Curated OER
Magnetism
Students examine the concept of magnetism by doing several activities using magnets and compasses. They explore poles and polar repulsion and attraction.
Virginia Department of Education
The Rate of a Chemical Reaction
If your pupils think a catalyst is a list of their cats, then this might be the lesson for you! Young chemists study the effect of temperature, catalysts, concentration, and particle size on reaction rates during four different...
Inside Mathematics
Winning Spinners
Winning a spin game is random chance, right? Pupils create a table to determine the sample space of spinning two spinners. Individuals determine the probability of winning a game and then modify the spinners to increase the probability...
Cornell University
Beam Focusing Using Lenses
Explore optics using an inquiry-based experimental approach! Young scholars use a set of materials to design and build a unit capable of focusing a beam of light. They experiment with different lenses to determine the best approach to...
Curated OER
Water Cycle Reading and Writing
After listening to a story about the water cycle, learners create their own versions of this tale. This is a great way to have your class review the concepts of evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and runoff.
Curated OER
Food and Fiber: Helping the Environment and You
Fourth graders explore the many uses of corn-based products and the importance of water resources. They consider how biodegradable products help to keep water clean. They perform experiments to observe how corn pellets dissolve while...
Curated OER
May the Force Be With You: A Unit on Magnets
Students uncover data about magnets and practice classifying them by amounts of attraction and magnetism as an invisible force is introduced. The unit presents the topic within eight lessons.
Curated OER
The Chemical Nature of Water
Seventh graders simulate a Jeopardy game to examine the chemical nature of water. Among the topics featured are evaporation, water, salt, and temperature. finally, as review, 7th graders answer a battery of questions presented by the...
Curated OER
Unknown Liquids
Students must design and conduct an experiment to determine which unknown liquid has a greater density based on basic information about the liquids and containers. Students are given specific materials to work with.
Curated OER
Packing Materials
Students observe the effects of water on four different packing materials to determine which ones are more soluble. They then decide which material would be a good packing material to use for the environment and which may be a bad...
Curated OER
Chromatography
Students study about chromatography, a process used to separate mixtures.
Curated OER
Paper Chromatography
Small groups of students perform paper chromatography to separate food dyes into their component colors. Students perform the experiment and collect, organize, and represent their data to form an explanation of their outcomes. Students...
Curated OER
Volcano!-Thar She Blows!
Young scholars describe how volcanoes are formed. They name the types of boundaries where volcanoes occur. They utilize models to illustrate the occurence of volcanoes and earthquakes along plate boundaries. They compare and constrast...
Curated OER
Blindfolded Building
Students build a Lego design and then work with a partner to reproduce that design. They guide the building of the reproduction by description only and then check their work.
Curated OER
Colored Dots 1
Students observe that colored markers are a mixture of many different colors by performing a chromatography experiment. They make observations, record information, and make generalized inferences from their observations.
Curated OER
Density of a Sinker
Eighth graders determine the density of a sinker by first finding the mass and then the volume using a graduated cylinder. Students must write the procedure they use to find the volume of the sinker then apply their data to follow-up...
Curated OER
Identifying Elements
Students use diffraction glasses to find similarities and differences between observed spectrum of fluorescent light and an incandescent light They work in groups of 4-6 for the experiment/activity part of this exercise.
Curated OER
Oil Spill
Students use one of four absorbent products to separate as much of the oil and water mixture they are able to do. The purpose of this task is for students to collect and analyze data for the purpose of determining which absorbent is...
Curated OER
Locating Vent Fields Using CTD Data
Students describe the way hydrothermal vents work. Students work on locating vent regions through remote collection of data about water temperature and density. Comparing density and temperatures graphs, students search for indicators...
Curated OER
Acid-Base Titration
Students determine the concentration of an unknown solution. This task assesses students' abilities to state hypothesis, develop procedures for investigation, plan for recording and organizing observations and data, collect data, create...
Curated OER
Strong as the Weakest Link
Students discover the types of stress that materials undergo. They examine how bridges and skyscrapers are built to withhold the tension. They create their own structure out of marshmallows and spaghetti.
Curated OER
Atmospheric Cells
Learners recognize that the sun is the source of energy driving atmosphere cells. They relate the motion of the atmospheric cells to mantle convection cells. Students recognize that the function of atmospheric cells is to move heat from...
Curated OER
Sound And Motion
Students investigate the concept of sound and vibration. They use a tuning fork to make an observation. Students then propose the ideas of different experimental designs to test the concept. The ideas are constructed and then tested.
Curated OER
To Float or Not to Float - A Lesson on Density
Students observe and experiment with the concept of density. This is done using a simple experiment that helps them to apply scientific principles of observation and proving a hypothesis.