Curated OER
Motion in Fluids
Students explore physical science by participating in a science activity. In this liquids lesson, students discuss how fluids can be affected by motion unlike solids. Students define other scientific vocabulary terms and conduct a motion...
Curated OER
Bernoulli's Principle Lab
Learners are introduced Bernoulli's Principle and how it shows the relationship between fluid speed and pressure change. In groups, they participate in experiments in different processes in the industrial world. They share their...
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Understanding Cloud Formation
Students explore air and clouds by watching demonstration. They perform an experiment to measure air pressure changes.
Curated OER
Understanding: Flight
Students review the principles of flight before performing a series of simple experiments. Working in small groups, they complete hands-on activities that demonstrate the principles that make it possible for an airplane to lift into air...
Curated OER
Bernoulli's Principle
Students explore Bernoulli's principle, how it is related to flight, and the effect of lift, thrust, and drag on flight. They design and develop an experiment that tests for distance traveled by their paper airplane, and record and...
Curated OER
DEW POINT
Fourth graders investigate conditions causing saturation and measure the dew point of the atmosphere performing simple experiments.
Curated OER
Flight
Students are introduced to the four forces of flight--drag, lift, thrust, and weight--through a variety of fun-filled flight experiments. They "fly" for short periods and evaluate factors that might either increase or decrease their...
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Weather
Students 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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Lift and Launch Angle
Students engage in a hands-on experiment to determine how launch angles affect airflow around the wing of an aircraft. They view a series of photographs and read information describing the Wright Brothers' experiences. They complete a...
Colorado State University
What Is a "Convection Cell"?
Round and round in circles it goes! A hands-on activity has learners recreate a model of a convection cell. They watch as the difference in density of their materials creates a current.
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Wind
Students conduct an experiment. For this wind measurement lesson, students learn about instruments that measure the wind and then make a weather vane. Students record wind speed over a few days.
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Hurricanes
Students perform various experiments to explore hurricanes. In this earth science lesson, students explain how they form. They identify the structure of a hurricane.
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Plant Transpiration
Students conduct various experiments to investigate plant transpiration. In this biology activity, students explain how this process helps maintain the hydrologic cycle. They measure the rate of water loss in plants using a potometer.
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How Pollution Disrupts Our Natural Environment
Students conduct experiments to illustrate global warming. In this air pollution lesson, students first examine how a layer of greenhouse gasses might impact the earth's atmospheric temperature, then evaluate how the layer of gasses...
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Osmosis
Fifth graders explore osmosis as they watch organisms divide. In this organism instructional activity, 5th graders use potatoes to experiment with the effects of salty water in the body. Students discuss what osmosis is and record what...
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Designing Windmills
Students study mechanical engineering and how it plays a part in the creation of windmills. They design and test their own windmills using various materials and sail designs.
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Clouds
Students explore clouds. In this weather lesson, students identify the steps in the water cycle, define condensation and evaporation, and relate this information to cloud formation. Students perform a cloud experiment, predict weather...
Curated OER
The Amazing Apple
Students analyze an apple. In this lesson about developing inquiry skills, students do an experiment with an apple. Students make several observations about the apple. Students answer questions to help them improve and practice their...
Curated OER
Cooking with the Sun!
Students access prior knowledge of solar energy and understand that solar energy produces heat. In this solar cooker lesson, students complete grade appropriate experiments using the heat of the sun. Students complete a worksheet on...
Curated OER
Eruption
Young scholars conduct an experiment simulating an underwater volcano based on reading The Magic School Bus Blows Its Top. They create a desktop volcano eruption demonstrating where magma comes from and how lava flows.
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Storm That Drowned a City
Students use a map to locate New Orleans and watch a video on the destruction of Hurricane Katrina. As a class, they watch a demonstration on how a wetland can reduce the impact of a hurricane. In groups, they perform their own...
Curated OER
Water and Ice
Students perform experiments in pairs to visualize the changes in water during freezing and melting. In this properties of water lesson, students use their senses and inquiry tools to understand the changes in state of water. Suggested...
Curated OER
What Makes a Kite Fly?
Ninth graders compare the nature of forces of gravity, lift, thrust, and drag. They select proper materials for making a kite and attach a proper tail. Students interpret and summarize the observations made during the flight of the kites.
Chymist
Determination of the Volume of CO2 in Pop Rocks
Where does the pop in pop rocks come from? An engaging activity asks scholars to measure the amount of carbon dioxide in a package of Pop Rocks candy. Learners dissolve the candy in water and use the solubility of CO2 to determine its mass.