Curated OER
Capturing the Sun's Warmth
Students explore the variety of ways to use solar energy. They investigate the thermal energy storage capacities of different test materials to determine which to use in passive solar building design. They explain how passive solar...
Curated OER
Draft-o-Meter
Students conduct an experiment to measure the location and amount of air drafts present in their homes. They discuss the effects of drafts on healing and cooling efficiency in their homes.
Curated OER
Thermal Energy and Heat Unit
Students explain that heat energy in a material consists of the disordered motions of its atoms or molecules. They know and explain that transformations of energy usually transform some energy into the form of heat, which dissipates by...
Curated OER
States of Matter and Gas Laws
In this matter activity, students review the states of matter and the gas law formulas and equations. Students then complete 7 multiple choice questions and 6 problems.
Curated OER
The Water Cycle and Clementine
Third graders sing a piggyback song to explore the parts of the water cycle and then illustrate and label the water cycle in their science journals.
Curated OER
Tree Inventory and Map Project
In this tree inventory and map project worksheet, students follow the directions on how to take inventories of trees and create a map from it. Students follow 4 sets of directions.
Curated OER
Animal Skin
Students investigate the skin surface to body area ratios for different animals. In this seventh/eighth grade mathematics/science activity, students explore heat transfer between an animal’s body and the environment. Using...
Curated OER
Beat the Heat: Meander Through These Books
A hazy, daisy, lazy summer reading list for math (and interdisciplinary) learning.
Curated OER
Science Detectives
Fifth graders examine the differences between chemical and physical changes. As a class, they are read a scenerio and determine whether it was deliberate act or not. In groups, they observe the changes of an alka-seltzer tablet and...
Colorado State University
How Can Freezing Make Something Warmer?
Crazy fact—freezing liquid actually gives off heat! Young scholars investigate the transfer of energy when liquids freeze using a chemical heat pack. The heat pack gives off heat as its liquid core freezes.
Curated OER
Does Humidity Affect Cloud Formation?
Middle schoolers use S'COOL data to identify factors that affect cloud formation. They find a data set using the S'COOL database , and use Excel to manipulate the data. Student isolate relevant data, create meaningful graphs from a...
Curated OER
Melted Paintings
Another in the amazing series of lesson plans which use unique mediums! Students execute artwork on a non-traditional painting surface. They theorize what happen to their artwork if it is exposed to heat, then see what happens when they...
Discovery Education
It's Getting Hot in Here
Class members engage in a STEM experiment and investigate how materials affect heating in a house by creating models of houses and using different top surface materials. They record the temperature inside the models and consider what the...
Curated OER
WS 2.5 Dimensional Analysis
Science students apply dimensional analysis to relate quantities in six different problems. They consider the cost of steak, a young man's growth rate, a medicine prescription, fuel efficiency, and more. This worksheet is a great way to...
Curated OER
On the Right Circuit
After a discussion on how to make a light bulb light up in an electrical circuit, young scientists take a look at four circuits, and they choose the one they think will make the lightbulb light up. Use in conjunction with any initial...
Teach Engineering
How Hot is Hot?
Elementary schoolers identify the three methods of heat transfer: conduction, convection, and radiation. The lesson is mostly lecture-based. When the teacher has finished the presentation, groups of pupils get into teams and they must...
Curated OER
The Same, But Different Part II
Learners characterize a physical change as something that changes to a different size, but retains its basic substance. They measure volumes using milliliters, and perform an experiment that proves that gases expand when hot and contract...
Curated OER
Determining the Molar Mass of a Gas
Young scholars determine the molar mass of a gas. In this molar mass of a gas lesson plan, students use the vapor density of an organic solvent to determine its molar mass. They vaporize the solvent and collect the vapor. Once it is...
Curated OER
Household Conservation/Efficiency
Hook your class up to an online home energy usage calculator so that they can estimate the amount used per month by their families. Then give them Watt meters with which they will measure the power consumption of several small...
Curated OER
A Device That Condenses Water
Fifth graders who are studying water vapor and the condensation process use this learning exercise to help them understand the process of condensation. Most of the learning exercise is simply a source of information, with a good...
Curated OER
"I'm Melting!"
Third and fourth graders engage with a worksheet designed to help them differentiate between melting and dissolving. After reading an informative paragraph about the two actions, they consider four scenarios, and choose whether they...
Mascil Project
Closed Greenhouses
Controlling the efficiency of a greenhouse is a mathematical task. A collaborative project challenges learners to create an efficiency plan for a closed greenhouse. Using algebraic equations, they consider a set of constraints, design...
Colorado State University
Can Gravity Push Something Up?
How does a hot air balloon fly? An experimental lesson has scholars build a balloon from a garbage bag and monitor the movement of air. As the temperature of the air in the balloon increases, gravity moves the denser cool air down,...
Curated OER
Water:Properties, Chapter 3
Hydrogen bonds, and polarity are described in this PowerPoint, and the reasons for tension and cohesion associated with water. The states of water under certain conditions are explained with information about the changes in...