to answer multiple choice questions, read diagrams, and complete charts.

Explore the powers of ten while examining a Blue Morpho butterfly wing. Learners discover there is a lot more than meets the eye when one looks close enough.

Round and round in circles it goes! A hands-on activity has learners recreate a model of a convection cell. They watch as the difference in density of their materials creates a current.

While this resource does not provide problems for chemistry learners to solve, it outlines skills that they should have and concepts that they should grasp. Topics include thermodynamics, periodicity, redox equilibria, transition metals,...

Stars exist from a few million years to over 10 billion years, depending on their mass. Scholars perform a play acting as stars to learn about their different life cycles. They develop an understanding of many of the fundamental concepts...

The dynamics of a city can have a drastic effect on the weather. A hands-on lesson asks learners to build a model to illustrate how city pollution provides a nucleus for condensation. The greater the pollution, the greater chance for...

In a previous lesson, learners build an ammeter. That ammeter, or a pre-made one, is required in order to carry out this lesson. The objective is for lab groups to design a way to connect solar cells that can recharge a battery. Basic...

Radio waves are all around us! How do they transmit sound? Using an interactive, scholars examine how songs travel through the air. The resource explains the process from the radio station, to signal towers, to the radio unit. A look at...

Young scientists build their own electromagnet and test it by picking up paperclips. Analysis questions evaluate knowledge at the end of the activity. 

Sometimes scientists learn more from unexpected findings than from routine analysis! Junior oceanographers dive deep to explore hydrothermal vent communities in the fourth lesson in a series of five. Scholars examine data and look for...

Discover the connection between electric current and magnets. Scholars create electromagnets by passing a magnet through a coil. They experiment with different materials to determine the variables that affect the strength of the current.

Take a load off! Introduce junior engineers to the effects of load on structural design with an easy-to-use interactive. Individuals apply one of many load options, examine its effects, then learn about the safeguards employed during...

Learners examine the carbon cycle and how carbon atoms travel through it.  In this energy cycles lesson students describe how human activities affect the carbon cycle. 

Third graders explain the basic healthy eating and physical activity concepts.  In this healthy lifestyles lesson, 3rd graders describe two main components of a healthy lifestyle, demonstrate two different types of physical...

Students investigate a waterwheel and the physical properties of energy.  In this waterwheel lesson students create a model waterwheel and calculate the amount of power produced. 

Eight slides of information related to shifts in the climate make up this presentation. The vocabulary and concepts displayed are geared toward high school meteorology learners. Content is not cohesive from slide to slide, but the...