Switching indoor water fixtures to low flow reduces water usage by more than 45 percent. This and other solutions to reduce water usage have both pros and cons. Scholars view videos of different solutions, discuss them in small groups,...

Young biologists match Cuban wildlife to their ecosystems by dragging images of the creatures to either a forest, coral reef, cave, or wetland habitat.

Human computers? Although it may sound like science fiction, the term was used to describe the women who made the NASA calculations before the advent of electronic computers. A 21-slide presentation introduces viewers to the women who...

Young scientists are introduced to the connections among cells, tissues, organs, and systems in a life science reading comprehension worksheet that asks them to respond to a series of questions based on the passage.

After reading an informational text detailing the ins and outs of snowflakes, scholars draw their own special design then work cooperatively to role play a snowman building scenario. 

What features do scientists use to classify animals into groups? Class groups examine a series of paired images of vertebrates (a bass and a trout, a toad and a newt, a crocodile and a tortoise, an owl and a robin, a tiger and a bear)...

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...

Bamboo, the fastest growing plant in the world, can grow up to 35 inches in one day! Pupils learn how plants historically have been classified and determine if these traits are appropriate to use in this 17th lesson of 20. They will also...

Test the levels of vitamin C in different juices. After a lesson on the importance of vitamin C in our diets, learners use titration to determine the vitamin C content in juice. They use their experience with the titration to study the...

What better way to learn how to use a microscope than building your own? A lab investigation has scholars use lenses from magnifying glasses and sheets of cork to design their own compound microscopes. They calculate focal length...

Is there more to evaporation than just less liquid? Show young scientists the energy transformation that occurs during a phase change through a series of simple experiments. Lab partners place drops of water, ethanol, and ethoxyethane on...

So many bodily activities depend on homeostasis! Give learners a solid background to understand the basic process of the human body. Scholars first examine negative feedback loops contributing to body temperature regulation and then a...

Who was Zheng He and why haven't we heard of him? Scholars consider the question as they compare his vast expeditionary force to that of Christopher Columbus. Young historians then ponder the intersection of science, economics, and...

Bingo isn't just a silly game, it's a great way to practice all types of skills. After reviewing that the earth is composed of natural resources, what those natural resources are, and sustainability, the class plays a game of bingo. The...

Represent motion with arrows and call them vectors! The lesson is a presentation that models the mathematics involved when determining a resultant vector. It addrssses motions that are parallel, perpendicular, and a combination of...

Space, the Final Frontier. The nine NASA-created challenges in this unit are designed to teach class members the engineering design process. Each challenge comes with teacher and student pages that can be used individually or as a...

Of all invertebrates, insects by far are the most numerous. Scholars discuss invertebrates and then use a key to classify them. They see different examples and must describe features of each organism based upon the key. 

Precipitation reactions are always interesting. How about one that forms a precipitate using a gas? Chemists of any age will enjoy this twist on a standard solubility lab. Partners observe the lack of interaction between sodium...

The color of the sky depends on the time of day. Young scholars experiment with scattering different wavelengths of light to recreate the color of the sky. They observe both the longer blue wavelengths and the shorter red and orange...

Investigate the relationship between temperature and pressure. Learners change the pressure of a sample of air and monitor its temperature. They learn that as air decreases its pressure, its thermal energy converts to kinetic energy.

Colorful lead compounds never fail to impress! Solubility scholars examine a series of double replacement reactions involving lead nitrate and record their observations. The second part of the experiment illustrates the differences...

Who eats who in the savannas of Africa? Explore trophic levels with part four of an eight-part series of lessons focused around Gorongosa National Park. After young explorers identify animals using trailcam images, they construct a food...

See what you cannot see by getting a little creative. An intriguing lesson has learners use lasers to explore X-ray diffraction. Given a box with unknown structures, they shine a laser through the box and interpret the results....

How many animals can live in a climate as cold as Mount Everest's? Find out with a science lesson all about biodiversity. Activities include research, presentations, group work, coloring maps, and a simulation of a food web.