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Activity
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NOAA

I Didn’t Do It…Did I?: Make Your Own Greenhouse Effect

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
How do greenhouse gases affect the climate on Earth?  Pupils explore the concept by first building their own apparatuses to model the greenhouse effect. Then, they record data to measure temperature change and determine that the amount...
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Lesson Plan
Space Awareness

Global Warming of the Atmosphere

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
Scientists know the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today is higher than at any point in the last 800,000 years. Scholars learn about the amount of thermic radiation absorbed by air and what happens to the rest of the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

More on Conduction and Convection

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Why do some items feel colder when they are the same temperature? How should you keep your soda cold? What makes the wind blow? These are just some of the things middle schoolers discover when completing a lesson on conduction and...
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Activity
Teach Engineering

Beating the Motion Sensor

For Teachers 7th - 9th
I bet I can cross the room without having the lights come on. Class members set up an experiment in which they try to determine what materials will mask motion detected by a sensor. Groups predict how materials will interact with light,...
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Lesson Plan
Discovery Education

Cushion It!

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Sugar cubes, collide! Groups design protection systems using bubble wrap to protect sugar cubes from being destroyed by falling batteries in the STEM lesson. They consider how the experiment relates to collisions in real-world...
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Activity
Discovery Education

Motion in the Ocean

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
How do temperature changes affect ocean currents? Scholars explore convection currents by demonstrating the flow of water in a baking dish. They use ice, heat, and food coloring to see currents. Then, they draw conclusions about their...
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Lesson Plan
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Nevada Outdoor School

Let It Snow! Let It Melt!

For Teachers Pre-K - 2nd Standards
Winter weather offers a great opportunity to teach young scientists about the states of matter. This activity-based lesson includes a range of learning experiences, from experimenting with the rate at which ice melts to singing a song...
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Lesson Plan
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Bonneville

Manipulating Design Variables on Solar Heaters

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Always strive to make things better. The second of three activities in the Experimenting with Solar Heaters unit has learners design new solar heaters that are more effective compared to the simple models they used in the previous...
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Interactive
Chemistry Collective

Virtual Lab: Camping Problem I

For Students 9th - Higher Ed
Hiking chemists have an advantage! Young scholars use a virtual lab to conduct an experiment to create an exothermic reaction. The goal is to create enough heat to warm a meal during a hike in the rain.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fossil Fuels: Facing the Issues

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students explore energy by researching fuel usage on Earth. In this fossil fuel instructional activity, students define fossil fuels, the energy created by burning them, and the impact on the environment when using them. Students conduct...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What's Cooking

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students complete a solar radiation activity. In this solar radiation lesson, students complete an experiment to learn about solar radiation. Students make solar tea by using the energy of the Sun to brew tea.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Go With the Flow!

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Students experiment with heat transfer in a countercurrent system and describe the importance of conduction in heat-energy transfer.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Solar S'Mores

For Teachers 1st - 6th
Students investigate solar energy. In this solar energy lesson, students compare how heat is absorbed in light-colored objects and dark-colored objects by making S'mores.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Solar S’Mores

For Teachers 1st - 6th
Students cook with the power of the sun. For this solar energy lesson, students explore solar cooking as they apply scientific principles to cook s'mores.
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Lesson Plan
Discovery Education

It's Too Loud!

For Teachers 6th - 8th
STEM scholars investigate sound attenuation by conducting an experiment in which they compare the farthest distance that they can hear a sound with and without ear protection.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Heat Misconceptions

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders determine that gloves do not provide heat, but rather, they insulate or hold in any heat that is in their hand. They discuss the different temperatures found in ecosystems around the world. What do animals that live in...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Hot Time in the Classroom

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders, in groups, examine how temperature is a measure of the average translational kinetic energy.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Melts in Your Bag, Not in Your Hands

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students study how the sun transfers heat to the earth through radiation. They examine how animals absorb energy from the sun to warm their bodies by experiment with chocolate melting. They examine sun safety.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ice Ain't Easy

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students are introduced to the laws of thermodynamics. The 1st law of thermodynamics states that the energy must be conserved when two objects of different temperatures come in contact. If one object gains energy, the other object must...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Solar Water Heater Kit

For Students 5th - 8th
In this earth science worksheet, students identify and experiment how hot water gets in a solar water heater. Then they respond to four short answer questions that follow related to the experiment.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Long Will It Last?

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Students turn on a flashlight and leave it on until the energy is used up (12-36) hours. They estimate or preduct how long they think the energy in the batteries will last. They then estimate how long a birthday candle will burn, giving...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Earth's Atmosphere and Temperature

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners explore the layers of earth's atmosphere and conduct an experiment to identify carbon dioxide. They construct models using styrofoam to represent molecules in the atmosphere's layers. To discover how sunlight efffects...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Keep It Cool

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students complete a science experiment to study insulation, heat transfer, and permafrost. In this permafrost study lesson, students design and test a soda insulator. Students graph their class data and discuss the results. Students...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ice Energy

For Teachers 2nd - 8th
Students explore how chemicals change water. In this chemical change lesson, students participate in an experiment to observe how salt effects ice and how ice cream freezes.