Curated OER
Water, Water Everywhere!
Learners brainstorm on ways they use water, and where water comes from. They view video, Down the Drain, to gain specific facts about water use, properties of water, problems of water and the water cycle. They perform a lab activity...
Curated OER
Floating Fishes: How do Fishes Control Buoyancy?
Playing with balloons, water, oil, and bottles help put this lesson plan over the top! Participants use air-filled balloons in water tanks to experience gas compression. They also use oil-filled bottles to experiment with buoyancy....
American Chemical Society
From Gas to Liquid to Solid
From gas to liquid condensation to solid frost, water undergoes phase changes before students' eyes! Using ice, salt, water, and a metal can, they set up an investigation that can be used in a physical science setting, or as part of a...
Curated OER
Weather
Students gain an understanding of air pressure. In this science lesson plan, students define weather, understand pressure, specifically air pressure, demonstrate the pushing power and other properties of air, and learn how a barometer is...
Curated OER
Properties of Soil: Original Lesson Plan
This lesson is an investigation of soil properties, particularly texture, color and space for air and water. Student inspect soil samples found in their locale, perform several tests to determine different properties, and involves a ...
Curated OER
Properties of Matter
Students describe four states of matter and their characteristics, explain thermal expansion of matter, interpret state changes in terms of kinetic theory of matter, explain relationship between temperature and volume of a gas, state...
Curated OER
States of Matter and Chemical/Physical Changes Stations
Students break into four groups, starting at different stations. Each station should take about 10 minutes depending on prior knowledge of the topic. They then rotate when everyone is finished to the next station and discuss answers of...
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
How Dry am I? Exploring Biomimicry and Nanotechnology
Help your classes feel like they can walk on water! An engaging inquiry-based lesson has young scholars experiment with different surface coatings. They make observations about their properties and how they relate to the surface tension...
Royal Society of Chemistry
Alkanes
Alkanes contain only single bonds and have no functional groups. Scholars match the properties of six alkanes in a series of four puzzles. Problem solving and logic help cement the concepts with repetition.
Curated OER
Polymers and Crystals: Their Role in Food Science
Blend chemistry with cooking in this exploration of polymers, carbohydrates, and food science. Experimenting with gelatin produces concrete examples of the bonding and ploymerization discussed in the lesson. Copious, comprehensive...
Curated OER
Air...What Gives?
Students investigate the properties of air by capturing it, squeezing it, and feeling its weight. In this forces lesson plan, students capture bags of air and examine its properties. The weight and pressure of air is emphasized.
Space Awareness
Water is a Heat Sink
One of the key objectives of Europe's Copernicus Earth program is to monitor the temperatures of the oceans and seas on Earth. Young scholars learn the effects of different heat capacities through two experiments. These experiments...
Curated OER
Science: Water Quiz
In this science: water quiz worksheet, students answer twenty questions, not interactively about the properties of water, then scroll down to check their answers.
Journey Through the Universe
A Scale Model Solar System
Between the time scientists discovered Pluto and reclassified it as a dwarf planet, it did not even make one full revolution around the sun. In two activities, scholars investigate scale models and their properties. Pupils find that it...
Kenan Fellows
Sensors in Chemistry
The Environmental Protection Agency monitors sensors to track air pollution and set clean air standards. Enthusiastic young scientists use similar sensors to gather data in their area and then apply the gas laws and conservation of...
Curated OER
Periodic Table of the Elements: Transition Metals
Students conduct an exothermic reaction to investigate the properties of a transition metal. In this periodic table lesson, students identify the transition elements and discuss their properties after watching a video. They conduct an...
Curated OER
What is the Best Insulator: Air, Styrofoam, Foil, or Cotton?
Students investigate the properties of insulators by attempting to keep a cup of water from freezing, and once it is frozen, to keep it from melting. They conduct the experiment, record and analyze the results, and answer discussion...
Curated OER
It's a Gas!
Students investigate gases and their properties by completing 4 activities. In this gases lesson plan, students perform activities to show that gases take up space, they diffuse, and that odors and vibrations pass through gases. They...
Curated OER
Periodic Table of the Elements
First graders discuss, at their level, the concept of elements making up all matter. They discover the story of Dimitri Mendeleev and his discovery of the Periodic Table of the Elements. They locate and color some of the most common...
Curated OER
Signs of the Wind
Students discover the properties of wind. They name as many wind words as they can. (breezy, windy, blustery, gust, tornado, hurricane, stormy, etc.) and use vocabulary, movement, and props to illustrate winter weather concepts such as...
Curated OER
Name That Gas!
Young scientists discover that air is a mixture of different gases - mainly nitrogen and oxygen. The properties of some of the other gases found in oxygen are listed in a table, then learners must decide which one of those gases is...
Curated OER
Tornado in a Bottle
Students learn about the causes and properties of tornados. Students create a simulation of a tornado and observe its characteristics.
Curated OER
All About Matter
Twenty-four questions about matter, the states of matter and the properties of matter make up this interactive online worksheet. Your class will determine the volume of water, the shape of water and the shapes of matter.
Steinhardt Apps
Kinetic Molecular Theory
Building off young chemists' knowledge of the states of matter, kinetic molecular theory is the focus of the unit. Eight days of lessons including multiple demonstrations, one lab experiment, directed instruction, and worksheets,...