Consumers Energy
The Cost of Electricity
How much is your toaster costing you every day? Young environmentalists calculate the monetary costs of household appliances based on their average consumption of wattage.
Curated OER
Many Paths
Students explore the composition and practical application of parallel circuitry, compared to series circuitry. They design and build parallel circuits and investigate their characteristics, and apply Ohm's law. They recognize that...
Curated OER
Electricity: Will It Conduct?
Students build conductivity testers and investigate which solids and solutions conduct electricity. Working in groups, they predict which items will conduct electricity and record their answers on worksheets.
Curated OER
Waste Watchers
Students recognize the importance of saving energy to save natural resources. For this saving energy lesson, students complete a worksheet to find types of electricity meters in their homes. Students use meter readings to calculate...
Curated OER
Residential Power System
Perform data analysis on energy consumption to apply algebraic expressions to the real world. Learners will write and solve equations that answer various questions from residential power use. They will collect data at home and calculate...
Curated OER
Take Charge!
Students induce an electrical charge on various objects, and experiment with electrical repulsion and attraction. They define related vocabulary, play Bingo and complete a take-home quiz.
Curated OER
The Path of Electrons
Young scholars engage in an interactive "hot potato" demonstration to gain an appreciation for the flow of electrons through a circuit. They role play the different parts of a simple circuit and send small items representing electrons...
Curated OER
Young Engineers: Understanding Engineering Through Cooking
Second graders explore different engineering careers. In this math lesson, 2nd graders create a winning cooking recipe. They role play a mock cookie sale during the culminating event.
Curated OER
Two-Cell Battery
Students build their own two-cell battery and determine which electrolyte solution is best suited for making a battery. They discuss background information for their experiment, construct and test their battery, and using the chart on...
National Woman's History Museum
Getting with the Program
A seven-step lesson introduces the emergence of computer sciences and the contributions women made to the profession after World War II. Several science experiments offer pupils a hands-on learning experience that showcases parabolas,...
Curated OER
Resistance in a Wire
Students find the constant of proportionality and apply it to a situation. They use the electrical resistance in a wire as a context for finding the constant of proportionality. In addition, they write an explanation and justification of...
PBS
Adding Integers
Your sixth and seventh graders deepen their understanding of a number line and adding integers in this concrete, hands-on activity. Learners play "Warehouse Puzzle" and then discuss their game strategies and the characteristics...
Curated OER
Budget Mania
Students examine several examples of budgets to develop a facility with the components of its formation. Income, expenses, and expenditures are considered and itemized for this lesson.
Curated OER
Cutting Corners - Parts 1 and 2
Students use optimization concepts to design their own container. In this optimization lesson plan, students understand how the optimization concept is critical in calculus and why products are packaged the way they are.
Curated OER
The Appliance Explosion
Students explain why the number of appliances used today differs greatly from the number used previously. They construct a bar graph to show changes in appliance use over a period of time. They also list appliances that could be eliminated.
Curated OER
Boolean Algebra and its Application to Problem Solving and Logic Circuits
Introduce learners to the concept of Boolean Algebra. In groups, they are given real life situations in statements and make conclusions. They will use the statements to form compound statements. To end the lesson, they use the compound...
Teach Engineering
Maximum Power Point
Investigate the maximum power output of a photovoltaic panel with a lesson plan that introduces the class to the maximum power point. Individuals learn how to determine the maximum power point of a solar panel by using Ohm's law and the...
Cornell University
Hydrophobic Surfaces—Deposition and Analysis
Couches, carpets, and even computer keyboards now advertise they are spill-resistant, but what does that mean? Scholars use physical and chemical methods to coat surfaces with thin films to test their hydrophobic properties. Then they...
California Academy of Science
Optimal and Sustainable: Renewable Energy Revamp
More than 100 cities around the world have shifted from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. Scholars investigate a city wanting to make this switch, but needs help determining how to make the shift. Groups consider all options,...
Curated OER
Cleaning Air with Balloons
Students examine how a pollutant recovery method functions in cleaning industrial air pollution. They listen to a teacher-led discussion, conduct an experiment with balloons, static electricity, and pepper, and observe and record the...
Curated OER
Electrostatics
Students explore charges using balloons and soap bubbles. In this chemistry lesson, students analyze the Van de Graaf generator to see how charges flow using charged particles, static electricity and lighting. This assignment requires...
Curated OER
Creeping Sheets of Ice
Students conduct scientific investigation in which they observe glacial
effects on landscape, develop and explain their own theories of how glaciers change land, and demonstrate understanding and explain basic motion and force principles.
Curated OER
Fractions and Ribbons
Sixth graders explore using inverse operations to solve decimal and fraction problems. In this decimal and fraction instructional activity, 6th graders prepare ribbon for a part and need to cut it in equal lengths. Students analyze the...
Teach Engineering
Exploring Energy: What Is Energy?
...Then the water heater exploded like a bomb. Using a video of an exploding water heater, the resource presents the definitions of energy, potential energy, and kinetic energy to be used in later lessons of the unit.