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Build an Approximate Scale Model of an Object
Students create a model of an object of their choice using sketches that they have drawn. They study what a scale model is and how to construct one. They examine the uses for scale models and why they are produced.
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Design Your Own Rube Goldberg Machine
Students design and construct a Rube Goldberg machine that accomplishes a simple task in at least ten steps. They view and discuss various Rube Goldberg designs, identify types of simple machines, and in small groups produce a schematic...
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Kidney Filtering
Students investigate how kidneys function. They discuss how a dialysis machine works, and conduct an experiment in which they filter different substances through a plastic window screen, various sizes of hardware cloth, and poultry...
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How to be a Great Navigator!
Students examine historical methods of navigation. They discuss the techniques of "Dead Reckoning," "Heaving the Log," and "Chip Log," pretend to sail from Europe to North America using vectors and determine the location of their...
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Science: Motion Commotion
Students examine Newton's three laws of motion to discover what causes it and how it changes. They conduct motion experiments by building catapults and constructing balloon rockets. Finally, they conduct peer studies correlating...
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Riding the Radio Waves
Students examine the basic concepts of radio waves and magnetic fields. They study how the AM radios are built and demonstrate the concepts of amplitude and frequency.
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Good News - We're on the Rise!
Students build and observe a simple aneroid barometer to discover changes in barometric pressure and weather forecasting. They graph changes in barometric pressure for two weeks and make weather predictions.
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Spin Me a Story
Young scholars examine the motif of spinning and weaving in myths and folktales. They read various myths, complete a WebQuest, develop a mind map of story elements, and write an original "spider" story.
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Getting to the Point
Learners determine location by using the technique of triangulation. They imagine that they are out in the wilderness and have come to the top of a ridge. How can one identify the ridge on the topo map? How can one figure out where you...
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Close Enough?
Students examine how navigation is based on mathematics and how making a mistake in measuring an angle could have an impact on a target. They observe a teacher-led lecture, use a calculator to complete two worksheets, and participate in...
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Design Packing to Safely Mail Raw Spaghetti
Students investigate and determine a way to mail raw spaghetti. In small groups, they package their raw spaghetti using various packing materials, mail the package through the postal system, and evaluate their packing design after...
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Design a Recycling Game!
Students discover that recycling is using a product more than once so that natural resources can be saved and so that we won't need so many garbage dumps and landfills. They see that there are different ways to recycle. Students design a...
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Design a Parachute
Students engage in a discussion about what a parachute is and how it works. They create a parachute using different materials that they think will work best. The students test their designs, which will be followed by a class discussion...
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Floating and Falling Flows
Students discover fluid dynamics related to buoyancy through experimentation and optional photography. Using one set of fluids, they make light fluids rise through denser fluids. Using another set, they make dense fluids sink through a...
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New Boxes From Old
Students find the volume and surface area of a rectangular box (e.g., a cereal box), and then figure out how to convert that box into a new, cubical box having the same volume as the original. As they construct the new, cube-shaped box...
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TE Activity: Northward Ho!
Middle schoolers design a simple compass. They examine how the Earth's magnetic field has both horizontal and vertical components. They determine how a compass works and work with cardinal directions.
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Swing in Time
Learners examine the motion of pendulums and come to understand that the longer the string of the pendulum, the fewer the number of swings in a given time interval. They see that changing the weight on the pendulum does not have an...
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Trig River
Young scholars calcute distances using trigonometry and angle measurements. They estimate the width of the Trig River, measure it and compare their results with their classmates. They collaborate with a group to research and find the...
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Vector Voyage!
Students use vector analysis to examine the concept of dead reckoning. They listen to a teacher-led lecture, complete a Vector Voyage Worksheet with the teacher, answer discussion questions, and use the Pythagorean Theorem for speed...
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TE Lesson: Using Heat from the Sun
Students examine fossil fuels, nuclear and renewable fuels. They study investigate types of heat transfer such as convection, conduction, and radiation. They complete crossword puzzles based on the vocabulary. They design, construct and...
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Making Decisions: Packaging and the Environment
Students work in small groups to redesign the packaging of several common items. They attempt to reach the goal of 25% reduction in packaging materials currently used and explore the impact of various materials and designs in landfills...
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What a Drag
Young scholars learn examples of friction and drag, and suggest ways to reduce the impact of these forces. The equation that governs common frictional forces is introduced, and during a hands-on activity, students experimentally measure...
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TE Lesson: What's Dominant?
Students study the number of chromosomes in the body cells, sperm cells, and egg cells of humans. They define allele, and examine the difference between dominant and recessive alleles. They complete an activity with jelly beans that...
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Heredity Mix 'n Match
Students randomly select jelly beans that represent genes for several human traits such as tongue-rolling ability and eye color. Then, working in pairs (preferably of mixed gender), students randomly choose new pairs of jelly beans from...