Teach Engineering
Better By Design
Which modification is the best? Using the scientific method, pairs determine the effects of each control surface on the distance of a glider's flight. The activity, section 16 in a 22-part unit on aviation, allows pupils to gain a better...
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...
American Chemical Society
Changing State: Evaporation
Why do experiments require a control? Guide scholars through designing an experiment to see what they can do to evaporate water faster with a lesson that stresses the importance of controlling all variables. The second activity...
CPO Science
Science Worksheets
If you need an array of worksheets to augment your science lessons, peruse a collection of assignments that is sure to fit your needs. With topics such as metric conversion, the scientific method, textbook features, research skills,...
Pingry School
Replacement of Hydrogen by a Metal
As the most abundant element on the earth, hydrogen requires no replacement. Yet scholars learn to replace hydrogen with a metal to liberate the hydrogen gas. A simple procedure and data table include the necessary information and...
American Chemical Society
M&M's in Different Temperatures
Help your class come up with a procedure for comparing the dissolving rates of colored candy coating in different temperatures of water. If you are placing importance on controlled variables with your class, make sure that they use equal...
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...
Nuffield Foundation
Investigating Osmosis in Chickens' Eggs
You might not be able to learn through osmosis, but you sure can observe it! Scholars observe and measure osmosis using chicken eggs. They control for multiple variables to determine which variables have an impact and how the impact...
Perkins School for the Blind
The Germinator
How does a plant grow from a seed? Observe the process with a clever idea from the PBS television show ZOOM. Watch the video, then have your young botanists create their own germinators. The lesson described here is for visually impaired...
Odell Education
Scientific Process and Experimental Design
The scientific method keeps you from believing only what you want to believe — it expands your mind. The lesson introduces the eight steps in the scientific process and how to design an experiment to biology scholars. Live insects...
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...
Curated OER
Celery Lab
How do sugar and salt affect celery's mass, width, and flexibility? Using simple household ingredients, young scientists will perform a controlled experiment to find out. The lab is scaffolded through a worksheet, but there are no other...
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...
Learning Games Lab
Testing for Corn Mold
Learners complete a virtual lab to test for a corn mold that can lead to dangerous toxins. They walk through a detailed step-by-step procedure then see their findings. Throughout the activity, they learn how to use lab tools and practice...
Virginia Department of Education
Aspirin Analysis
Laughter may be the best medicine, but aspirin is also important. Young chemists analyze aspirin tablets using titration in this lab experiment. They then repeat the entire experiment using a different aspirin brand.
Teach Engineering
Ice, Ice, PV!
Knowing the temperature coefficient allows for the calculation of voltage output at any temperature. Groups conduct an experiment to determine the effects of temperature on the power output of a solar panel. The teams alter the...
Crafty Classroom
Guided Scientific Method
Guide learners through an experiment with a set of worksheets on the scientific method. Six steps prompt your class to ask questions, conduct research, form a hypothesis, test theories, analyze data, and report results.
Consortium for Ocean Science Exploration and Engagement (COSEE)
Ocean Acidification: Whats and Hows
Open this lesson by demonstrating the production of acidic carbon dioxide gas by activated yeast. Emerging ecologists then experiment with seashells to discover the effect of ocean acidification on shelled marine organisms. They measure...
Virginia Department of Education
Heat and Thermal Energy Transfer
How does radiation affect our daily lives? Answer that question and others with a lesson that discusses radiation and its use in thermal energy transfer through electromagnetic waves. Pupils investigate vaporization and...
Virginia Department of Education
Work and Power
Assist your class with correctly calculating the values for force, work, and power as they determine the amount various activities require. They gather data and participate in a group discussion to compare results upon conclusion of the...
Virginia Department of Education
States and Forms of Energy
Energy is just energy, right? Explain various forms of energy to your young scientists by using an interactive experiment that contains common objects to demonstrate complex concepts. Pupils conduct experiments for radiant, thermal,...
Virginia Department of Education
Osmosis, Diffusion, and Active Transport
No, it really is okay to play with your food! Emerging scientists manipulate popcorn, eggs, and other household objects as they demonstrate multiple cellular processes. The activity, capable of modifications, is designed to reflect...
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...
Cornell University
Physics of Flight
Up, up, and away! Take your classes on a physics adventure. Learners explore the concepts important for flight. They experiment with the Bernoulli Principle while learning the forces that act on airplanes in flight.