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Fred the Fish -- A River Ran Wild
Students apply cause and effect relationships to water pollution in a stream. For this pollution lesson students recognize the importance of clean water in their daily lives. Students accompany "Fred the Fish" as he travels down stream....
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Newton Rocket Car
Learners observe a demonstration of Newton's third law of motion using a small wooden car. They discuss Newton's third law of motion and what happens to motion if the mass or acceleration is increased, construct their car, and record...
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Indoor Environment: A Magazine Publication Project
Students demonstrate knowledge of Indoor Air Quality by creating a class magazine. A link to order a free Action Kit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is provided so teachers can build background knowledge. Performance...
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Using Fulcrums
Students engage in a lesson that concentrates on the use of a lever and fulcrum. They define how a lever is used to lift a load. The lesson has background information to justify it. Students demonstrate how to use the lever while lifting...
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Floodplain Modeling
Young scholars simulate the impact of fluctuating river volumes on structures and landforms. They experiment with table top-sized riverbed models and water. Students consider how human design can help mitigate the effects of a flood.
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TE Activity: You're in Hot Water
Students study different ways of using solar energy. They design a solar water heater and determine how much water it can heat in a set amount of time. They examine how the heaters work by solar radiation and convection.
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Let the Sun Shine!
Students investigate how the sun can be used for energy. They read a handout, discuss the pros and cons of passive solar building design, develop flashcard questions, and identify jobs that can be helped by solar energy.
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Powerful Pulleys
Students explore the building of a pyramid and how pulleys were used to change the direction of applied force. They demonstrate the mechanical advantage of using a pulley and apply it to modern engineering.
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Wheeling It In!
Students use everyday materials (milk cartons, water bottles, pencils, straws, candy) to build a small-scale transportation device that incorporates the wheel and axle and the lever. They race their carts/trucks, measure distance, time...
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TE Lesson: Renewable Energy
Students examine renewable energy sources such as solar, water, and wind. They experiment to determine how renewable energy is transformed into electricity. They investigate the role of engineers who work in the field of renewable energy.
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Capturing the Sun's Warmth
Students explore the variety of ways to use solar energy. They investigate the thermal energy storage capacities of different test materials to determine which to use in passive solar building design. They explain how passive solar...
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Falling Water
Students drop water from different heights to demonstrate the conversion of water's potential energy to kinetic energy. They see how varying the height from which water is dropped affects the splash size. In seeing how falling water can...
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Stations of Light
Student groups rotate through four stations to examine light energy behavior: refraction, magnification, prisms and polarization. They see how a beam of light is refracted (bent) through various transparent mediums. Young scholars...
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Magnets
Students explore how the earth is a magnet and that magnets have two "poles". In this magnetic instructional activity students complete an activity by designing their own compass.
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Weather
Learners explore the earth's atmosphere, weather, and climate. They begin class with a discussion about weather patterns, atmosphere, and the layers of the earth. After the class discussion, students rotate through four stations to...
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Where Am I: Navigation and Satellites
Students explore the concept of triangulation that is used in navigation satellites and global positioning systems designed by engineers. They determine ways these technologies can help people determine their position or the location of...
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Drought Threatens Huge Man-Made Lake
Students locate Lake Mead, then read a news article about Lake Mead drying up and how that would effect water and power supplies to the region. In this current events lesson, the teacher introduces the article with a map and vocabulary...
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States of Matter
Students discuss a given set of questions based on Chemistry and matter and review a glossary of terms. They conduct experiments on each state of matter: "Dry ice and water, Dry ice and soap and Dry ice and Isopropyl Alcohol." and...
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Good Food, Good Health
Learners investigate how food provides energy for the human body. In this physical health instructional activity, students access online resources to identify how certain foods can affect their health. Learners discuss how many servings...
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The Energy of Light
Students discuss different ways engineers use light. For this engineering lesson, students are introduced to the properties of light and the way light is used. They view a demonstration of light waves using a slinky, and practice using...
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Discovering Planet X
Students investigate the movements of the planet Pluto. Students participate in a hands-on activity to record data similar to the movements of the planet Pluto. Students compare their data to that found on a website.
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and and Ocean Views of Earth by Remote Sensing
Young scholars explain how satellites help scientists to see more than with the unaided eye and how Landsat technology works. Students identify vegetation and fire sites in the rainforest and detect erosion along rivers. They are able to...
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Looking at The Force on a Vehicle
Learners build a vehicle following technical drawings. They set up a system to pull the vehicles. Students compare and discuss how the motion of the vehicles changes more or less weight on a string is used to pull them.
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Matter
In this matter worksheet, students complete a graphic organizer by describing the properties of matter, the changes of matter, and how matter can form mixtures.