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Life Cycle of a Salamander
Third graders examine the life cycle of a salamander. In this life cycles lesson plan, 3rd graders view a PowerPoint presentation about the life cycle of a salamander. Students take the temperature of a toy salamander with a thermometer...
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Property: Ownership, Respect, and Responsibility
Students learn to respect others' property by rating the severity of a variety of damaging acts. Students use a tag board "thermometer" to rate the severity of statements describing situations where a person damages the property of another.
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Elementary Concepts in Heat
Third graders read a thermometer with accuracy, record observations and data, and infer conceptual meaning. They integrate mathematical charting and graphing skills to organize their data. They explore what happens when they touch or use...
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Weather Tools of the Trade
Fourth graders study the basic meteorological instruments (thermometer, barometer, weather vane, anemometer, and rain gauge). They explore how they are used, data that can be collected from them, and why records of the data are kept.
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Why is Summer Hot?
Students examine how variations in temperature are due to the Sun and length of day. For this solar lesson students complete a lab activity using thermometers and artificial sunlight to see how the earth is heated.
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Temperature and Tracking Weather
Fourth graders discuss, describe and track weather by utilizing a variety of measurable quantities as temperature, wind speed, wind direction, cloud conditions and precipitation. They assess, through experiments and practicing, how to...
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Feeling the Heat
Students investigate the urban heat island effect. For this urban heat island effect lesson, students learn how trees, grass, asphalt, and other things on the school grounds effect temperature. They use the information to generalize it...
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Heating and Cooling a Really Large Lizard
Students investigate the effect of temperature on cold-blooded animals, using a 5 x 8 inch index card to represent a dinosaur as their model organism. Students measure temperature changes that occurs at different angles to a light...
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Making Hail
Fourth graders investigate the different types of precipitation and conduct a hail experiment. They identify the types of precipitation during a slideshow, and define key vocabulary terms. Next, in small groups they follow the...
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Amazing Salt
Students examine the effects of salt on ice. In this salt lesson, students observe what happens to the temperature of ice when salt is added, then make ice cream to see how this knowledge can be used.
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Animal Behavior
Young scholars investigate stimulus-response behavior, learned behavior in animals and innate behavior in animals. In this animal behavior lesson plan, students answer questions about their reactions to a toy cap gun that is fired off in...
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Temperature Scales
Eighth graders explore how to read a thermometer. They convert temperature between Celsius, Fahrenheit and Kelvin. Students explain that Celsius is used in the Scientific community and Fahrenheit is used basically only in the United...
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STATES OF WATER
Students identify the various states of water. They use hypothesizing and hands-on experimenting on changing the states of water, the properties of water, and the role of heating and cooling in the changes of state.
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The Role of Density in Sinking or Floating: Relational Causality
Students watch the teacher do a demonstration of density with diet and regular soda. Note: try this first, as different types of artificial sweetener have different densities. Students discuss density and volume. They discuss "Relational...
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Can Cruncher
Learners experiment with boiling water and cans to study changes in pressure. In this pressure lesson plan, students use pop cans filled with varying amounts of water heated to boiling. Learners drop the cans in cold water and observe...
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DNA Extraction From Onion
Learners extract DNA from an onion using household equipment and supplies.
Creative Chemistry
Determining the Enthalpy Change of a Reaction
For this enthalpy of reactions learning exercise, high schoolers use a known amount of copper (II) sulphate solution and an excess of zinc powder to calculate the reaction's enthalpy change. Students measure the temperature change...
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The Frigid Gourmet
Students make a " science surprise" or ice cream in the lab. In this melting point depression lesson plan, students use various substances with ice to determine the effects on the melting point of ice and the ability to make ice cream....
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Jackie Gore
Students identify the amount of heat given off by solar energy. In this solar energy lesson, students complete an experiment using soil and sand measuring the heat from solar energy.
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Temperatures and Reaction Rates
Students participate in a hands-on activity in which they observe the effect of temperature on the rate of chemical reactions. Using Alka Seltzer tablets in different temperatures of water, they record the amount of time it takes each...
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Hot Food
Learners compare and contrast photosynthesis and chemosynthesis as processes that provide energy to biological communities. They investigate the energy content of hydrocarbons used in coral communities.
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Dead Body Math
Students solve the mystery of dead Mr. Potato Head using physics and algebra. They discuss Newton's Law of cooling as it applies to the mystery scenario involving a cooling baked potato as the "victim". They manipulate algebraic...
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Weather
Students create a spreadsheet and chart using data collected. In this weather lesson, students select five cities from their state, including the city they live in. Students take daily temperature readings from all five...
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Temperature High and Lows
Students gather high and low temperature readings through email. In this temperature graphing lesson, students use a spreadsheet to input data for a graph. students interpret the graphs to compare and contrast the data from different...