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Cells: Structures and Processes
Students explore the basic unit of life, the cell in this nine lessons unit. The cell structure of animal and plant cell functions and how they affect our world are probed in this unit.
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Physics Park
Students research and design a playground for a park or school in their community. They explore the physics concepts that are present in the design and, if applicable promote their ideas to city or school officials.
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Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
Fourth graders participate in an activity which introduces them to common types of precipitation. They examine "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" through a teacher read aloud and make a weather pamphlet.
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Mystery Powders
Fifth graders evaluate the physical properties of 5 powders. Each powder is subject to different conditions. They describe each observation as with a chemical change or a physical change.
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Chemical Change
Fifth graders watch a demonstration in which a balloon is inflated using the gas created by combining vinegar and baking soda. Then, in groups, they combine various assigned substances and watch and record the results.
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Minnesota-China Connections: Jade Sculptures
Students study Chinese jade carvings and then carve an animal from soap in a similar fashion.
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20/20 Vision
Students determine their own eyesight and calculate what a good average eyesight value for the class would be. They examine how technology enhances eyesight and how engineers play an important role in the development of these technologies.
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Good News - We're on the Rise!
Students build and observe a simple aneroid barometer to discover changes in barometric pressure and weather forecasting. They graph changes in barometric pressure for two weeks and make weather predictions.
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Making Decisions: Packaging and the Environment
Students work in small groups to redesign the packaging of several common items. They attempt to reach the goal of 25% reduction in packaging materials currently used and explore the impact of various materials and designs in landfills...
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Ohm's Law I
Learners work to increase the intensity of a light bulb by testing batteries in series and parallel circuits. They analyze Ohm's Law, power, parallel and series circuits, and ways to measure voltage and current.
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Tornado!: Types and Formation
Students discuss the different types of tornadoes and how they form. Working in groups, they record journal entries by conducting experiments with water bottles simulating vortex formation.
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Design a Recycling Game!
Students discover that recycling is using a product more than once so that natural resources can be saved and so that we won't need so many garbage dumps and landfills. They see that there are different ways to recycle. Students design a...
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Design a Parachute
Middle schoolers engage in a discussion about what a parachute is and how it works. They create a parachute using different materials that they think will work best. The students test their designs, which will be followed by a class...
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Design Your Own Rube Goldberg Machine
Students design and construct a Rube Goldberg machine that accomplishes a simple task in at least ten steps. They view and discuss various Rube Goldberg designs, identify types of simple machines, and in small groups produce a schematic...
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Energy Detectives at Work
Students are "Energy Detectives" working for an engineering firm that does energy evaluations at schools. In teams, they locate energy sources around the school, and record their findings on an Energy Detective Worksheet.
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Energetic Musical Instruments
Young scholars apply the principles and concepts associated with energy and the transfer of energy in an engineering context through the designing and making of a musical instrument. After the accomplishment of the design, students must...
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I Feel Renewed!
Students participate in a simulation of the equal and unequal distribution of the earth's renewable resources. They discuss renewable resources and how food resources can increase and decrease, participate in the simulation, and analyze...
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New Boxes From Old
Middle schoolers find the volume and surface area of a rectangular box (e.g., a cereal box), and then figure out how to convert that box into a new, cubical box having the same volume as the original. As they construct the new,...
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TE Activity: Northward Ho!
Young scholars design a simple compass. They examine how the Earth's magnetic field has both horizontal and vertical components. They determine how a compass works and work with cardinal directions.
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Smart Move!
Students visualize a communication system. They encode, decode, transmit, receive and store messages. Students use a code sheet and flashlight for this process. They will also maintain a storage sheet from which they can retrieve...
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Trig River
Middle schoolers calcute distances using trigonometry and angle measurements. They estimate the width of the Trig River, measure it and compare their results with their classmates. They collaborate with a group to research and find the...
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Trait Variations for Survival
Young learners examine how different traits could give one organism an advantage over another. In groups, they view two different organisms in different environments. To end the lesson, they complete a Venn Diagram on the two organisms...
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Using Fulcrums
Students engage in a lesson that concentrates on the use of a lever and fulcrum. They define how a lever is used to lift a load. The lesson has background information to justify it. Students demonstrate how to use the lever while lifting...
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The Editorial Revisited
Students identify different types of editorials. They explain, using a graphic organizer, the elements that make an editorial powerful. They offer elements they came up with and the examples and list them on the board.