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Chemical Changes
Eighth graders observe two types of interactions in a sealed plastic bag. One bag contains baking soda and water, and the other baking soda and vinegar. They determine what evidence indicates that a chemical change is occurring.
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Soap, Wood, and Water
Students measure the properties of two different types of soap and wood and calculate their densities. Then they predict whether or not whether or not each object would float or sink in fresh or salt water.
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Instruments and Measurement
Students circulate through stations to determine the proper instrument to make a certain type of measurement. They must make measurements of mass, volume, length, area, electrical current, temperature and force.
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Balls and Ramp
Students role several balls of different weights down a ramp and into a paper cup and record how far each ball made the paper cup move. They then answer questions that help them analyze their results and reinforce the idea that energy...
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Density of Minerals
Students determine the mass, volume, and density of two different mineral samples. Students show data and calculations as well as answer questions about the mineral identities.
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Pendulums
Students construct a pendulums and experiment with what variables change or effect the rate at which they swing through an arc. They are assessed on scientific inquiry including the following skills: observation, data collection,...
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Pond-water Populations
Students design and conduct and experiment on algae, for a two week period, to answer the question "In your investigation, how does changing one factor affect the growth of organisms?"
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Stimulus/Response in Invertebrates
Students design and conduct and experiment to determine how invertebrates react to an outside stimulus such as light and other stimuli. Student must develop a clear plan of action, collect data in an organized manner and analyze their...
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Chemical Weathering
Students measure the effect of water temperature on the rate of a chemical reaction, similar to the interaction of a weak acid and carbonate rock, using hot water and effervescent antacid tablets.
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Coffee Cooling
Pupils explore the factors that affect how long coffee stays hot. They develop a question and a testable hypothesis for one factor such as initial temperature or size of opening of the container. Then they design and conduct an...
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Water-Holding Capacity
Students design and conduct an experiment to compare the water-holding capacity of sand, soil, and moss. They measure the change in weight for each material after adding the same amount of water to each material.
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Swingers
Students investigate the motion of a swinging pendulum. They experiment with a pendulum to find out why it might swing at different speeds at different times.
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Discovering the Problem of Solid Waste
Learners catagorize the types of garbage from going through a trash can provided by their teacher. They then chart the items on a graph and propose a solution to reduce the amount of garbage.
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Let the Sunshine in
Students collect and analyze data to study wavelengths of visible light. They cover Styrofoam cups with three different colors of sun filtering products and shine a lamp directly on the cups. They determine the most effective filtering...
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Suburban Ecosystems
Students conduct simple sampling of plant and insect biodiversity at ground level in two contrasting environments of their own choosing. They recognize and record different species then compare and contrast species numbers in the two...
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Burn, Baby Burn (Or Not)
Physics learners apply the concepts of fluid pressure input and output to firefighting. Divide your class into small groups and give them each a few cards that list nozzle type, hose length, hose size, and structure dimensions, They are...
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Friction of a Block Weight
Fifth graders hypothesize and design an experiment to study the relationship between a block weight and the number of washers it takes to pull a block across various surfaces. Students graph results and apply their findings to a...
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Seed Growth
Students develop an independent procedure to investigate the germination of two types of seeds. Students must construct data tables or charts to record observations and results, graph the data, and analyze the data.
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Water-holding Capacity of Earth Materials
Students design and conduct an experiment to test their ideas about how to speed up or slow down the rate of an enzyme-catalyzed reaction. They have access to an array of physical and chemical factors that might influence enzyme...
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Barometer Investigation
Students construct a barometer to use in an experiment that they design to measure the air pressure on a daily basis. These observations of air pressure allow students to determine how weather is affected when a storm is approaching and...
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Friction Force
High schoolers investigate friction force on a variety of objects such as bricks and cardboard boxes. They use a force probe to collect data on the changes in force required to drag the objects across a variety of surface types.
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Hooke's Law
Students explore the relationship between the force applied to a spring and its stretch. They design and conduct an experiment to determine the stretch of spring with 15N of force without having an actual 15N mass.
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The effectiveness of Antacids
Students design and conduct a scientific experiment to test which of four antacids would be most effective for neutralizing acids. They rank the antacids in order from most effective to least effective and explain how they determined...
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Hydrated Salt
Learners plan, design, and carry out an experiment to determine an empirical formula for a hydrated salt X that tell students when all the water has been removed from hydrate crystals.