Curated OER
Radiation Budget
Students examine the radiation budget and the launching of the Budget Satellite. They role-play as designers of the satellite and construct one with a power source, instruments, and sensors. they explain how their satellite functions...
Curated OER
How We See Things
Students explain that when a beam of light is reflected from its surface, it changes direction. In this virtual science experiment lesson plan, students complete an activity that requires them to investigate how flat mirrors reflect...
Curated OER
Do Plants Need Sunlight?
Students investigate whether plants need sunlight to survive. In this plant lesson, students experiment with plants to learn about chlorophyll that plants get from light sources.
Curated OER
Experiments with Photovoltaic Cells
Pupils explain how sunlight is converted to electricity. In this series of physics lesson, students study how varying the characteristics of the light source affect photovoltaic cells. They research their different uses in other countries.
Curated OER
Intensity of Light
Learners discover the relationship between the brightness of a light and the distance from the light. They identify two different ways of looking at the brightness of a light, how luminous light is and how illuminated an object is....
Curated OER
Lighten Up!
Third graders observe light as a form of energy, that it can be reflected/bounced, refracted/bent and absorbed. They explore how different types of light affect our lives as a whole. Songs are researched that involve light (ex. "You...
Curated OER
Candy Reaction
For this triboluminescence worksheet, students use wint-o-green Lifesavers to observe a chemical reaction that gives off light. They break a lifesaver up with a hammer and make observations and they chew a lifesaver and make...
Curated OER
Air Pollution
For this air pollution worksheet, students complete a crossword puzzle by reviewing the different types and sources of air pollution. This worksheet has 13 terms to place into the puzzle.
Curated OER
Do Plants Eat?
Students explain that photosynthesis is a process that plants use to convert light energy into glucose. They summarize photosynthesis as a chemical process in which the plant uses carbon dioxide and water to form glucose and oxygen.
Curated OER
My World is Upside Down
Students observe a demonstration on light. They construct a pinhole viewer, and explore and discuss the concept that light travels in a straight line.
Curated OER
Remote Sensing and the Electromagnetitc Spectrum
Fifth graders conclude that each color of the spectrum has a different amount of thermal energy by measuring temperature with a thermometer. They infer that there is an invisible band of the spectrum by measuring temperature beyond the...
Curated OER
Wave Action
For this waves worksheet, learners compare the characteristics of sound and light waves and determine the wavelength, amplitude, and speed of a wave. This worksheet has 9 problems to solve.
Curated OER
Electromagnetic Spectrum
Sixth graders observe light being separated into a color spectrum. In this electromagnetic lesson students use a diffraction grating to separate light and compare light sources.
Curated OER
Earth Science Astronomy Unit: Seasons on Earth
Eighth graders describe how the Earth's position causes seasonal changes. In this astronomy lesson, 8th graders explain how solar radiation varies depending on the season. They create a collage or poster on each of the Earth's four seasons.
Curated OER
Nuclear Energy
Atomic theory as a philosophical study was explored even by the Ancient Greeks. The knowledge of atoms was developed in the 17th century. This PowerPoint explains how by the 1940's, splitting of the atom was discovered and since then,...
LABScI
Circuits Lab: Lightbulbs
Electrons flow from negative to positive, but the general consensus is that current flows from positive to negative. Scholars explore current through construction of circuits in both series and parallel. The focus is on voltage,...
Foundation for Water & Energy Education
How Can Work Be Done with Water Power? Activity B
In this second of three activities, energy engineers plan and create a hydropower dam as they learn how hydroelectric power plants generate electricity. A hydropower puzzle is also included, which can be worked on by teams that finish...
Curated OER
Sound Busters
Fourth graders engage in a study of sound pollution at their school. After a class discussion on what noise pollution is, learners are asked if they think there are areas of their school or community where noise pollution is a problem....
Space Awareness
Fizzy Balloons - C02 in School
Carbon dioxide is a very important gas; it is present in the air, used in cooking, and supports plant and animal life. Scholars investigate the properties of carbon dioxide with three different activities. They experience a color change,...
NOAA
Calling All Explorers
Let's get moving! The second installment of a 2-part series of six adventures helps learners take part in individual explorations by sea and by land. After navigating the waters in an informative WebQuest, groups create and hide 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...
Polar Trec
Nature's Density Column
Nature provides density columns in the polar regions that provides food for many animals. Young scientists build their own density columns with water in order to answer analysis questions. Through a slideshow presentation, scholars...
Curated OER
Who Turned the Lights Out?
Students discover the life cycle of butterfly by observing its growth from egg to caterpillar and the formation of its chrysalis. Students conduct an experiment in which they design housing for the chrysalises which are either in full...
Curated OER
Sugar and Light
Learners connect starch to sugar as the storage form of energy. They find that no starch is produced in the plant without light. Students perform the old favorite of looking at starch deposition in geranium leaves using Lugol's iodine...