Curated OER
The Good and Bad Bacteria
Students are able to name one kind of harmful bacteria and why it hurts us and also name one kind of helpful bacteria and how we use it. They describe the process of growing bacterial cultures in a lab. Students create a reasonable...
Curated OER
Teen Driving: Skills, Responsibilities and Reactions
As an introduction to the skills required for and responsibilities of driving, pre-teens and teens engage in a series of activities, chart their response times, and analyze how variables effect these reaction times. Class...
Teach Engineering
Airplane Tails and Wings: Are You in Control?
Keep everything under control. The lesson, the 16th segment in a 22-part unit, provides a more detailed look at the parts of a plane, specifically the control surfaces. Pupils learn about the construction of the wings and the tails and...
Kenan Fellows
Terrarium in a Bottle: Modeling the Atmosphere, Greenhouse Effect, and Water Cycle
You've heard of farm to table ... but what about farm in classroom? Junior agriculturalists embark upon a two-week journey into the science of growing things. Based upon the classic terrarium in a two-liter experiment, the lesson goes...
Nuffield Foundation
Controlling Body Mass
Many variables impact your body mass, not just diet and exercise. Scholars collect and study data about body mass to better understand the complexity of a sensitive topic. They learn about leptin deficiency, the hypothalamus, and more.
Serendip
Carbohydrate Consumption, Athletic Performance and Health – Using Science Process Skills to Understand the Evidence
Should athletes carb load before an event or consume carbohydrates during the competition? Scholars discuss how to set up a hypothesis and experiment to answer a question relating carbohydrates and athletic performance. Then, they read...
Teach Engineering
Exploring Variables While Testing and Improving Mint-Mobiles (for High School)
Mint candies are good for more than just one's breath. Using basic materials such as mint candies, straws, index cards, and Popsicle sticks, scholars create race cars that meet a given budget as well as design constraints. They perform...
Curated OER
The Marvels of Mud
Young scientists roll up their sleeves and get a little dirty in this three-day earth science investigation. Following the scientific method, children monitor the growth of algae in pond water samples in order to determine...
Serendip
Vitamins and Health – Why Experts Disagree
Should people take vitamins or get the needed minerals through diet? Experts disagree based on many different factors. Scholars compare study findings and discuss the differences. They learn the importance of comparing results across...
American Chemical Society
Temperature and the Rate of a Chemical Reaction
Putting glow sticks in the freezer makes them last longer, but why is that? Lesson focuses on how temperature impacts the rate of a chemical reaction. It begins with a teacher demonstration, then scholars design their own experiments...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Human Impacts on Biodiversity
Have you always wanted to take your science class on an amazing field trip they will never forget? Now you can! Observe the wildlife in an African savanna through trail cameras with a five-part data analysis activity. Learners analyze...
American Chemical Society
Using Chemical Change to Identify an Unknown
If you discover an unknown powder, how do you determine if it is safe? Lesson uses four different tests to identify the properties of various powders that appear the same. Then scholars get an unknown powder and have to determine which...
Curated OER
The Mulch Mystery!
Fourth graders make a detailed observations about non-native and native grasses. They define reasonable policies that they expect to follow while working in the CRWA. Students list, in small groups, two treatments that have been used in...
Teach Engineering
Things That Matter to Flocculants
How does the dirt get out of your drinking water? A hands-on activity introduces the use of flocculants to help clear solid particles out of water. The plan walks learners through the process of setting up an experiment that...
Captain Planet Foundation
Square Foot Fall Garden
First graders learn the basic needs of plants and identify geometric shapes while planting a fall garden. Combining math and science in one lesson, the resource guides kids through starting their class garden as they...
American Chemical Society
Can Liquids Dissolve in Water?
How does food coloring work? Classes watch a demonstration showing liquids dissolving in liquids. In groups, they then explore the ability of other liquids to dissolve in water (alcohol, mineral oil, and corn syrup) by setting up and...
Curated OER
Soil and Agriculture:Lesson 3 - Soil Erosion
Students reseach the different types of soil erosion and ways to control it in this series of activities.
American Chemical Society
Using Dissolving to Identify an Unknown
There is a solvent called aqua regis that can dissolve gold! After observing a solubility demonstration, groups receive four known crystals and one unknown. Based on the demo, they design an experiment to determine the identity of the...
American Chemical Society
Does Temperature Affect Dissolving?
When making sweet tea, why do people dissolve the sugar in hot tea instead of cold tea? The class discusses the previous lab and builds upon it. Working in groups, they design an experiment to determine how temperature affects the...
Curated OER
That's Predictable - Stream Side Science
Research the impact that changes in biotic or abiotic factors might have on an ecosystem. Debate for or against the changes and take action in the community. This resource ideally follows stream studies that young ecologists may have...
American Chemical Society
Why Does Water Dissolve Sugar?
Did you know that if you wait long enough, the M on the outside of an M and M will float to the surface when submerged in water? Learners observe the sugar coating of an M and M while it is dissolving in water. They explain how this...
Teach Engineering
Sugar Spill!
Sugar isn't good for you, but it's great for yeast! Scholars design an experiment to investigate how variables affect the rate of sugar consumption in yeast. The last installment of a nine-part Life Science unit considers how scientists...
Curated OER
Soil Acidity and Leaching
Young scholars are introduced to the concept of acids and bases and arouse curiosity about acids and bases in daily life. They are introduced to the measurement of soil pH. Pupils are introduced to the effect of soil pH on nutrient...
Curated OER
Soil pH & Plants
Students investigate the pH of the soil in which different plants grow. They design and carry out an experiment to determine the factors that affect the growth of a population of plants, identifying and controlling major variables...