Baylor College
What Is the Water Cycle?
Small groups place sand and ice in a covered box, place the box in the sunlight, then observe as evaporation, condensation, and precipitation occur. These models serve as miniature water cycles and demonstrations of the three phases of...
Baylor College
Using Heat from the Sun
Let's heat things up! This simple experiment demonstrates for students the important role the sun plays in providing the earth with energy. Place one cup of water in direct sunlight and one in shade, then take measurements in order to...
Baylor College
Fuel for Living Things
During a three-part lesson, learners make a cabbage juice pH indicator and use it to analyze the waste products of yeast after feeding them with sugar. The intent is to demonstrate how living organisms produce carbon dioxide, which is...
Baylor College
Serving Sizes
Are serving sizes for different foods always appropriate for what you need? In this hands-on activity, learners work in groups to estimate what one serving size of various foods are, and then evaluate their hypotheses by measuring real...
California Academy of Science
Global Climate Change and Sea Level Rise
Ice is nice, and its condition on the planet has a significant effect. Junior geoscientists experiment with ice melting in both water and on land to discover how each affect the rising sea level. This detailed lesson outline even...
Polar Trec
Staying Warm in Antarctica!
Has your class ever wondered how animals and scientists stay warm in the Polar Regions? Kids will investigate to understand the three types of heat transfer and how heat transfer affects those trying to stay toasty in sub-zero...
Berkeley Engineering and Mentors
Egg Drop
How do different shapes affect the outcome associated with hard impact? All you need is an egg and some recycled materials to find out. Kids experiment to understand how airbags work to lessen the impact of two different types of...
National Geographic
Expedition Clothing Then and Now
Introduce your class to the Everest expedition to reenact a 1924 climb by George Mallory and Andrew Irvine. Discuss and show pictures of the types of clothing worn at that time and compare it to today's state-of-the-art climbing gear....
Japan Society
A Remade Environment
Art is a wonderful way to express feelings of social unrest or change. Learners will examine the works of two contemporary Japanese artists, and how they each have used art to say something big. They analyze the work of Katsuhiro Saiki...
Curated OER
Mirror Image
Why does practice make perfect? Give your class insight into procedural memory, where we learn to do new things — then continue to improve through repetition. By attempting to draw shapes while looking in a mirror, learners observe their...
GLOBE Program
Making a Sundial
Sundials are more than just primitive clocks. Learners build their own sundials to study the location of the sun across the sky throughout the day. They use shadow evidence related to their sundials to make conclusions about solar movement.
NASA
Feel the Noise
Can you hear it now? Young scientists experiment with sound waves using metal objects and string. They strike metal objects while they hold them and as the objects hang from a string to compare the sound. They discover that sound travels...
Bonneville
Solar Powered Water Pumping
Here's the perfect activity for those who think the world needs faster pumps. Building on the previous activity, scholars work to make the pumps function faster in transferring water between containers. They try adding an additional...
NASA
How Far Away Is Space?
Space is about 60 miles from the surface of Earth. Pupils make calculations to model that distance by stacking coins the appropriate height using scale. They then explore the distance to objects in space such as satellites and the space...
NASA
Mineral Mystery Experiment
One way to study something is to try to replicate it. Young scientists do just that as they use solutions to recreate mineral structures on a dwarf planet. They make solutions with different types of salt, evaporate them, and observe the...
NASA
Make a Planetary Exploration Balloon
Balloons aren't just for parties! An inquiry-based lesson explores the idea of using balloons for space exploration. Learners become engineers as they attempt to control the ascent and descent of a helium balloon using different masses.
American Chemical Society
Heat Up and Cool Down
Don't be so dense! Using food coloring, pupils conduct two experiments with the difference in densities of hot and cold water. In the first experiment, learners add dyed hot and cold water into room temperature water and observe how the...
American Chemical Society
The Fate of Calcium Carbonate
Soften up an egg. Learners use vinegar to test for calcium carbonate in an egg shell and an antacid tablet and compare the reaction with vinegar to the reaction with water. In a second experiment, class members break down an egg shell...
American Chemical Society
Chromatography - Color Clues
Here's an activity that will change how one sees color. Pupils try out an experiment on chromatography where they place a drop of food coloring on a coffee filter, add several drops of water, and watch the colors spread and separate....
American Chemical Society
Chemistry Color Changers
Knowledge of acids and bases doesn't need to be a secret. Learners use red cabbage to create an indicator solution, then test how adding lemon juice (acid) and detergent (base) changes the color of the solution. They then use the concept...
American Chemical Society
Chemistry and Comics
Copying the comics couldn't be easier. A fun and simple activity has young scientists rub the back of a comic strip with a spoon to see if the ink will transfer to a white sheet of paper. They then repeat the experiment, rubbing...
American Chemical Society
Aware of the Air
It's there, even though no one can see it. Scholars create two different-sized parachutes out of shopping bags, then let them fall through the air. They should see that the larger parachute falls more slowly and interpret this to mean...
American Chemical Society
All Wet
Sometimes liquids just don't get along together. A fun experiment has scholars determine whether various liquids dissolve in water. They pour isopropyl alcohol, vegetable oil, and corn syrup into cups of water to see which ones mix well...
American Chemical Society
Heat - Energy on the Move
Turn up the heat. Individuals conduct two experiments to observe the difference between heated water and air versus cold water and air. Using food coloring, pupils observe the movement of the molecules in the two temperatures of water. A...