Eight groups in your class are each responsible for a different aspect of surveying the campus for a suitable rain garden location. Features to consider include water flow, topography, sun/shade patterns, land surface, vegetation,...

Ready to roll up those sleeves and get your hands dirty? Dirty with soil science content, that is! Overcome those "But it's just dirt" objections with a trip outside to collect soil samples for some in-class analysis. Use the...

Second graders explore floating and sinking and make predictions about whether certain objects are likely to sink or float. They read the story Who Sank the Boat? by Pamela Allen. Pupils loacate rhyming words and discuss the events of...

Young scholars engage in an activity which demonstrates how potential energy (PE) can be converted to kinetic energy (KE) and back again. Given a pendulum height, students calculate and predict how fast the pendulum will swing by...

Fifth and sixth graders practice working in pairs to determine whether they can walk with constant speed. They test themselves, collect their data, draw graphs with their data collected, manipulate the data, and then draw conclusions...

Over four sessions, learners survey the production and use of polymers and petroleum products. First, they participate in a kinesthetic activity to demonstrate how polymers act, and review a list of common products made from...

Using Google SketchUp, learners draw a model of their bedroom. They begin by measuring the dimensions of their bedroom, inputting this information into the software program, and calculating perimeter and area. This is an interesting and...

You've got to pump it up! Using the equations for projectile motion and Bernoulli's Principle, class members calculate the water pressure in a water gun. The pupils collect data on the number of pumps and distance traveled in order...

Boxing takes on a whole new meaning! The second installment of the three-part series has groups create lidless boxes from construction paper that can hold the most rice. After testing out their constructions, they build a new box....

Fifth graders conduct a class survey and share the results with a class in another state via an electronic bulletin board. This technology-rich lesson is an ideal way to have learners practice communicating with others through the use of...

Students construct a rocket from a balloon propelled along a guide string. They use this model to learn about Newton's three laws of motion, examining the effect of different forces on the motion of the rocket. They measure the distance...

Explore lines tangent to a circle. In this math lesson, students manipulate circles and lines on a TI calculator. They draw a circle  and analyze perpendicular lines intersecting the circle in only one place. This activity works...

Hate to vacuum, but enjoy using a vacuum pump? Explore a instructional activity that starts with a demonstration of boiling water at various temperatures by using a vacuum pump. Then scholars design their own experiments to measure vapor...

Using the natural pH indicator of red cabbage juice, groups determine the pH of different everyday liquids. As they work, pupils gain an understanding of pH that may help deal with contaminants in the water supply. 

Try your hand at scale models. Scholars create a scale model of an object using a scale factor of their choice. As part of the project, they give presentations on their processes and calculations. This is the last installment of the...

Your learners create their own spinner using different colors and analyze the likelihood of landing on certain colors. The solutions are presented as fractions.