Aquatic Communities

Students examine the ways that government works to help improve aquatic habitats. In this water habitats lesson plan students view a video and plan a school restoration project. 

Steve Spangler has created a toy that relies on science to make ice cream! He uses a ball with two cylinders inserted. One contains rock salt and water, while the other contains the ice cream ingredients. Once sealed, a family kicks the...

Here is the recipe for making ice cream in a couple of zip-top plastic bags. It is a fun way to demonstrate phase changes, especially when the weather is hot! Use this in your elementary science curriculum when introducing the states of...

The classic carnation color-change activity for demonstrating water transport up a plant stem is played out in this video. Add the clip to a PowerPoint presentation or show it when teaching plant structure to young botanists. If you have...

Spangler leads an 11 year old scientist through the processes behind his science fair project, which was designed to see if any common household liquids (besides water) would expand when frozen. Liquids such as motor oil, ethanol,...

This visually vibrant activity demonstrates what happens when dish soap weakens the bonds that hold fats and proteins suspended in milk. Perhaps you can have chemistry lab groups perform this activity when they are learning about...

An acid/base indicator that's made of blended red cabbage and water is used to demonstrate the various reactions that an acid/base solution goes through when some carbon dioxide gas is added. The best way to add the carbon dioxide is to...

Challenge your learners with a film on sound and vibration. Two wine glasses are filled with water and are then used to make sounds. When water is added to the glass, or removed from the glass, the pitch of the sound changes. Then, a...

Spangler invites a teacher in for this segment. She has developed some amazing demonstrations which use liquid nitrogen for elementary schoolers. She drops inflated balloons into a bowl of liquid nitrogen and the results are quite...

There's a lot going on here: air pressure changes, inertia, and chemical reactions. All of this occurs in 60 seconds time! As an end of the year physical science assessment, consider showing this video clip and then having learners write...