NASA
Making Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide
Some like it hot! Scholars observe both exothermic and endothermic reactions as part of the carbon dioxide oxygen cycle. First, scientists demonstrate (or watch) a chemical reaction to create pure oxygen using fire for...
Purdue University
Design of a Door Alarm
How does electricity work? Budding scientists explore the concepts of electrical currents and open and closed circuits with class discussion and a hands-on activity using a battery to turn on a light bulb. Learners also make predictions...
Curated OER
Scientific Detectives
Students examine the legitimacy of advertisers' claims about products using science and critical thinking. They view and discuss ads, read a case study, and conduct an experiment to demonstrate whether a product lives up to its claims.
Curated OER
Boiling and Freezing Points of Water
Challenge your sixth graders with this lesson about the freezing and boiling points of water. In these activities learners graph temperature data, read and analyze information, and identify the freezing and boiling points of water and...
Kenan Fellows
What Is Heat?
If objects have no heat, how do they can gain and lose it? Scholars experiment with heat, temperature, and specific heat of various substances. They create definitions for these terms based on their own conclusions to complete the fourth...
Curated OER
The Nature of Salt
High schoolers record information from the periodic table for sodium and chloride. They determine whether salts are molecular or ionic compounds, along with sodium chloride's molecular weight, and relative weights
Curated OER
Investigating Earth's Materials
First graders compare and contrast water from different sources. After collecting water from various sources, 1st graders create a list of observable properties of the water. Students then pour the water into a filter and observe the...
Curated OER
Resources - A Reading Guide
In this resources learning exercise, students compare and contrast physical and chemical properties and changes. Students review the periodic table, pattern of atomic numbers and chemical reactivity. This learning exercise has 56 short...
Curated OER
Physical and Chemical Changes
Sixth graders complete several experiments about chemical and physical changes. In this physical and chemical science lesson, 6th graders complete 6 experiments about chemical and physical changes. Students examine the processes of...
Curated OER
Physical Science Project-Atom
Fifth graders investigate atoms. In this atom lesson, 5th graders investigate the parts of an atom. Students explore atom numbers and determine the number of electrons is in each atom.
Curated OER
Air is something
Students recognize that air has the properties of mass and volume. They predict, observe, and evaluate the effect of the air on various objects, using bubbles and bubble wands.
Curated OER
States of Matter
This particle PowerPoint includes many pictures to illustrate solids, liquids and gasses and the behavior of their particles.
Curated OER
Rate of Solution
Eighth graders determine the amount of agitation necessary to dissolve various sized sugar particles. This task assess students' abilities to collect, organize, and interpret data, create appropriate graphs, predict future events based...
Curated OER
Starch and Sugar Testing 1
Eighth graders determine the presence of starch and sugar in unknown solutions. This task assesses students' abilities to observe, record and interpret data, classify, generalize/infer, construct data tables, and identify sugar and...
Curated OER
Ice Cream Chemical and Physical Changes
Fourth graders identify characteristics of a simple physical and chemical change. They describe objects by the properties of the materials from which they are made and that these properties can be used separate. Students describe the...
Curated OER
Air: It's a Gas!
Students investigate the properties of air through hands-on activities in conjunction with the demonstrations in a 3-2-1 Contact Video.
Curated OER
Heating Crystals
Pupils examine the effects of heating on various crystals. They formulate and revise scientific explanations and models using logic and evidence. Students work individually during this experiment.
Curated OER
Introduce Solids
Students identify and interpret a variety of solid materials - cloth, wood, metal, plastic, paper, and rubber. After a period of free exploration, they then describe the properties of the objects and develop vocabulary in order to...
Curated OER
The Solar System: Why do we Explore?
Third graders act as scientists. In this property discovery lesson, 3rd graders explore the substance "Oobleck" (cornstarch, water, food coloring). They work in groups to investigate the substance and make observations as a scientist...
Curated OER
ZIPPLY Delicious Ice Cream
Second graders explore states of matter when they change a liquid to a solid. Working students make ice cream in a zip-lock bag.
Curated OER
Water and Ice
Students conduct an experiment. In this forms of water lesson, students observe ice to see what changes take place and then write in their journal about what they observed.
Curated OER
Rockin' Minerals
Third graders view a clip of the video Backyard Safari, "Rocks and Minerals," and discuss properties of rocks and minerals. They view and discuss a clip on where rocks and minerals are found.
Curated OER
Ice Cold
Young scholars design and conduct an experiment to investigate what happens when salt and ice come together and to determine if one form of salt is better for melting ice on steps and sidewalks.
Curated OER
Earth: The Water Planet
Students elicit data on the water cycle, ocean topography, and island formation in this six lesson unit. The ocean floor and the properties of water are examined through a variety of discussions and hands-on experiments.