Curated OER
A Weighty Issue
Want to get your students motivated in science class? Given only a piece of aluminum foil, assign groups the task of designing a "barge" that will support the weight of a bunch of pennies. The group who is able to put the most...
Curated OER
What a Square
Students examine the painting "Old Man With A Gold Chain" by Rembrandt. They identify geometric shapes in the painting, measure these shapes and compare the relationships of these measurements.
Alabama Learning Exchange
Make a Difference!
We are very dependent upon other life forms around us to survive. Here, scholars explore relationships in the ecosystem with the help of Auntie Litter and the pollution patrol. They imagine a world without grass, making connections to...
Teach Engineering
Glue Sticks Bend and Twist
Stick this resource in the "Use" column. In the second installment of a six-part series, learners use glue sticks to demonstrate forces. Using glue sticks, instructors can demonstrate tension, compression, and torsion.
Virginia Department of Education
Measuring Mania
Conversion immersion — it's measuring mania! A set of four activities teaches scholars to convert between customary and metric units. Resource covers unit conversions in length, temperature, weight/mass, and volume.
DiscoverE
Paper Tower
Read all about it! Challenge your class to build taller and stronger. Newspapers provide the means to build towers in a simple activity. Scholars try to build as tall a tower as possible with just two sheets of newspaper.
Virginia Department of Education
Surface Area and Volume
Partners use materials to wrap three-dimensional objects to determine the formula for surface area. The groups use an orange to calculate the amount of peel it takes to completely cover the fruit. Using manipulatives, individuals then...
West Contra Costa Unified School District
Investigating Similar Triangles
Let your use of the resource be in proportion to its usefulness. Pupils investigate similar triangles by measuring side lengths and considering given angle measures. The results of the investigation help develop generalizations about...
University of Georgia
Splat!
What does viscosity have to do with splatter? An activity shows that the viscosity of a substance is inversely proportional to the distance of its splatter. Learners conduct the experiment by collecting data, graphing, and analyzing...
Mascil Project
Parachute Food Drop
Drop a perfect project into your lesson plans. Groups use different building materials to create models of parachutes for food drops. After testing out their prototypes, they make improvements to their designs.
University of Colorado
Looking Inside Planets
All of the gas giant's atmospheres consist of hydrogen and helium, the same gases that make up all stars. The third in a series of 22, the activity challenges pupils to make scale models of the interiors of planets in order to...
DiscoverE
Air-Powered Mini Rocket
Does the position of the clips make a difference? The activity provides directions to build and test a paper rocket. Pupils attach paper clips to the rocket in different configurations and measure the distance the rocket flies each time....
Curated OER
Families are Funny- Drawing a Comic Strip
In this family comic book learning exercise, students examine examples of comic strips about families. They plan and draw their own 3 panel family comic strip using drawing tools. They investigate more about drawing comic strips by...
Mathed Up!
Tree Diagrams
Explore how to visually represent probability problems. Scholars watch a video to refresh their memories on tree diagrams. To finish the activity, they complete a worksheet of questions on this topic.
Las Cumbres Observatory
The Cosmic Distance Ladder: Parallax
Scientists don't have a ruler long enough to measure to the stars, so they rely on math. Scholars learn to calculate the distance from Earth to a star using the parallax method. They use angle measures from different perspectives to...
Curated OER
Measuring angles and segments
In this middle school geometry worksheet, students use a ruler and a protractor to measure segment length and angle size. The one page worksheet contains six problems. Answers are not provided.
Curated OER
Measuring Perimeter
Have your class practice measuring the perimeter of various objects using this resource. Fifth graders place various-sized polygons in order (from largest to smallest). They use non-standard measuring tools to estimate the distance...
Captain Planet Foundation
Predicting Whether the Weather is Good for the Garden
Can your class predict the weather? Show them how they can come close with a lesson plan about creating weather instruments, including weather vanes, barometers, wind socks, anemometers, and thermometers. Kids research weather patterns...
California Academy of Science
Optimal and Sustainable: Renewable Energy Revamp
More than 100 cities around the world have shifted from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. Scholars investigate a city wanting to make this switch, but needs help determining how to make the shift. Groups consider all options,...
University of Georgia
Heating and Cooling of Land Forms
Compare heating and cooling rates of different land forms. A lab activity has groups collect data on the rate of heating and cooling of soil, grass, saltwater, fresh water, and sand. An analysis of the rates shows how the different land...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Albedo, Reflectivity, and Absorption
What is reflectivity, and what does it have to do with the Earth's climate? As reflectivity is measured by albedo, scientists can gather information on Earth's energy balances that relate to global warming or climate change. Budding...
Cornell University
Light Waves: Grades 9-12
Explore the behavior of light waves with a lab activity. Scholars build new vocabulary through experimentation and observation. Using different mediums, they model reflection, refraction, transmission, diffusion, and scattering of light.
Curated OER
Point-Slope Form of a Line
This activity helps young mathematicians connect the graph and the point-slope form of a line, by first solving a real-world problem and then using that example to motivate the understanding of the equation. By manipulating the gizmo,...
EngageNY
Fundamental Theorem of Similarity (FTS)
How do dilated line segments relate? Lead the class in an activity to determine the relationship between line segments and their dilated images. In the fourth section in a unit of 16, pupils discover the dilated line...