This lesson will make an impact, especially on scientist-athletes who may have an interest in waterproof clothing! Acting as materials engineers, they work collaboratively on waterproofing pieces of cotton fabric. This challenge is...

Blow your learners' minds with a sweet lesson on nanotechnology that uses sugar to demonstrate the difference nanoscale surface area makes in dissolving and crystal formation. Plenty of supportive background information is read to...

Mathematicians analyze the relationships between surface area and volume. They conduct Internet research, conduct various experiments, record the data in a spreadsheet, and graph the results and compare the rate of increase of surface...

Be sure to use this sweet resource. Scholars perform an experiment using sugar to investigate how surface area relates to the coarseness of sugar. They consider how this concept connects to nanotechnology.

Meant to be a pre-field trip lesson, this can also serve as a cute and simple activity to use when your little ones are learning about evaporation or surface area. The children cut tiny t-shirts out of paper towel material, wet them, and...

As a way to combine life and physical science, or simply as an investigation of plant transpiration, this lesson is sure to inspire! Middle schoolers capture the moisture given off by plants that are placed in different conditions. They...

Students comprehend the meaning of "pixel." They recognize patterns using pixels. Students observe how land use can be determined from a pixel. They measure off a 30 x 30-meter area to show the size of the surface area of one pixel....

Discover a world too small to see. In the lesson plan, young scientists learn about nanotechnology and brainstorm ideas for new applications of it. They perform an activity to determine how surface area changes when objects are made...

Introduce high schoolers to chemical reactions with this series of activities. In a little over an hour, scientists observe four gas-producing reactions: the combination of hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide, placing pasta in...

Students complete experiments to determine how rocket fuel is affected by surface area and temperature. They compare the reaction rates of antacid tablets. They discuss their results to complete the lesson.

Nano-nano! Nanotechnology can seem like it's from another planet! After learning about this tiny technology, collaborative groups experiment with how smaller particles affect chemical reactions. They do this by immersing a whole and a...

Learners examine how living cells reproduce to make new cells.  In this cell reproduction lesson students complete a lab activity and answer questions. 

How do you measure surface tension? The fifth installment of a nine-part series is an experiment where young scientists use tubes of different sizes to measure surface tension. They calculate the average and standard deviation of the...

Explore the connection of surface area to bonding within atoms. Learners complete lab investigations to model changing surface area with different sizes and concentrations of atoms. A flour fireball demonstration follows the labs to...

Surface area certainly surfaces as a variable for chemical reaction rates. Scholars perform an experiment to discover how the size of catalysts affect the rate of a chemical reaction. They record their results in tables and graphs to...

We use basic units of measurement to break down things and communicate clearly. The first instructional activity in an 11-part series teaches the proper way to measure various items. It starts simply with measuring the dimensions and...

Students construct their own rocket-powered boat called an "aqua-thruster." These aqua-thrusters will be made from a film canister and will use carbon dioxide gas - produced from a chemical reaction between an antacid tablet and water -...

Using NASA's Live Access Server, earth scientists compare the temperature, precipitation, and normalized difference vegetation index for four different locations. They use the data to identify the climate zone of each location using...

Young scholars observe demonstrations to show factors that affect rates of chemical reactions. In this rates of chemical reactions instructional activity, students investigate how catalysts, reactant concentrations, temperature and...

If your pupils think a catalyst is a list of their cats, then this might be the lesson for you! Young chemists study the effect of temperature, catalysts, concentration, and particle size on reaction rates during four different...

Back to the basics (of surface tension). The first installment of a nine-part series teaches young scholars about the basics of surface tension and how it relates to water droplets. They also learn how this concept allows for the...

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...

Learners examine the surface area to volume ratio and how they relate.  In this surface area lesson students complete several activities.

Learners measure the rate of diffusion and to calculate the surface area to volume ratios of varying cell sizes. The lesson is very clearly organized with a useful student worksheet provided. They perform a lab experiment which is...