Can some plants make their own animal repellents? Science sleuths examine the properties of cinnamamide in pear trees using an case study about computational chemistry. The resource discusses how vital computers are to research, how...

Here's proof that small-scale labs lead to big-time learning. Introduce acid-base interactions to middle school scientists through a microscale chemistry lab. Pupils combine a variety of solutions and use indicators to obtain approximate...

The man who invented the earliest examples of chemical engineering was an American-born, French-educated, free man of color before the Civil War, and went on to translate Egyptian hieroglyphics. There is something of...

Clean up the environment with a lesson that focuses on replacing hazardous cleaning supplies with green, environmentally-friendly products. Using a dirty patch of surface as a control area, kids clean other parts of various surfaces...

Carbon is the most common element on earth, so the innovative discovery of a new type of carbon molecule won the 1996 Nobel Prize. In the ready-to-go lesson, scholars learn about C60 and how it has opened up the entire area of...

Do you want to hear a joke about nitrogen and oxygen? NO. We all know there is oxygen in the air and that plants produce oxygen, but how was it discovered? Scholars read a handout, answer questions, and analyze material in the...

From the start of the Industrial Revolution, it only took 147 years for someone to invent plastic. This may seem like a long time, but in the history of inventing or discovering new materials, this is incredibly fast. An informative and...

Did you know baking powder can be used to treat acne, whiten teeth, and make sugar cookies? The lesson on the development of baking powder is ready-to-go with no preparation required. Through readings, pupils answer questions, complete...

Why do soybean plants that are planted weeks apart in the spring mature simultaneously in the fall? Four independent activities cover the history of phytochrome research, scientist collaboration, the electromagnetic spectrum, and...