Looking Back in Time (Alternative Activity)

Need a lesson to fuel young minds? A variety of hands-on activities is sure to get your class fired up! Beginning with an introductory slideshow and culminating with group presentations, the week-long unit has something for everyone....

Through a station rotation activity, scientists complete 9 chemistry activities to complete this interactive worksheet. Concepts include molar masses, percent composition, accuracy vs. precision, mass of an object, scientific notation,...

How did ancient peoples determine the height of really tall objects? Young scientists and mathematicians explore the concept of using shadows to measure height in a hands-on experiment. Paired pupils measure shadows, then calculate the...

Wave goodbye to the same old demonstrations for alternative energy sources, and wave hello to this one investigating ocean waves! Using a water bottle to create an oscillating water column, learners see and possibly hear how the...

Rise and shine! Class members collaborate to construct a photovoltaic solar cell with two semiconductor layers, as guided by this fabulous lab sheet. They test its output with an ammeter or galvanometer. 

As a follow-up to the Khan Academy video on parallax, this video focuses on parallax as it relates to astronomical distance. Sal uses cardinal directions and the seasons to help students orient themselves in the proverbial night sky....

Young chemists create gold nanoparticles as they learn to measure accurately with the metric system. They create an advertisement for the application of nanotechnology to complete the first lesson in a series of six.

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...

A terrific instructional activity focused on the design process. It begins with a presentation, "Design: Solve a Problem," which lists the steps of the process and then introduces the specific challenge: to build a device that...

Combine automotive science with chemistry! Young scholars investigate an alternative to the traditional engine coolant. They mix the chemicals virtually and collect data to determine the specific heat capacity.