Curated OER
Topos, Compasses, and Triangles, Oh My!
Middle schoolers triangulate using a compass, topographical (topo) map and a view of outside landmarks. They take a field trip to another location away from school and mark discernible landmarks (like mountains or radio towers) and...
Curated OER
Getting to the Point
Students determine location by using the technique of triangulation. They imagine that they are out in the wilderness and have come to the top of a ridge. How can one identify the ridge on the topo map? How can one figure out where you...
Curated OER
How Do Things Fall?
Students study forces by examining the force of gravitational attraction. They observe how objects fall and measure the force of gravitational attraction upon objects. Students discover that, since gravitational constants are different...
Curated OER
Aqua-Thrusters!
Students construct their own rocket-powered boat called an "aqua-thruster." These aqua-thrusters will be made from a film canister and will use carbon dioxide gas - produced from a chemical reaction between an antacid tablet and water -...
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Heredity Mix 'n Match
Young scholars randomly select jelly beans that represent genes for several human traits such as tongue-rolling ability and eye color. Then, working in pairs (preferably of mixed gender), students randomly choose new pairs of jelly beans...
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TE Activity: Heavy Helicopters
Students study the concepts of weight and drag while making paper helicopters. They measure how adding more weight to the helicopter changes the time for the helicopter to fall to the ground. They apply what they examine to the work of...
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How To Make Yeast Cells Thrive
Students set up and run the experiments they designed in the lesson, 'Population Growth in Yeasts,' using simple yeast-molasses cultures in test tubes. They demonstrate understanding that several environmental factors can contribute to...
Curated OER
New Boxes From Old
Students find the volume and surface area of a rectangular box (e.g., a cereal box), and then figure out how to convert that box into a new, cubical box having the same volume as the original. As they construct the new, cube-shaped box...
Curated OER
TE Activity: Northward Ho!
Students design a simple compass. They examine how the Earth's magnetic field has both horizontal and vertical components. They determine how a compass works and work with cardinal directions.
Curated OER
TE Activity: Pulley'ing Your Own Weight
Students experiment with common objects such as spools, string and soap to determine how pulleys make it easier to move large objects. They look at the difference between fixed and movable pulleys. They examine the many uses engineers...
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Swing in Time
Students examine the motion of pendulums and come to understand that the longer the string of the pendulum, the fewer the number of swings in a given time interval. They see that changing the weight on the pendulum does not have an...
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The North (Wall) Star
Young scholars engage in a lesson which shows them that celestial navigation is the art and science of finding one's geographic position by means of astronomical observations, particularly by measuring altitudes of celestial objects -...
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Wind Power
Fourth graders develop an understanding of how engineers use wind to generate electricity. They will build a model anemometer to better understand and measure wind speed. They discover that engineers design wind turbines that generate...
Curated OER
How to be a Great Navigator!
Students examine historical methods of navigation. They discuss the techniques of "Dead Reckoning," "Heaving the Log," and "Chip Log," pretend to sail from Europe to North America using vectors and determine the location of their...
Math Mammoth
Bar Graphs 1
In this bar graph activity, students organize data in a frequency table, then create a bar graph. They find the average of the data. This one-page activity contains two multi-step problems.
Curated OER
The Color Spinner
In this probability worksheet, 4th graders look at a spinner and figure out the odds of the spinner hitting each space. They answer 9 short answer questions.
Curated OER
A Chick Called Saturday
Students explain what a calendar is all about in terms of time measurement. They clearly communicate in oral, artistic, written and nonverbal forms.
Curated OER
Electricity: Will It Conduct?
Students build conductivity testers and investigate which solids and solutions conduct electricity. Working in groups, they predict which items will conduct electricity and record their answers on worksheets.
Curated OER
Close Enough?
Students examine how navigation is based on mathematics and how making a mistake in measuring an angle could have an impact on a target. They observe a teacher-led lecture, use a calculator to complete two worksheets, and participate in...
Curated OER
Completing the Circuit
Students use a battery, wires, small light bulb and a light bulb holder to learn the difference between an open circuit and a closed circuit, and understand that electric current only occurs in a closed circuit. They describe the...
Curated OER
A Real Life Example of the Distance Formula
Students answer the following question: "Using the lines of latitude and longitude, what is the distance (in degrees) if you were to travel from NASA Dryden to NASA Ames?" They use the distance formula to find the distance (measured in...
Curated OER
Geometric Shapes
In this geometry worksheet, students see a train design with the engineer. All are made with circles, triangles, rectangles or squares. Students read the directions about which color each shape should be.
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Probability
For this probability worksheet, students solve and complete 16 various types of problems related to statistics. First, they determine the probability of the statistics that are true as shown. Then, students find the conditional...
Curated OER
Secrets of Painting
Students explore colors and shapes. In this art concepts lesson, students discuss shapes, lines, and color while creating a variety of abstract designs. The instructions for several art activities are provided. Basic art vocabulary and a...