Inflate your knowledge, not the economy! Pupils learn more about inflation with detailed worksheets and exciting activities such as role play, an interactive PowerPoint presentation, and a project in which they design...

Start this mini unit on matter out by demonstrating how food coloring behaves when placed in cold and in hot water. Then have the class experiment with warm water and soap film. Pupils will learn that an increase in thermal energy also...

How many noodles long is your classroom? Find out when engineers of all ages explore measurement through the use of pool noodles. With the noodles pre-cut to certain metric lengths, the activities could be used to introduce the metric...

It's time to break the ice! If you are doing all of the lessons in the unit, children have already seen that increasing heat increases the rate of evaporation, but is the opposite true? Does decreasing temperature cause more condensation...

This is one in several lessons that explore the relationship between temperature and phase changes of water. After some discussion, elementary physical scientists place wet paper toweling on a hot and a room-temperature water bag...

Discover the fascinating history of the Equal Rights Amendment and discuss the major implications and considerations associated with it today. Here you will find background information on the topic, a graphic organizer summarizing...

The importance of considering multiple perspectives of the same event is the big idea in this exercise that focuses on the Boston Massacre. Class groups examine photos of four depictions of the massacre, an English and an American...

Make sure to consult the teacher's handbook, Inquiry in Action - Investigating Matter Through Inquiry, for two demonstrations that can be done to introduce solubility and measuring crystal mass before having the class conduct this...

Here is the first of four experiments to differentiate among unknown liquids by their behaviors and properties. Pupils observe how different liquids respond to being placed on plastic and paper, and they take notes about their...

Dare your class to drive dissolved carbon dioxide out of carbonated liquid at different temperatures to discover if there is a difference in rate. To make this experiment more sound, have explorers use equally measured amounts of soda...

Not many youngsters realize that solids aren't the only materials that can possibly be dissolved in water. During this investigation, they find out that some liquids can dissolve in water as well. This is part of a unit on solubility,...

Stir chocolate drink mix into hot and cold water to see if there is a difference in how quickly it dissolves. Number three in a six-lesson unit on dissolving, this installment investigates the effect of temperature. If you consult the...

Second of six lessons in a unit on dissolving, this one focuses on how sugar behaves in different liquids. Learners stir it into water, alcohol, and oil and make observations. This lesson can stand alone, but is best used as part of the...

Physical science investigators mix sugar and food coloring into different cups of water and cooking oil to compare how the solid and liquid behave in each. As the introduction to this unit on dissolving, it is relevant.

Once investigators have learned how their mystery liquids interact with water during the preceding activity, they now use their observations to identify them. This is an ideal conclusion to the mini unit on the properties of water. 

Blue-tinted water is added to unknown liquids that have been tinted yellow to find out how they interact. This is a memorable activity that is part of an investigation on the properties of liquids, which is part of a unit on the...