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The Cold War at Home
Eleventh graders discover the perspective of Cold War on the American homefront. In this Cold War instructional activity, 11th graders watch Duck and Cover video segments that instruct citizens what to do in case of nuclear attack....
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Analyzing a Science Fiction Movie
Fourth graders watch the movie "Contact" and write a review. They discuss in their review how scientists deal with technological problems, the movie's connections to the nature of science and how technology affects science. They share...
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Radical Raptors
Students study the lifestyles and habitats of raptors that live in Minnesota. They play games associated with their study.
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Stocking Up
Eighth graders are trained to be brokers and to buy and sell stocks. Each group is allotted $1000. Team members work together within their groups to build a stock market portfolio and track the stocks they own.
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Acid and Base Testing 2
Students design and conduct an experiment on unknown solutions after studying descriptions of indicators and the way in which they identify acids and bases. Students must gather, organize, and analyze data as well as make inferences...
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Ice Melting
Students design investigations to test various materials to prevent heat gain in frozen water. The task assess students' knowledge of scientific inquiry including the following skills: observation, data collection, measurement,...
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Insulators
Students design and carry out an investigation to test which materials is the best insulator: they predict which way heat energy flows in a system and analyze the flow of energy in a system from one point to another and from one form to...
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Sun and Temperatures
Students consider the relationship of temperature to environmental conditions and then apply their knowledge to a practical event. The task assesses students' knowledge and application of that knowledge to an additional situation.
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Survival
Middle schoolers determine the best material from which to make a jacket to keep the body warm in a cold, dry, windy climate. This task assesses the student's ability to perform an entire investigation. In this question the independent...
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Classifying Materials
Students collect data and make observations on how given element samples respond to the field of a magnet and they calculate the density of the samples by finding the mass and volume.
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Density of a Sinker
Eighth graders determine the density of a sinker by first finding the mass and then the volume using a graduated cylinder. Students must write the procedure they use to find the volume of the sinker then apply their data to follow-up...
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Density of Minerals
Students determine the mass, volume, and density of two different mineral samples. Students show data and calculations as well as answer questions about the mineral identities.
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Aluminum Foil Boats
Young scholars design a boat of aluminum foil and calculate the density of the boat. Washers are added to the boat until it sinks. Students then redesign boat to hold more washers and recalculate the new density.
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Swinging
Students examine and modify a swinging apparatus. They describe the motion of an object by its position, direction of motion, and speed. Students measure motion using a graph.
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Rolling Down Hill
Students perform an experiment, collect, and analyze data of a rolling marble down a ramp. They report results after they complete their experiment. Students are assessed in science and writing.
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Pendulum
Sixth graders are instructed on how to create a pendulum and measure the periodicity of the pendulum, using four different combinations of string. They are asked which influences the time more- the length of the string or the weight at...
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Hlf-Ball
Young scholars investigate Newton's Laws of Motion and the Law of Conservation of Energy. They examine how a ball and half-ball behave and relate these laws to what happens to the ball. Students produce a graph of the data collected...
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Threads
Learners group observed data, filtering from all their observations the similarities between burring threads. In the second part they make a comparison of a chosen attribute between the two threads.
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Starch and Sugar Testing 2
Students design and conduct an experiment to determine which of three solutions contain starch or sugar. This task assess students' ability to make simple observations, design simple experiments, utilize indicators, and make generalized...
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Starch and Sugar Testing 1
Eighth graders determine the presence of starch and sugar in unknown solutions. This task assesses students' abilities to observe, record and interpret data, classify, generalize/infer, construct data tables, and identify sugar and...
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Reaction Rates
Students work in groups of 4-6 for the experiment/activity part of this exercise. They base their explanation on what they observed. Students observe how substances react chemically in characteristic ways with other substances to form...
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Paper Chromatography
Pupils use this design the illustrate how ink can be separated into its component chemicals using paper chromatography. They use five unknown samples of ink on pre-labeled chromatography strips are provided to students. Pupils use...
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Chemical Changes
Eighth graders observe two types of interactions in a sealed plastic bag. One bag contains baking soda and water, and the other baking soda and vinegar. They determine what evidence indicates that a chemical change is occurring.
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Identifying Elements
Students use diffraction glasses to find similarities and differences between observed spectrum of fluorescent light and an incandescent light They work in groups of 4-6 for the experiment/activity part of this exercise.