Virginia Department of Education
Determining Absolute Age
How can radioactive decay help date old objects? Learners explore half-life and radioactive decay by conducting an experiment using pennies to represent atoms. Young scientists graph data from the experiment to identify radioactive decay...
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Poster Assignment: Sports Chemistry
Tenth graders distinguish between chemical and physical properties and changes in matter when given specific examples. They view a video of sports activities. Students chose their favorite sport and design an experiment to improve sports...
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Build An Island
Young scholars explore erosion. In this science lesson, students build an island and observe the effects of erosion on the island. Young scholars discuss freshwater ecosystems in Hawaii.
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Travel Mug Design
Students create and develop a travel mug. They create visuals and a three dimensional infomercial. They apply an engineering design and demonstrate knowledge of thermodynamics involved in heat transfer. They illustrate Newton's Law of...
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Friction Restriction: Creating a Design Plan to Redesign the Tread of Tennis Sneakers to Increase Friction
Young scholars evaluate the friction of tennis sneakers and redesign them to increase friction. For this physics lesson, students calculate starting, sideways and forward stopping friction. Using quantitative data, they prove that...
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States of Matter
Students explore the states of water. In this physical science lesson, students use ice and dry ice to observe the changes in the state of matter. Students record the results.
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Alice Magic Cake
Using a famous children's story as the hook, learners explore the concept of changes in matter. First, they make a cake similar to the one made by Alice in the story Alice's Adventure in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Next, they let their...
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How Simple Is Your Rational Expression?
Investigate simplifying rational expressions. Learners define rational expressions, review how numerators and denominators are polynomials and complete several problems using a checklist to ensure they don't skip any steps. Work can be...
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Conceptualizing an Experiment
Learners work together to design an experiment. They discover the origin of a family artifact. They analyze the data and discuss the results. They determine if the experiment is the best way to find out this type of information.
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Radiation and Color
Tenth graders explore the relationship between color and heat absorption by measuring the temperature change of water in differently colored test tubes as they are exposed to a heat lamp. They work in small groups to collect data and...
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Backyard Critters
Students explore the characteristics of invertebrates in their backyards. They observe, describe, and classify specimens. They conclude with a "snail race."
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Science: Wind Power
Students build models of wind turbines and experiment with different designs that will improve efficiency. Students will understand the use of wind power as a renewable resource.
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The Case Of The Sour Employee
Ninth graders are presented with a problem that has to be solved. The scenario is a mystery that is purely hypothetical. This does draw on the knowledge of previous lessons. The lesson plan contains background knowledge explaining the...
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Archaeology
Students examine how observations lead to investigations, and how archaeologists conduct their investigation.
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Graphing Linear Equations
Ninth graders review the information that they have already learned
with regard to linear equations and graphical representations. They then assist in combining equations with a graphical element and complete various graphs with this...
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Sports Helmets and Impact Testing of Polymers
Students examine the importance of good quality safety gear. In this investigative lesson, students will tests various polymers, collect data, and analyze the data to determine which polymer is best for safety helmets. They will design a...
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Hazard Mitigation: Bioterrorism
Students discuss different ways to spread infectious diseases. In this bioterrorism lesson, students model the rate of smoke emission using CalRoad software. They analyze the effects of airborne release of biological...
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Graphing Your Motion-Day 1
Ninth graders explore the concepts of motion, velocity and acceleration through graphing their own movement using LoggerPro. They become more familiar with the computer technology. Students explore graphing in real time and graph on...
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Wind Turbines
Students build their own wind turbine. In this physics lesson, students calculate the power output of their wind turbines. They evaluate their design and make the necessary modifications.
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Bubbles
Students complete experiments with three different bubble solutions to determine which one creates the largest bubbles. Before conducting the experiments, they discuss the ingredients in each solution, and make predictions on which will...
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Soil Sample Lab 2
Students examine each soil sample and record observations. In this biology lesson, students design an experiment to test soil flow rate. They write a lab report about the experiment.
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Gallery Walk Questions on Weathering and Mass Wasting
A set of questions on weathering and erosion are found in this resource. Some of them can be used as discussion topics or lecture guides. There are also suggested activities such as the examination of topographic quadrangles and the...
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Space-Age Experiments
Students evaluate the notion of aging by reviewing some of the studies that occurred on John Glenn's space shuttle mission.
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Enzymes in Action: An Inquiry Approach to the Effects of Enzymes
Students experiment with enzymes as key components of chemical reactions in all living things through this series of lessons.