Curriculum Activities: Ecological Concepts

How does heat move from one item to another, even when the items are in different states of matter? Pupils experiment with adding washers to hot water and adding hot washers to room temperature water to observe the heat transfer. 

Atmosphere aces investigate the microclimates that exist within a larger area. They use a thermometer to record temperature variations and identify microclimates on a map they have drawn. This exercise helps them to understand that...

Earth science enthusiasts experiment to compare the heating rates of soil and water. They relate their findings to the weather conditions near bodies of water. Consider also having middle schoolers measure the cooling rates to...

Explore thermal energy with this short episode. Jiggling molecules and hand-drawn animation help to explain that just because something has a lot of thermal energy, it doesn't necessarily feel hot to the touch. This is an ideal addition...

Does a tennis ball have energy? What about a bowling ball? Demonstrate concepts of different forms of energy forms and states with a variety of objects. Using the equations for potential and kinetic energy,...

How does temperature affect lipase activity? Young scholars conduct an experiment to collect data on the interaction of lipase at different temperatures. They add lipase to a solution of milk, sodium carbonate, and phenolphthalein and...

Is it me, or is it getting hot in here? Middle school science sleuths investigate the relationship between temperature and pressure, then use their observations to form a hypothesis. Questions embedded in the interactive help guide...

Learners examine NASA satellite observations of surface temperature and investigate the seasonal changes of land and water temperature.

The oceans contribute 37 trillion tons of water to land masses in the form of rain and snow. The third in a four-part series from NASA show satellite animations highlighting the precipitation on Earth. The videos show the movement of the...

The classic egg-drop experiment gets a new bounce with an activity that asks pairs to design a lander similar to one used to land a rover on Mars within a fixed budget. The activity provides a great introduction to the idea of...