Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Creating Your Own Sunset
Young scholars observe a physical example of how the sunrises and sunsets show color in the sky.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Creating Understanding How Metamorphic Rock Is Formed
Students observe a demonstration of how the layer of metamorphic rock is formed.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Using Oreo Cookies to Discover the Moon Phases
Students will understand the phases of the moon by scraping away the frosting from the inside of Oreo cookies, and placing them in moon phase order.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Cloud Inquiry Investigation & Id
Students describe and create an experiment to indicate that a cloud will form under specific conditions.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: How Do Living Things Change With the Seasons?
Through inquiry, students compare how different kinds of fabrics keep objects warmer or colder. Upon completion students will infer and record in their science notebook which fabric would be good to wear in cold weather, and why.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Mn Step: Shrinky Dink Chemistry
In this instructional activity, students first learn about thermoplastics, and about polystyrene in particular, which is a #6 plastic. They will then heat different #6 plastics to create shrinky dinks. As they are heated, they shrink,...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Going on a Leaf Hunt!
Students go outside take a closer look at leaves on a tree. The students collect leaves of different shapes or colors, and then sort into categories, and compare and contrast them to leaves that are non-native to Minnesota.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Exo and Endo Thermic Processes
In this chemistry lab, students investigate two types of reactions and answer questions relating to exothermic and endothermic reactions.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Investigating Diffusion of Molecules in Liquid
Scientific inquiry activity where students investigate how molecules move in liquid. They will observe that molecules in liquid move in a random manner and that heat will increase and cold will decrease the speed of molecular movement in...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Field Activity: Exploring Glaciers, Ancient Seas, and Volcanism
In this geoscience all day field activity at Interstate State Park at Taylors Falls, MN, students investigate and explore three events in Minnesota geological history.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Mn Step: Solid or Liquid?
A demonstration and lab activity where students investigate the characteristics of solids and liquids, and classify materials as one or the other.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Investigating Soil Composition Soil Soaks Up Water
In this classroom activity, students will show how soil composition affects the amount of water the soil holds. They will test sand and soil independently and then create their own mixture.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Mn Step: Scientific Methods: Using "Awakenings" to Dispel Misconceptions
An activity where learners watch the movie "Awakenings" starring Robin Williams. The purpose of the activity is for students to record on a tally sheet each time they notice a step in the scientific method being used. They will become...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Mn Fish Families
After classifying and identifying Minnesota fish families, students will make their own pop can fishing rod and go to the river and fish.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Erosion in Our World
Students collect evidence to investigate erosion and deposition around the schoolyard.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Metric Conversion at a Glance
This activity is designed to give students an easy way to convert one metric measurement to another rather than the traditional fraction approach. Students will learn common metric prefixes, kilo, hecto, deca, deci, centi, and milli and...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: The Rock Cycle: A Hands on Simulation
Learners simulate the rock cycle by manipulating wax crayons to represent different forms of rocks. Students will learn the vocabulary of rocks and the formation of the rock cycle.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Investigating Stream Char and Discharge: Interdisciplinary Approach
In this Interdisciplinary Field Investigation learners will combine science, math, geography, creative writing and art. The setting will be a local stream (site yet to be determined, Minnehaha or Vermillion) where 150 students will...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Fish Habitats
During this lesson, learners spend time looking at pictures of fish and their habitat, talking about what all animals need to live, making a poster of a fish habitat, and finally visiting a lake.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Effectiveness of Mn Dams in Water Retention
Through this field activity, students will obtain hands-on experience by measuring stream flows and observing landform and stream processes of dams once before water freezes, and again after the weather deposition has occurred. Students...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Virtual Inquiry Field Lesson
Middle schoolers use inquiry skills to answer their own questions about an area's animals in a natural setting using motion sensing video cameras.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Investigating Biological Classification: Organization of All Living Things
All living things can be identified by their placement in a biological classification table. Learners will investigate the organization of all living things and learn how to classify through the process of classifying their own shoes....
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Mn Step: What Is a Bird?
Students will investigate the characteristics of birds, what birds live in their schoolyard, and whether it is a suitable habitat for birds. This leads into a discussion of how to improve the schoolyard so it will attract more birds.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Analyzing the Motion of a Marble Down a Ramp
This lab activity involves rolling a marble down a ramp where the students can investigate constant acceleration motion. The students then make a position vs. time graph and a velocity vs. time graph in order to investigate the change in...