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T-Shirt Chromatography
Students study about chromatography, a process used to separate mixtures. They see that chromatography is used to detect, separate or purify different substances. This nice instructional activity results in a beautiful t-shirt for each...
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Funny Putty
Students are introduced to the properties of solids, liquids and gases. They see that colloids are mixtures which display the properties of more than one of these states. They engage in an excellent experiment which demonstrates this fact.
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Eating Through the Metric System
Seventh graders convert measurements in recipes to metric measurements and prepare the food items. They create a metric measurement cookbook.
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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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Improving the Building Envelope System
Students explain the different heat transfer mechanisms and how they influence the building envelope. They develop ways in which the building envelope can be improved and test hypotheses about building envelope designs.
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What's Down the Well?
Students examine how environmental engineers determine possible sites for drinking water wells. They listen to a teacher led-lecture, and create their own groundwater well model using a coffee can and wire screening, observing how...
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Hot Air Balloon Design Lesson Plan
Sixth graders discuss what they know and what they want to know about hot air balloon using a KWL chart. They then use a wide array of materials to design a hot air balloon that will lift successfully in cooperative groups referring to...
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Energy Motion in the Ocean
Students explore the wave energy that is generated and transferred in the ocean. Through the use video and the Internet, students explore the aspects of a wave and how its energy affects the ecology of the seashore.
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Kinetic Molecular Theory
Students analyze and evaluate evidence that matter is made of tiny particles. They observe a series of phenomena involving solids, liquids, and gases to make inferences about the spacing, interactions and relative kinetic energies of the...
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Radioactivity Experiments
Students study the difference between types of ionizing radiation and how elements are transmuted. They determine that radiation is normal and surrounds us. They calculate the amounts of alpha, beta and gamma radiation emitted from a...
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Lord of the Rings - A Study of Tree Rings
Students examine trees and discuss how the environment effected the tree. They also predict what the area look like in fifty years.
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Solar Kit Lesson #13 Solarize a Toy
Students work in teams they select a low-power toy, game, or electrical deive to "solarize," or convert to solar power. They determine the operating voltage of their chosen device and design a solar array to provide this level of...
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Pendulums on the Moon
Students conduct experiments to determine if length, mass, or starting angle has any effect on the rate of a pendulum's swing. They also conduct an experiment online to determine if gravitational force plays a role in the swing. Groups...
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Ozone and Temperature Data Analysis, South Pole Antarctica
Young scholars discuss the layers of the atmosphere, and the history of the ozone hole. They discuss the chemistry of the ozone formation. Students compare seasonal data collected with ozonesondes. They compare Antarctic and Arctic ozone...
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Collecting Leaves with Lewis and Clark
Fourth graders collect data on leaves collected, observe different species of leaves, and implement different methods of leaf preservation.
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Acceleration, Drag, Gravity, Motion, Forces, and Friction
Eighth graders build and run mousetrap cars in order to measure distance, time, and mass for their cars. They use these measurements to calculate average speed and kinetic energy, then create a slide show to visually explain how the car...
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The Blue Bottle: An Example of Teacher-Guided Inquiry
Students observe a demonstration in which a bottle containing a colorless solution is mixed, turns blue, then becomes colorless again. They record observations, form and discuss hypotheses, and draw a conclusion based on the evidence.
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Tornadoes
Students examine the characteristics of a tornado. They practice using new vocabulary and participate in a question and answer session. They use the internet to gather more specific information.
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Naturral Born Robots: Robots Have Feelings Too
Students explore robotics. They design a simple device that simulates a human arm lifting a mass. Students test the strength of their arm. Students discuss artificial intelligence.
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Simple Machines
Students investigate simple machines. In this simple machines lesson plan, students construct two simple machines and describe what they do. Students show that simple changes help machines do work with less effort. Students use a paper...
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Mineral Scavenger Hunt
Students complete a scavenger hunt worksheet as they find examples in their classroom, at home, etc., of minerals. Excellent worksheet!
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Improving the HVAC System
Students describe the components of an HVAC system and determine which factors influence how efficient the system can be. They work together to develop hypotheses about the systems and their cost effectiveness and efficiency.
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Newton Rocket Car
Students observe a demonstration of Newton's third law of motion using a small wooden car. They discuss Newton's third law of motion and what happens to motion if the mass or acceleration is increased, construct their car, and record...
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Glide Away
Learners design and construct a gliding aircraft. They use the Internet as a research tool to gain background information about specific flight principles.