It's About Time
Special Relativity
According to Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity, time moves slower when you're working. That's not quite what it says, and in a hands-on lesson, pupils learn the actual theory. Scholars plot the half life of muons, then compare it...
NOAA
Please Pass the Salt
Salinity is the focus of two experimenters that work to answer the question, How does salt change the physical properties of water? Super scientists compare the freezing rate of salt and fresh water, combine the two waters to observe how...
American Physiological Society
Feeling the Heat
How do the changing seasons affect the homes where we live? This question is at the forefront of engineering and design projects. Challenge your physical science class to step into the role of an architect to build a model home capable...
American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture
Welcome to My American Farm!
Take a step into the virtual farm world and explore the impact farming has on our everyday eating habits. Future farmers discover the meaning of agriculture and the hard work that goes into providing food for us to enjoy. A computer game...
Baylor College
Gravity and Muscles
Humans are so used to gravity as a force that we don't tend to pay much attention to it on a daily basis. Through a couple simple activities, learners experience changes to their center of gravity and come to the understanding that...
Curated OER
The Metamorphosis: Problematic Situation
Are you enjoying the use of all five senses? Imagine that you have to lose one of them; you can choose which one, but it's gone forever. Work through a lesson based on Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis that asks class members to rank their...
NOAA
The Oceanographic Yo-yo
How does chemistry help deep-sea explorers? Part four of a five-part series of lessons from aboard the Okeanos Explorer introduces middle school scientists to technologies used in ocean exploration. Groups work together to analyze data...
Shodor Education Foundation
Squaring the Triangle
Teach budding mathematicians how to square a triangle with an interactive that shows a graphical proof of the Pythagorean Theorem. Pupils alter the lengths of the legs using sliders. Using the inputted lengths, the applet displays the...
NASA
Exploration of a Problem: Making Sense of the Elements
When given too much data to simply memorize, it helps to sort it into manageable groups. The second lesson in the six-part series of Cosmic Chemistry challenges groups of pupils to take a large amount of data and figure out how to best...
PBIS World
Efficient Functional Behavior Assessment Checklist
Work on a learner's problem behavior in your classroom with a behavior assessment checklist. After identifying the behavior, educators can indicate how often the behavior occurs, any events that could cause or encourage the behavior, and...
Smithsonian Institution
Water/Ways: The Poetry of Science
Water is the source of life. It appears in poetry in both peaceful and torrential descriptions; it appears in earth science in its liquid, gaseous, and solid states. Combine these interpretations of our planet's most precious and...
K12 Reader
What Causes Reflections?
Your kids probably use mirrors every day, but do they know how they work? A reading passage about reflection and reflective objects can address both physical science and reading comprehension. Kids read the paragraphs and use context...
TED-Ed
Bringing a Pop-up Book to Life
Breath life into the pages of a text with this instructional video on creating pop-up books. From choosing a topic, through the planning and creation phases, this video examines how to develop engaging visual presentations that reach out...
National Museum of Nuclear Science & History
Nuclear Popcorn
Make your lesson on radioactive decay pop with this lab exercise. Using popcorn kernels spread over a tabletop, participants pick up all of those that point toward the back of the room, that is, those that represent decayed atoms. As the...
Curated OER
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
Second graders participate in guided reading and writing experience in this set of five lessons. They complete a picture walk of Michael Rosen's, We're Going on a Bear Hunt before listening to the story and retelling it. Working with a...
CK-12 Foundation
High Energy Particles
How much energy is required to break apart an atomic nucleus and does it vary based on the type of atom? Scholars virtually experiment with a linear accelerator in order to answer these questions. They alter the voltage, length of the...
Kenan Fellows
Impacting the Risk of Falling: How Do Accelerometers Work?
Young engineers consider how to apply accelerometers and sensors to help prevent falls in elderly people. They consider forces of motion and gravity as part of the engineering design process.
Chemistry Collective
Virtual Lab: Determination of the pH Scale by the Method of Successive Dilutions
Where did the pH scale come from? Take a deeper look at a most important measure of ion concentration using a simulated physical determination. Young chemists prepare a series of dilutions after determining a dilution factor for the...
Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment
Morals, Values, and Beliefs
What is integrity? What are the barriers that could keep a person from acting with integrity? How might these barriers be overcome? Class members tackle these questions as part of a course on Social, Physical, Emotional, Cognitive and...
Curated OER
Electromagnets
Students conduct a series of experiments on electromagnets. In this physics lesson, students build their own electromagnet and explain how it works. They determine the factors that affect its strength.
Curated OER
Thermoelectricity
Students conduct a series of experiments on thermoelectricity. For this physics lesson, students investigate how thermocouple works. They determine the voltage generated when different conductive materials are held at different...
Curated OER
Magnetorheological Fluids
Students conduct a series of experiments on magnetorheological fluids. In this physics lesson, students explain how these fluids behave in varying magnetic field strength. They give practical applications of magnetorheological fluids.
Science 4 Inquiry
Bubbles and Colors and Smells...Oh My!
A demonstration of elephant toothpaste hooks pupils' interest as they complete multiple experiments with colors, smells, bubbles, and more. By the end, they understand the differences between physical and chemical changes in the world...
Curated OER
Applied Science - Physics Pre-Lab
Students observe fluid motion. In this Physics lesson, students explore the principles of Pascal, Archimedes, and Bernoulli. Students list their experiences with fluid movement.