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Dogs & Darwin
Ninth graders construct and conduct a laboratory experiment illustrating the transfer of mutations. They compare and contrast natural selection in organisms with long and short reproductive cycles.
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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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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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Monitoring Oxygen Level
Students measure oxygen percentages in room air and air exhaled after they perform various activities. They explore various websites, and record and analyze the data from the experiments.
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Paper Chromatography
Pupils use this design the illustrate how ink can be separated into its component chemicals using paper chromatography. They use five unknown samples of ink on pre-labeled chromatography strips are provided to students. Pupils use...
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River Planning
Students use a model to conduct an experiment involving dam construction. Based on their observations, they draw conclusions about social, economic, and and environmental issues and make a decision concerning dam location. As a group,...
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Types of Matter
Students analyze different types of matter according to its general and specific properties. They design an experiment to classify matter. Students are shown cornflakes and raisins. They are asked what type of substance is each...
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Doctor, Doctor, Gimme The News
Seventh graders work together to develop a health-related experiment to display at the school health fair. Using the human body systems, they use the Internet to research a health problem through a controlled experiment. They are...
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Soda Straw Rocket Activity
Students construct a rocket using soda straw. In this physics lesson, students determine the nose cone length that produces the best rocket. They explain the importance of using a control in an experiment.
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To Spread or Not to Spread
Students explore the difference between the three types of contrails. In this contrails instructional activity, students make observations of contrails and record them. Students identify the three types of contrails and complete an...
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Electricity
Students examine basic electrical components. They build a simple electrical circuit which rings a buzzer. They experiment with conducting and nonconducting materials.
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Reaction Rates
Students work in groups of 4-6 for the experiment/activity part of this exercise. They base their explanation on what they observed. Students observe how substances react chemically in characteristic ways with other substances to form...
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Shells and Subshells
Students explore how to show evidence of subshells and electron filling on the visual scale. They examine subshell filling and evaluate unknowns based on the atomic emission spectrum. Students design an experiment to identify colors of...
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Hands Off
Students perform a handwashing experiment to see if a difference can be detected in the number and types of microbes on our hands after various types of cleaning. They will also demonstrate that they have learned the whys and hows of...
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Colored Dots 1
Students observe that colored markers are a mixture of many different colors by performing a chromatography experiment. They make observations, record information, and make generalized inferences from their observations.
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Changing Ramp Heights
Learners conduct an experiment to determine how the change in ramp height affects the distances a ball is able to move a stationary cup. Data is collected from several trials and recorded and analyzed.
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This Lesson Is a Breeze, So Don't Blow It!
Students conduct an experiment to show that air is all around us and that wind is the movement of air. They construct a weather vane to determine which direction the wind is blowing.
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Acid and Base Testing 2
Students design and conduct an experiment on unknown solutions after studying descriptions of indicators and the way in which they identify acids and bases. Students must gather, organize, and analyze data as well as make inferences...
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Identifying Elements
Students use diffraction glasses to find similarities and differences between observed spectrum of fluorescent light and an incandescent light They work in groups of 4-6 for the experiment/activity part of this exercise.
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Did a Chemical Reaction "Really" Occur?
Students perform several different experiments to observe signs of chemical reactions and determine if reaction has occurred, use search engine to find Internet sites pertaining to chemical reactions, and write up brief summary of site.
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Wonder Underground
Students classify and record objects they find "underground." In this observation lesson, students dig into bins filled with soil and encounter various objects such as bark, twigs, etc. Students classify their findings.
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Measurement: When Degrees Matter
Eighth graders record the temperature change of the beakers. In this general science lesson, 8th graders create their own data table for recording observations. They discuss experimental results and cite real life applications.
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How Do You Know There is Air in a Bag?
Fourth graders explore air as a material substance. Through experimentation and discussion, they explore how air can be classified as a material substance. Students write three examples proving that air is a material substance in their...
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Induction: Inquiry in Action
Students investigate the factors that affect the induced current in a loop of wire. They discuss Faraday's Law and Lenz's Law. Students identify the different variables that affect the magnetic flux and calculate the magnetic flux...