Colorado State University
Can You Drink Through a 30 Foot Straw?
Drinking straws are a pretty simple device ... or, are they? Explore the possibility of sipping a beverage 30 feet away with an engaging activity that's sure to keep pupils guessing. Just place a long piece of plastic tubing in a glass,...
Henry Ford Museum
Physics, Technology and Engineering in Automobile Racing
Start your engines! This five-lesson unit introduces physics and Newton's laws through automobile racing. Each lesson includes background information, a student worksheet, and an answer key. There are also culminating...
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Matter
First graders are read a story about the various stages of matter with a focus on gases. Using a ziploc bag, they capture as much air as possible and discuss how it takes up space even though it is invisible. To end the lesson, they blow...
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Temperature Changes Everything
Middle school chemists visit interactive websites in order to discover what happens to molecular motion when heat is added to matter. They conduct an experiment that demonstrates the expansion of matter with the addition of heat. A lab...
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Bernoulli Principle
The class conducts a simple experiment to demonstrate the Bernoulli Principle. After completing the experiment, they will discuss their findings. To prep for this activity, appropriate resource material on the Bernoulli Principle will be...
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Moldy Jell-O
Mini mycologists plan an experiment to determine what affects the growth of mold on gelatin. A list of available materials is provided, but the procedure needs to be designed by the lab group. A data table is also provided in...
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How Can You Tell One Clear Gas From Another?
Fifth graders perform experiments to determine the identity of an unknown gas sample. In this chemistry lesson, 5th graders fill balloons with air, oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide. They use mass and reactivity to identify the gases.
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Bounce Back - The Long and Short of It
Upper elementary scientists test basketballs with differing amounts of air to find if inflation affects bounce height. The lesson introduction poses the question of whether or not the composition of a ball determines bounce height, but...
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What If There's No Light?
students discuss the importance of light and the consequences of living without it. Using a plant as a demonstration, students predict and observe what happens to a plant when it does not receive enough light. In groups, they experiment...
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How Do Bats Navigate At Night?
Through an experiment, learners explore how bats use echolocation. First, they discuss how sound travels through air waves. Then, they talk about the ways bats navigate in the dark. As an extension, they can write about what they have...
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Observing the Growth of a Maize Root
Students conduct an experiment in order to observe the typical downward growth of a maize root. They become familiar with the root's growth patterns to use as a control for comparison in other experiments.
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Root Caps and the Effect on Gravity Sensing
Students conduct an experiment to determine how the absence of a root cap affects a plant's ability to sense gravity. They make comparisons between capped and decapped roots.
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Understanding Waves
Students examine the physical properties of waves to explore the word crest and trough. They use toys to study waves in air, water and light.
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Where's My Mummy: Preservation Techniques
To observe preservation techniques firsthand, learners dry a flower in sand and compare cucumber slices soaked in salt water for a week with slices left out to dry in the open air. Video resources (not attached) include one about mummies...
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Comparing Roots After Rotation of Ninety Degrees
Students conduct an experiment and use different measurements of a single root to illustrate the mechanism of plant movement.
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Measuring the Effects of Gravistimulation on Plants
Learners conduct an experiment to determine if a plant's response to gravity is affected by different angles of plant orientation.
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Water Pressure in the Ocean
Students compare the pressure of water at different depths and gain an understanding of how increased water might affect animals living in deeper waters. They participate in an experiment to show that depth, not volume, affects water...
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How to Grow a Sunflower Plant
Pupils explore botany by conducting a sunflower growth experiment. In this plant life lesson plan, students identify the anatomy of a sunflower plant and the essential nutrients it requires to grow. Pupils utilize compost, soil, garden...
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Bernoulli's Principle Lab
Students are introduced Bernoulli's Principle and how it shows the relationship between fluid speed and pressure change. In groups, they participate in experiments in different processes in the industrial world. They share their...
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In the Rain Shadow
Learners, while utilizing a large wall map, experiment recording the annual precipitation for cities on the east and west sides of the Cascade Mountains. They discover that volcanic mountains do not have to erupt to affect the atmosphere.
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Gravity: What is it?
What is gravity and how do you explain it? Use this presentation to guide an inquiry-based lesson centered on understanding gravity through hands-on experience. Each slide provides a definition, example, or activity for students to...
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Fossil Fuels: Facing the Issues
Students explore energy by researching fuel usage on Earth. In this fossil fuel lesson, students define fossil fuels, the energy created by burning them, and the impact on the environment when using them. Students conduct pollution...
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Polishing Pennies
Students polish pennies. In this Science lesson, students experiment with cleaning the oxidation off of pennies with a variety of liquids. Students record their observations.
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Highs And Lows
Students experiment to examine high and low pressure areas. They investigate why a high pressure area seeks a low pressure area.