Cornell University
Renewable Resins and Composites
Merge chemistry with environmental science to study biodegradable materials. An engaging activity allows learners to experiment with different resin concentrations and composites. Through experimental tests, scholars test their creations...
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Elastomers: The Best Bungee Cord
Students examine elastomeric polymers in a lab activity in which they design a bungee cord. Students must determine the tensile strength, percent elongation, and plot stress versus strain graphs for their experiments on rubber bands...
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Dante's Peak Movie Review
Middle or high school volcanologists watch the 1997 film, Dante's Peak. They make observations as they watch and then write a movie review, focusing on what was accurately represented. They also point out what facts were stretched by...
Agriculture in the Classroom
Roll of the Genes
Animal reproduction in sheep and cattle is explored with the help of Punnet squares. Scholars employ tools using probability to conclude the color of wool a sheep's offspring will have. Acting as animal geneticists, pupils then take...
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Blowing Ballast
Oceanographers participate in a memorable hands on experience about buoyancy. They build a model of a submersible using a plastic bottle and a balloon. Afterward, they answer assessment questions. An answer key and some terrific...
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Temperature Changes Everything
Middle school chemists visit interactive websites in order to discover what happens to molecular motion when heat is added to matter. They conduct an experiment that demonstrates the expansion of matter with the addition of heat. A lab...
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How Do Species Become Extinct?
Students examine reasons that animals become extinct. They participate in a simulation to discover that animals loss of home is the main factor that puts species near extinction in North America. Students examine over-hunting and...
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Sound and Hearing
Students explore how sound travels. In this sound lesson plan, students complete seven activities where they observe the different characteristics of sound. Students make sound, watch sound happen, and learn about the ear. Students gain...
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Preparing for the Weather
Students discuss hypothermia and recognize how insulation helps keep people warm. In this science lesson, students get into four groups and go to each activity. Students simulate what it is like to stay warm using shortening and ziploc...
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Skyscrapers
Students engineer their way through a hands-on science activity. In this architecture lesson, students examine dead loads and wind loads as they participate in the Skyscraper Challenge.
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How Far?
Learners explore how different textures provide varying amounts of friction to objects moving across them. They build a tool to measure the amount of friction between a note card and various surfaces by measuring the distance that a...
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The Chaos Game
Students measure and predict the behavior of a fractal. In this investigative activity students divide into groups, and participate in an activity that includes drawing triangles and coloring vertices.
DiscoverE
Kicking Machine
Don't kick the resource to the curb; you'll definitely regret it. Future engineers devise a kicking machine that launches a ping-pong ball toward a target. They can use a pendulum, a rubber band, or both, depending on whether they want...
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A Plane Old Time
Fourth graders become familiar with a chart and use the information to create a flight plan. For this flight plan lesson, 4th graders access background knowledge of the role of flight controllers and the number concepts they use. ...
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Recycled Paper Making
Second graders investigate the life of a recycled newspaper by experimenting in class. In this recycling lesson plan, 2nd graders create their own recycled paper pulp by mixing an old newspaper into a bucket and adding water. Students...
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Heat: Mini Unit
Students experiment with heat. In this physical science instructional activity, students engage in hands-on activities to develop concepts related to heat. Students offer explanations for their observations using given vocabulary.
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What Holds a Substance Together?
Students observe how substances are held together by bonds. In this physics activity, students demonstrate how a substance is held together by ripping newspapers and stretching marshmallows. Students complete a data sheet.
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Beneath the Sea
Students build a model of a submersible that will allow them to explore ballasts and how they operate. In this hands on lesson students participate in an activity that shows them how to control buoyancy.
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Inching Worms
Third graders have a blast trying to measure live, wiggly, stretching worms to the nearest inch. Groups record their data onto a class graph and then compare characteristics. They share their findings with the rest of the class. Fun...
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Strings and Springs
Ninth graders explore physics with springs and strings. In this force and motion instructional activity, 9th graders rotate through four stations exploring how various springs stretch and bounce, and how mass and length affect a...
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Fitness Math
Young scholars participate in physical fitness activities. They role a dice and perform the activity associated with the dice number. Activities include push ups, toe touches, curl ups, jump rope, jumping jacks, sit-ups, and shooting a...
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Gravity and Layers of Air
Students actively look and listen as their teacher provides transparencies to show how the atmosphere is made up of layers. In this atmosphere lesson plan, students discuss the atmosphere in terms of layers and how gravity pulls...
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Dinosaur Themed Guided Reading
Students complete and participate in various guided reading activities about dinosaurs. They read poems, complete a graphic organizer, complete a cloze activity, and develop a list of dinosaur facts.
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Playing In The Dirt - Discovering Soil
Young scholars discuss some the different types of soil in Oklahoma. They identify the soil types and explore the characteristics of each type of soil. In groups, students perform hands-on activities such as taking soil samples,...