Nevada Outdoor School
Let It Snow! Let It Melt!
Winter weather offers a great opportunity to teach young scientists about the states of matter. This activity-based lesson includes a range of learning experiences, from experimenting with the rate at which ice melts...
University of Waikato
Investigating Sea Level Rise
Find an explanation for the sea level rise. Pupils investigate the difference that melting land ice and sea ice have on the sea level. Groups create two models—one with ice on land and one with ice in the water. As the ice melts, teams...
Polar Trec
Ice Cores: Modeling Ice Sheets
Ice cores provide scientists with knowledge of historic melt layers, air temperatures, greenhouse gases, and climate stability. Scholars work in groups to build layers representing snow and ice over thousands of years. Then, groups...
Polar Trec
South Pole Ice Cream!
How can you turn an ice cream activity into a scientific investigation? It's easy if you know ionic compounds, heat transfer, and the exothermic and endothermic process. Learners will explore the science behind freezing, insulation, and...
Discovery Education
It's Melting!
It's a race to the finish! Which ice cube will melt the fastest? Scholars discover the effect thermal energy has on melting ice. They experiment with melting ice cubes on different materials and learn that even at a consistent...
NASA
Melting Ice: Designing an Experiment
Sometimes, despite the best laid plans, the unexpected will occur. Learners witness this firsthand as they carefully design an experiment to determine the time needed for ice to melt in salt water or pure water. They uncover facts not...
California Academy of Science
Global Climate Change and Sea Level Rise
Ice is nice, and its condition on the planet has a significant effect. Junior geoscientists experiment with ice melting in both water and on land to discover how each affect the rising sea level. This detailed instructional activity...
Columbus City Schools
To Measure its Mass or Volume?
Atoms, elements, and molecules, oh my! Teaching the fundamentals of chemistry to curious sixth graders has never been easier to accomplish. Here is a resource that pulls together everything needed to get them off to a good start,...
Creative Chemistry
Preparation of Crystalline Derivatives of Aldehydes and Ketones
Chemistry explorers prepare a crystalline derivative and find its melting point. Once they discover the melting point, they can identify whether the substance is pure or an aldehyde or ketone. This outstanding laboratory activity helps...
Captain Planet Foundation
Solar Cooking Race
Study heat transfer with activities that focus on how heat energy works. Using a solar cooker, ice cubes, and heat transfer bracelets, kids experiment and record what they find by keeping ice cubes cold and vegetables hot.
Science 4 Inquiry
Investigating How Heat Flows
It is impossible to cool down a glass of water by adding ice. Young scientists explore heat transfer through videos, experiments, and interactive games. They quickly catch on that the water melts the ice and things aren't always as they...
Virginia Department of Education
The Law of Conservation of Matter
The Law of Conservation of Matter can be complex for young scientists to fully grasp. Use this experiment to help simplify the process as pupils perform two experiments to determine mass: one that melts a substance and the other that...
Virginia Department of Education
States of Matter
Scientists have been studying exothermic reactions before they were cool. The lesson begins with a discussion and a demonstration of heat curves. Scholars then determine the heat of fusion of ice and the heat needed to...
Discovery Education
Cool It!
Adjust the melting time of ice without varying the temperature! Learners experiment with different materials to decide how the materials affect the rate an ice cube melts. They then connect their findings to the conductivity of each...
University of Chicago
Don't Be Too Flaky
Snow, ice, and water are all composed of H2O. Does that mean they all have the same volume? Discover the ways that the densities of these substances determine their volumes, and how they change based on their current states of...
National Park Service
Glaciers and Water
Explore the amazing power of glaciers with a hands-on earth science experiment! After first learning basic background information, learners go on to create their very own chunks of frozen water and gravel in order to...
US Environmental Protection Agency
Sea Level: On the Rise
With the global temperature on the rise, the effects of climate change are starting to be seen. However, many people have a difficult time conceptualizing the long-term effects, such as sea levels rising. Given an easy and effective...
Virginia Department of Education
Molar Heat of Fusion for Water
How can you describe heat of fusion in a way the class understands and relates the importance of this concept to present day issues? In this third lesson of the series, learners conduct an experiment, demonstrating the flow of heat...
Polar Trec
Do You See What Icy?
Here is a lesson that kicks off with a question. "How does ice floating on the ocean act as it melts?" As learners investigate this natural phenomenon, they'll discover that it has a lot to do with temperature, salinity, and the effect...
Beyond Benign
Daphnia Bioassay LD50
De-icing materials may have a harmful effect on our environment; have your class perform an experiment to test the nature of these effects. Scholars monitor the survival rate of a sample of daphnia as the concentration of a de-icing...
Resources for Educators
Fractions of Fun
Reinforce concepts and encourage learner engagement with a collection of math games, science experiments, and cross curricular activities. In one fun resource, learners sort objects, keep a diary of everyday fractions, play a game using...
Polar Trec
Nature's Density Column
Nature provides density columns in the polar regions that provides food for many animals. Young scientists build their own density columns with water in order to answer analysis questions. Through a slideshow presentation, scholars...
Royal Society of Chemistry
Organic Molecules Day—Chemistry Outreach
In search of an organic lab that employs real-life techniques and analysis methods? Groups carry out the nitration of methyl benzoate, then attempt to determine the number and location of the nitro groups added to the benzene ring....
NOAA
Why Should I Care?: Show How Increased Carbon Dioxide Makes the Ocean More Acidic
How does a change in pH affect the ocean ecosystem? Scholars explore the idea by making an acid-base indicator in part seven of the 10-installment Discover Your Changing World series. First, they explore impacts of carbon dioxide in...