Exploratorium
Diffraction
Kindle knowledge of how light travels by using this activity in your physical science curriculum. By setting up a candle flame or flashlight bulb and viewing it through a slit, observers of light see evidence of its wave characteristic....
Exploratorium
Blue Sky
Use a container full of water as a prism and show that as light is bent, the individual colors from different wavelengths become visible. This explains why the sky appears to be blue midday, and why as the sun nears the horizon, it looks...
Exploratorium
Afterimage
To illuminate how afterimage occurs, create a star, square, or other geometric-shaped light for learners to look at for 30 seconds. Then, have them explain what they see as they shift their focus to a blank wall. A full explanation of...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
The Making of the Fittest: The Birth and Death of Genes
After watching an engaging 13-minute video about the colorless blood of icefish, future ichthyologists examine icefish blood and non-icefish blood (blood samples are simulated with Karo syrup mixtures) to determine advantages of...
PBS
Lessons - Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot!
Volcanoes are among the most spectacular geological features on the planet. Jump into an exploration of these amazing phenomenon with this multimedia lesson series. Working collaboratively in small groups, young scientists view videos...
Possibilities
Disability Awareness Activity Packet
When you have an inclusive classroom it is important to help your general education students understand their peers with disabilities. This packet provides information and activities to assist elementary-aged children in building a...
Baylor College
Moving Air
In lab groups, young scientists place aluminum cans with a bubble-solution cap into different temperatures of water to see what size of bubble dome forms. As part of an atmosphere unit in preparation for learning about convection...
Baylor College
Heart Rate and Exercise
What is the relationship among the heart, circulation, and exercise? Your class members will explore first-hand how different physical exercises affect an individual's heart rate. They will begin by learning how to measure their own...
Center Science Education
Paleoclimates and Pollen
Demonstrate for your earth scientists how plant pollen of the past has become part of sedimentary deposits, providing clues about ancient climates. Then give them simulated sediment layer samples to analyze for different types of paper...
University of Minnesota
Neuropathfinding: Kinesthetic Model
Playing follow the leader has never been so interesting! Get the class up and moving while they take on the roles of nervous system components. Through trial and error, they learn the importance of the "pioneer" growth cone that leads...
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...
K20 LEARN
Timmy Made Mistakes: Lab Safety
It's better to be safe than sorry ... just ask Timmy! Engage learners with a hilarious lab safety review activity. The lesson, part of the K20 series, revolves around identifying, describing, and remediating disastrous lab practices.
Beyond Benign
What's In a Window?
Take a peek inside a window to heat efficiency. Scholars watch a demonstration to investigate how heat dissipates from several different cups of hot water. Scholars then relate the exchange to how heat escapes from the windows of a...
Bonneville
Where Does Energy Go?
Convection currents aren't just a bunch of hot air. The second of five lessons in the Solar Updraft Towers unit focuses on energy transfer and convection currents. Young scientists watch six demonstrations that illustrate how warm air...
NASA
Whip Up a Moon-Like Crater
The moon is famous for its craters, but they haven't always been there. Young learners experiment with materials to simulate the creation of moon craters. Pupils are able to see patterns in their materials that are similar to the...
Bonneville
Wind Energy
Let the wind take pupils to a new understanding of renewable energy. The fifth of seven parts in the A Community Powered by Renewable Energy unit has learners investigate wind energy. They find out why wind occurs, learn about windmills...
Smithsonian Institution
Science Starts With a Question: Energy - Teacher Guide
Get an up-close look at energy transfer. Using a three-part activity, investigators first observe a teacher-led demonstration before building a model marble track to convert potential energy to kinetic energy. Scientists explore six...
Bonneville
Biolite - Fire to Phone Charging
Provide the spark to foster a love of science. Instructors perform a demonstration that uses a camping stove to generate electricity to charge a phone. Pupils use data from the experiment to the calculate the efficiency of the stove....
EngageNY
Performance Task: Hosted Gallery Walk of Scientific Posters
The guests have arrived. Scholars participate in a hosted gallery walk, using their scientific posters to share their research about DDT with their classmates. Then, using sticky notes, individuals leave positive feedback on their peers'...
Exploratorium
Cellular Soap Opera - Soap Films Can Behave Like Membranes
Soap, suds, and cell membranes. Pupils create a model of a cell membrane by using soap films. They experiment with trying to pass different objects through the film without popping it. Using a tube, they create a passageway through the...
Smithsonian Institution
The Vocal Blues: Created in the Deep South of the U.S.
Bring the sounds of the deep South vocal blues to the classroom with a Smithsonian Folkways lesson. In preparation, scholars listen to and count the 12 bar blues patterns in several works and identify the I, II, IV, and V chords as well...
University of Colorado
Star Light, Star Bright? Finding Remote Atmospheres
People might be able to breath there. Learners view a simulation of a planet passing in front of a star. Using data from occultations of planets with known types of atmospheres, scholars determine whether the simulated planet has an...
Museum of Science
Create Gas
Let's have a gas. Individuals mix baking soda and vinegar in a bottle. Learners view the interaction between the solid and the liquid and notice that a gas is formed. Scholars notice the gas inflates a balloon stretched across the mouth...
Museum of Science
Cup Drop
Create egg drop soup. Teachers first set up eggs that are held up above cups of water with a piece of cardboard and cardboard tubes. Learners try to determine a way to get the eggs to drop into the cups. Using a broom, the instructor...