Curated OER
How Does Vegetation Decrease Erosion?
In this erosion activity, students will compare what happens to soil when water flows over soil with no vegetation and soil with vegetation. Then, students will complete four short answer questions.
Curated OER
To Protect Your Streams, Protect Your Mountains
Students build and experiment with a watershed to understand the effects of pollution. In this movement of water instructional activity, students work in groups creating rock formations and change the viscosity of the liquids falling...
Curated OER
Combating Corrosion
Study corrosion on bronze statues with a hands-on activity. As pupils place a penny in water with salt, they observe the changes in the penny throughout a period of a week. They then analyze the pre-conservation and the...
Curated OER
The Effect of Temperature on Solubility
In this solubility instructional activity, students conduct an experiment to see how temperature effects the solubility of salt in water. Students record their data in a chart and then graph the results. Then students complete 2 short...
Curated OER
Transition Metals (II)
Students discuss transition metals, their properties, and where they are located on the periodic table as well as why transition metals are ideal for coins. After discussion, they conduct an experiment using copper in the form of old...
Curated OER
Pond Life
Students recognize the habitats of animals that live near or in a pond. In this pond lesson, students examine pond water and look for pond organisms. Students observe organisms with a loupe and complete a worksheet.
Curated OER
Making Molecules
In this making molecules worksheet, students complete a table of elements with their symbol, atomic number, atomic mass, number of protons, number of electrons, period and group. Students then make models using pipe cleaners and beads of...
Curated OER
Earth Energy Budget Lab
Students conduct experiments showing the greenhouse effect. In this scientific experiment lesson, students test for CO2 concentration, water vapor, ground albedo, and clouds. They describe what factors affect temperature and how...
Curated OER
What's the Difference Between Concentration and Solubility?
Students discuss the difference between concentration and solubility as well as examine the difference in a hands-on activity. Using water and table salt, they experiment with solubility. They create different concentrations using water...
Curated OER
A SALT WATER-Y WORLD
Young scholars observe a model of the distribution of the earth's water and compare the relative volumes and percentages of types of water on earth.
Curated OER
Salty Solutions
Middle schoolers measure salt content in water. They determine salt content of four samples using a hydrometer.
Curated OER
Innovation: Light Speed
Get your scholars working at "light speed" with this worksheet on how different wave frequencies have been discovered and used. The assignment has 20 short-answer questions, set up in a table. Consider re-doing the table or allowing...
Curated OER
Rate of Coral Growth
Using a table of information provided, middle school marine biologists chart data on a graph to determine the impact of water depth on coral growth in Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Then they answer questions that connect the data to...
Curated OER
Weathering Lab
Assist your middle school class with one of the most inclusive weathering and erosion labs available. Individuals use sugar cubes and alka-seltzer to demonstrate the process of physical and chemical weathering. They sketch results...
Science & Plants for Schools
Photosynthesis - A Survival Guide
Young scientists learn what it takes for life on Earth to survive with this series of photosynthesis resources. Offering twelve different activities ranging from independent practice worksheets to in depth scientific...
Pingry School
Solubility Product of an Ionic Compound
How do scientists determine when a solution is fully saturated? Scholars address the topic as they observe patterns of precipitation in various concentrations of ions. Using a well plate, pipette, and common chemicals, they collect data...
Curated OER
Reflection and Refraction
Life is only a reflection of what we allow ourselves to see. The lesson includes three experiments on light reflection, light refraction, projection, lenses, and optical systems. Each experiment builds off the ones before and...
Nuffield Foundation
Effect of Size on Uptake by Diffusion
Cell size is limited by the surface area to volume ratio, but why is this true? Scholars measure the surface area and volume of cubes before placing them into liquid. After a set amount of time, they measure the uptake by diffusion for...
Science Matters
Ring of Fire
Over a period of 35 years, earthquakes and volcanoes combined only accounted for 1.5 percent of the deaths from natural disasters in the United States. The 15th lesson in a 20-part series connects the locations of earthquakes and...
Chymist
Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz
One of the most recognizable commercial melodies was written in 1977, and led to gastronomical relief around the world. Scholars use Alka Seltzer tablets to measure reactants and calculate the chemical equation for the reaction of NaHCO3...
NOAA
What's the Difference?
Due to the isolation of seamounts, their biodiversity offers a great deal of information on the development of biological and physical processes. Pupils use simple cluster analysis to rate the similarity and differences in biological...
Curated OER
Mealworms
Crawl into the world of the darkling beetle with this scientific investigation. Watch as the insects move through the larval, pupal, and adult stages of life, recording observations along the way. Discuss the necessities of life as young...
NOAA
Mapping the Deep-Ocean Floor
How do you create a map of the ocean floor without getting wet? Middle school oceanographers discover the process of bathymetric mapping in the third installment in a five-part series of lessons designed for seventh and eighth graders....
Santa Monica College
Titration of Vinegar
Titration calculations require concentration. The 10th lesson in an 11-part series challenges young chemists to use titration in order to determine the molarity and mass percent in concentrated vinegar. Analysis questions encourage...