Young entomologists familiarize themselves with the physical characteristics of insects. Composed of two activities, each lesson involves your scientists tapping into their prior knowledge of bugs and making observations of real live...

I bet I can cross the room without having the lights come on. Class members set up an experiment in which they try to determine what materials will mask motion detected by a sensor. Groups predict how materials will interact with...

Explore capillary action from different perspectives. In the fourth installment of a nine-part series, scholars perform several experiments to observe capillary action. They look at the meniscus of water in a glass, observe capillary...

Can corn power the world? Young scientists learn about how corn and other plants can provide renewable biofuels in the second of nine lessons. They set up an experiment to investigate how different variables affect plant growth. All of...

Which modification is the best? Using the scientific method, pairs determine the effects of each control surface on the distance of a glider's flight. The activity, section 16 in a 22-part unit on aviation, allows pupils to gain a better...

Glide into the study of flight. An engaging lesson has scholars research information on the Wright brothers. They develop props and produce a recreation of the first flight at Kitty Hawk. They then report on the event as if they were...

Find an answer to the age-old debate of whether life exists on Mars. Groups determine criteria to help look for signs of life on Mars. The activity has the class simulate testing Martian soil samples for signs of life before drawing...

Provide a Hooke for a lesson on elasticity with an activity that has groups investigate a set of springs. They use a set procedure to collect data to calculate the spring constant for each spring using Hooke's Law. The groups...

When you have to flow, you have to flow. The instructional activity introduces class members to microfluidic devices and their uses in medicine. They watch a short video on how the diameter affects the rate of flow. The worksheet has...

The Lotus Effect ... is it not some kind of yoga pose. In the last installment of a nine-part series, young scientists observe the Lotus Effect on lotus leaves and water-repellent cloths. They observe how motion and damage affect the...

Pupils attempt to solve the Wireless Hotspot Problem and learn why it is considered a computationally hard problem in the ninth lesson of the series on 12. They also learn about one-way functions and how the Wireless Hotspot Problem is...

Students create a "Hands" poem for the author/character in a reading selection.They make inferences for reading selection and back up inference by citing specific lines in text. They relate author's or main character's experiences to...

Young scholars use cabbage, backing soda, cobblestones, and more to test the acid in the water. For this acid mine damage lesson plan, students complete 13 experiments to test and treat acid.

Learners research sea life using laptop computers. In this sea life lesson, students participate in a field trip to the beach and enter observations into their laptop computers. Learners classify shells and sea life.

Students investigate the relationship between pitches and notes. For this musical pitches and notes lesson, students use different sized bottles, water, and sugar to demonstrate different sounds. Students create musical notes.

Students participate in a scavenger hunt and a drawing activity to examine the use of Global Positioning Systems including a handheld GPS receiver for personal navigation. They practice using the GPS receivers while collecting data from...

Students discuss different characteristics that enable animals to adapt to their environments. They work in pairs with one partner standing about one foot behind the other partner and cup their hands around their ears with palms forward....

Fifth graders investigate the how water becomes polluted and how it effects the environment, animals, and humans. They watch a video and conduct experiments.

Fourth graders experiment with electricity and magnetism and build an electromagnetic motor. In this electromagnetism lesson, 4th graders use household objects to show electrostatics and magnets and compasses to show magnetism. They...

Students design an experiment to investigate how light reflects. In this physics lesson, students apply the scientific method in conducting the experiment. They collect data and formulate a conclusion.

Eighth graders identify and name birds in their school yard by comparing and contrasting pictures of 12 common birds in the Phoenix metro area using the Ecology Explorers Protocol. They formulate questions based on observations that lead...

Students listen with closed eyes to a story that starts in a relaxed tone and ends in a scream. They list the body reactions they experience: fast heart rate, shaking, etc. and hypothesize the reason for the reactions. They explore the...

Students observe a demonstration of how a thermometer functions. They apply the scientific method while determining which of three cups hold the coldest water. They write a hypothesis before conducting the experiment and gather data.