American Chemical Society
Joseph Priestley, Discoverer of Oxygen
Do you want to hear a joke about nitrogen and oxygen? NO. We all know there is oxygen in the air and that plants produce oxygen, but how was it discovered? Scholars read a handout, answer questions, and analyze material in the...
American Institute of Architects
Architecture: It's Elementary!—Fifth Grade
Young citizens construct an understanding of urban planning in this cross-curricular unit. Covering every aspect of city development from the political, economic, and social influences to sustainable building practices, this 10-lesson...
American Chemical Society
Isolation of Phytochrome
Why do soybean plants that are planted weeks apart in the spring mature simultaneously in the fall? Four independent activities cover the history of phytochrome research, scientist collaboration, the electromagnetic spectrum, and...
Michigan State University
Gases Matter
Young scientists learn that seeing isn't necessarily believing when it comes to the states of matter. After performing a fun class demonstration that models the difference between solids, liquids, and gases, children complete a series of...
Curated OER
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...
Curated OER
Insulators
Students design and carry out an investigation to test which materials is the best insulator: they predict which way heat energy flows in a system and analyze the flow of energy in a system from one point to another and from one form to...
Curated OER
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?"
Curated OER
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...
Curated OER
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...
Curated OER
Ice Cold
High schoolers 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
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.
Curated OER
A Cut Above the Rest Administration Procedures
Students analyze how the Law of Conservation of Energy applies to the design and use of scissors. Working in groups, they determine the output work for a standard pair of scissors.
Curated OER
Dirty Decomposers
Seventh graders design and conduct experiments to determine what environmental factors favor decomposition by soil microbes. They use chunks of carrot for the materials to be decomposed, and their experiments are carried out in plastic...
Curated OER
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.
Curated OER
Catalase Enzyme
Pupils 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 activity....
Curated OER
Building a Pill Bug Palace
Students make "pets" of isopods (potato bugs) to determine their preferred environment and food sources. They record their results on a bar graph and in a scientific report.
Curated OER
Exploring the MapleCopter
Study explore the motion of maple seeds and design experiments to explain their spinning flight patterns. They make observations, explain ideas of motion, use models, analyze previous reports and experiments, identify relevant factors...
Curated OER
Snell's Law
Students determine whether the index of refraction of sample of Corn Syrup meets Federal standards. This task assess students' abilities to explain the procedures for investigation, plan for recording and organizing observations and...
Curated OER
Starch and Sugar Testing 2
Students design and conduct an experiment to determine which of three solutions contain starch or sugar. This task assess students' ability to make simple observations, design simple experiments, utilize indicators, and make generalized...
Curated OER
Are Fruits And Vegetables Really Made of Cells?
Students design and carry out an exercise to determine if a given fruit or vegetable is composed of cells. They dissect out sections of the fruit or vegetable, prepare stained slides, and make observations under a compound microscope.
Curated OER
Untitled Document Aerospace Team Online:
Students explain the historical significance of use of the scientific method in developing the first airplane and appreciate the process involved in developing a new technology.
Curated OER
Building Straw Towers
Learners apply their knowledge of technology to help them build. In this science and technology lesson, students build straw towers and investigate the strength and form of the structure. They analyze the best design the make the...
Curated OER
Tadpoles
Young scholars examine tadpoles at various stages of development. They make careful scientific observations and compare the changes that occur at five different phases of a frog's life.
Curated OER
Invention Project
Students study air pollution and design inventions to prevent indoor environment problems. In this air pollution inventions lesson, students read about and discuss famous inventors and inventions. Students then research indoor air...