Curated OER
Bulbs & Batteries Side by Side
Young scholars build parallel circuits, exploring how they function and looking at their unique features. They describe how current changes when batteries are added in parallel or removed from a parallel arrangement, demonstrate the...
Curated OER
Eek, It leaks!
Middle schoolers construct model landfill liners out of two-inch strips of garbage bags within resource constraints. The challenge is to construct a bag that will hold one cup of water without leaking. This represents similar challenges...
Curated OER
Probability Of One Event
Middle schoolers investigate the concept of probability. They use example problems in order to measure the likelihood of various outcomes. The activity includes dialogue to be used by the teacher during direct instruction. They also use...
Curated OER
The Chaos Game
Students measure and predict the behavior of a fractal. In this investigative lesson students divide into groups, and participate in an activity that includes drawing triangles and coloring vertices.
Curated OER
Measuring Temperature
Young scholars explore the different variables that affect surface temperature. They study how temperatures can vary widely within close proximity due to variables such as surface, directness of sunlight, and distance from buildings.
Curated OER
WorldWatcher Activity: Investigating Population and Carbon Emissions
Middle schoolers develop a population density visualization chart to begin the lesson. In groups, they use this information to compare to rates of carbon emissions for their country. They identify solutions to the problem and present...
Curated OER
Faux Rice Paper Holiday Cards
Students investigate the history of the uses of rice paper. They learn to use controlled brush pressure and work within a border that they create. Students use many materials to create a functional piece of artwork.
Curated OER
Area and Volume
What is the difference between area and volume? Have your charges build models of square centimeters, square inches, square feet, square meters, etc. It's definitely challenging, but there is no better way to learn than by trying...
NASA
Launch Altitude Tracker
Using PVC pipe and aquarium tubing, build an altitude tracker. Pupils then use the altitude tracker, along with a tangent table, to calculate the altitude of a launched rocket using the included data collection sheet.
ARKive
Human Impact on the Environment
Study the ways that humans have impacted the environment, particularly the spread of plastic waste. After watching a short film about the Laysan albatross population, learners complete a worksheet and research other ways that plastic...
DiscoverE
Tunnel Meetup
Meet me in the tunnels. Scholars choose a tunnel entrance and mark it on their side of the cardboard. They describe the location to their partners and see if they can guess each other's locations. Punching a hole through the cardboard...
PBS
Garden Grade 6 Area and Perimeter
Engage young mathematicians in applying their knowledge of area and perimeter with a fun geometry instructional activity. Through a series of problem solving exercises, children use their math knowledge to design...
Teach Engineering
Maker Challenge: Adding Helpful Carrier Devices to Crutches
Make breaking a leg a less troublesome experience. Groups brainstorm designs for crutches that have devices that help carry items. They build prototypes of their devices to test out their designs.
Kenan Fellows
Analyzing Speed from Different Modalities
Show us your moves. Using sensor equipment, scholars track the motion of different movements, such as jogging, skipping, or jump roping. They analyze velocity and acceleration and create graphs representing each movement.
Concord Consortium
Triangles: Angle Space
Three angles in a triangle, three-dimensional space, it all seems connected somehow. Given several different triangles, pupils use the three angles of the triangle as coordinates to plot points in three-dimensional space. They explore...
American Statistical Association
EllipSeeIt: Visualizing Strength and Direction of Correlation
Seeing is believing. Given several bivariate data sets, learners make scatter plots using the online SeeIt program to visualize the correlation. To get a more complete picture of the topic, they research their own data set and perform an...
Council for Economic Education
GDP Data: Is the Economy Healthy?
Does the economy needs a check-up? Scholars analyze the gross domestic product (GDP) to determine the overall health of the current economy. They use a short video clip as well as economic data to determine the current growth of the...
BBC
The Role of a Monarch (key stage 2 and 3)
What makes a good monarch? Elementary and middle schoolers examine popular symbols of the British monarchy before designing a television advertisement about the qualities needed in a monarch. Next, they write poems using metaphors and...
Mascil Project
Circular Pave-Stones Backyard
Pack the lesson into your plans. Young mathematicians learn about packing and optimization with the context of circular paving stones. They use coins to model the paving stones, and then apply knowledge of circles and polygons to...
UAF Geophysical Institute
Observing the Weather
How can you predict the weather without any technology? Young scientists learn to forecast the weather using traditional Native American techniques. Based on their observations of the weather, as well as talking to their classmates, they...
Achieve
Corn and Oats
How much land does a parcel hold? How much fertilizer does it take for a field of corn? Pupils answer these questions and more as they apply ratio reasoning and unit analysis.
NEED Project
Calibrating Thermometers
Engage young scientists in the upper-elementary and middle school grades with this collection of simple experiments. Whether you're teaching about heat transfer, density, or potential energy this resource has a lab for you.
Jefferson Lab
Optics: Mirrors and Lenses
Did you see that or did I imagine it? Optical illusions are often created with mirrors and lenses, and here is a presentation that covers many different types of mirrors and lenses and how they work. Flat, concave, and convex mirrors, as...
American Statistical Association
How Random Is the iPod’s Shuffle?
Shuffle the resource into your instructional activity repertoire. Scholars use randomly-generated iPod Shuffle playlists to develop ideas about randomness. They use a new set of playlists to confirm their ideas, and then decide whether...