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Floating on Salt Water
Mixing substances together causes their properties to change. This resource illustrates that concept for fifth graders by having them consider four questions that have to do with buoyancy and boiling point. Learners begin to understand...
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The Role of Density in Sinking or Floating: Relational Causality
Students watch the teacher do a demonstration of density with diet and regular soda. Note: try this first, as different types of artificial sweetener have different densities. Students discuss density and volume. They discuss "Relational...
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Barge Building: What Floats Your Boat?
Learners construct aluminum foil boats that float while holding the greatest number of pennies. They investigate the concept of water displacement, record their results, and watch a Bill Nye video on buoyancy.
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Deep Ocean Currents
Students observe the interactions of different temperatures of water using colored ice and a thermometer and then compare the results with global ocean current solar heating. They identify where floating ice would be found in the ocean,...
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Floating Pencil
Students discover how salt water makes a pencil float better than freshwater by measuring and comparing the lengths of the portion of the pencil that floats above the water surface. They then determine if an unknown water sample is...
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Salinity
Learners define and discuss salinity, conduct classroom experiment to determine salinity of water sample by using hydrometer, record predictions, and demonstrate understanding of how salinity influences object's ability to float in water.
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Our Earth
In this Earth's environment worksheet, students complete a crossword puzzle given 35 clues about a variety of topics related to our Earth. Topics include ecosystems, precipitation, biomes, energy transfer, soil, weathering and rocks.
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Your Own Fresh Water Aquarium in the Classroom
Students explore aquariums. In this fish and ecosystems lessons, students establish a freshwater aquarium environment using materials provided. Students read about and care for the classroom fish.
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Seashore Explorers
There are three separate lessons within this resource that can be used together, or that can each stand alone. In the first, five simple activities allow junior scientists to examine the amazing properties of water. In the second, they...
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Aquatic Organisms and Their Habitats
Students investigate the presence of specific organisms in a freshwater habitat to determine the quality of that habitat. They conduct a field study and distinguish and classify organisms found during the field study.
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Stream Study
Students study the characteristics of a stream habitat. In this life science lesson, students use sieves, nets, and jars to collect aquatic organisms. Students also measure the temperature of the stream and calculate the speed of the...
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"Pennsylvania Watersheds, Many Ways to the Sea"
Students trace a molecule of water through the water cycle including each of its three loops. They describe why evapotranspiration demands the largest portion of total precipitation falling on a forested watershed.
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Water Ecology Lab
Students determine the characteristics of a stream ecosystem and its organisms. In this water ecology instructional activity students complete several labs that shows them presence of life, water appearance, and water flow.
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Making and Using a Hydrometer
Students build a hydrometer to measure the densities of fresh and salt water samples. They record the water temperature and density and use the temperature, density, and salinity conversion graph to locate the salinity. Finally,...
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Water Quality Monitoring
Students comprehend the four parameters of water quality. They perform tests for salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH and clarity or turbidity. Students comprehend why scientists and environmental managers monitor water uality and aquatic...
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Graphical Determination of Density
Young scholars determine the density of metal shot by a graphical method using significant digits in making measurements and calculations. Students graph a seris of laboratory measurements and determine density from a mass verses volume...