Curated OER
Why Don't Whales Have Legs?
Students are given a variety of materials and are asked to design a heat loss experiment that results in a reasonable explanation of "Why don't whales have legs?" students work with the theory of natural selection.
Curated OER
Investigating Factors That Affect Cell Membrane Permeability
Cell membranes and the factors that affect its integrity are studied, with Beet tissue used as the model. A poster to display findings of the permeability of the membranes would clarify understanding and also allow a layer of language...
Curated OER
Life in Extreme Environments - Lakes Under Ice
Students collect chemical, physical, and biological data from a local lake throughout the year. In addition, students discuss the design of an experimental structure for water collection at several specific depths as well as assess the...
Curated OER
Science: Put Your Heart into Engineering
Students examine the heart and vascular system and the need for artificial valves. After explaining how heart valves function, they design their own heart valves for experimentation. They predict the speed of fluid flowing through...
Curated OER
Aphids and Ladybirds
High schoolers record observations of ladybird beetles and aphids. They develop questions concerning the behavior of ladybird beetles and aphids that are testable by a classroom experimentation. Students develop an investigation.
Curated OER
Soybeans in Space
Students work together to design an experiment that compares and contrasts differnet plant cultivation systems. In groups, they evaluate the results of the experiment to discover if the cultivation system could be used in space. They...
Curated OER
Biofuels Blast!
Students observe yeast fermentation using different energy source. In this chemistry instructional activity, students measure the gas collected in the balloon. They upload their observations on the internet so they can share it with kids...
Virginia Department of Education
DNA Structure, Nucleic Acids, and Proteins
What is in that double helix? Explain intricate concepts with a variety of creative activities in a activity that incorporates multiple steps to cover DNA structure, nucleic acids, and proteins. Pupils explore the history of DNA...
Curated OER
Separating a Starch-Glucose Mixture Using Gel Filtration
High schoolers experiment using the basic principles of gel filtration. They use the gel filtration technique for testing for the presence of specific substances. Students discover that starch is a larger molecule than glucose.
Curated OER
Plant Biotechnology: Controlling Tissue Differentiation
Students demonstrate hormonal control of plant tissue differentiation and relate this differentiation to gene expression. They explore the effects of hormones (auxin and cytokinin) on the genes that control tissue differentiation in callus.
Curated OER
Photosynthesis
Students recognize the importance of plants as they perform an experiment involving photosynthesis. Students determine the optimum wavelength of light for photosynthesis by exposing plants to different colors of light, collecting data,...
Curated OER
Science: Conditions for Slime Mold Survival
Students perform experiments to determine the nutritional needs and physical space requirements for slime mold to survive. After formulating hypotheses, they seal the petri dishes and set up the experiment along with two controls. ...
Serendip
Carbohydrate Consumption, Athletic Performance and Health – Using Science Process Skills to Understand the Evidence
Should athletes carb load before an event or consume carbohydrates during the competition? Scholars discuss how to set up a hypothesis and experiment to answer a question relating carbohydrates and athletic performance. Then, they read...
Curated OER
Investigating Factors That Affect Rate of Enzyme Action
Students explore the properties of enzymes. In this chemical reaction lesson, students explore enzymes through a Web-quest and investigative study. Students will collect and summarize data and create a class presentation. This lesson is...
Curated OER
Bacteria in Drinking Water And Water Purification
Students explore how sewer systems can contribute to water pollution and perform an experiment to see how well a water purification technique can protect against water-born microbial illnesses. They compare the bacterial growth from...
Curated OER
Cyanobacteria Races: Cyanobacteria Motility Experiment for a Classroom
Students experiment to determine the effect of light on cyanobacteria movement. They graph the data of the experiment for further analysis. They watch a time-lapse video of cyanobacteria motility at a NASA website.
Curated OER
Investigating Properties of Water: Temperature
Investigate how temperature affects the density of water and stratification that occurs in bodies of water when temperatures vary. Water of differing temperatures is given different colors to see the layers that form. The lesson is meant...
Curated OER
Language Arts: Plot Summary
Eighth graders implement plot summary organizers to identify essential elements such as conflict and resolution in literature. In pairs, they retell fairy tales to each other and complete plot summaries about them. As students read new...
Curated OER
Studying Plant Development Through Metabolic Activity
A hands-on activity which allows students to learn about cellular respiration. This lesson contains a range of investigations testing the rates of cellular respiration to demonstrate the relationship between metabolic rates of...
Curated OER
Investigating the Behavior of Lumbriculus
Students perform a classroom experiment on the organisms of worms. They view the behaviors of the worms and analyze their results. This lesson introduces students to the techniques involved in behavioral studies.
Curated OER
A Constructivist Version of the Snail & Elodea Lab
Students explain the importance of having a control when setting up an experiment.
Curated OER
Research Ethics
Students develop an ability to distinguish between simple error, misconduct and fraud. Students are lead to consider a widening circle of the consequences of misconduct and fraud. They expand their knowledge on the self-regulating...
Curated OER
Biodiversity Study -- A Unit Study
Students sample a site with low human impact, one with moderate human impact, and a third with high human impact. Students chart the data for each site and then compare the sites and discuss.
Curated OER
Digestion & Nutrition: a Case Study
Middle schoolers explore digestion/nutrition and utilize scientific investigation skills. They complete meal logs for several days and graph their results. After analyzing their data, they write formal lab reports.