US Environmental Protection Agency
Aquifer in a Cup
Young scientists create their very own aquifers in this science lesson on ground water. After learning about how some people get their drinking water from underground wells, young learners use sand, modeling clay, and aquarium rocks to...
US Environmental Protection Agency
A Mock Town Meeting on a Proposed Tank Farm
Intended as a follow up to the Protecting Your Drinking Water activity, young environmentalists use their assessment of the a hypothetical town's water supply to debate the installation of underground chemical storage tanks. With...
Teach Engineering
Investigating Contact Angle
Discover the properties of water-loving and water-hating surfaces. In the seventh installment of a nine-part series, scholars explore hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces by conducting an experiment. They observe surface coatings,...
NOAA
Please Pass the Salt
Salinity is the focus of two experimenters that work to answer the question, How does salt change the physical properties of water? Super scientists compare the freezing rate of salt and fresh water, combine the two waters to...
Teach Engineering
Red Cabbage Chemistry
Using the natural pH indicator of red cabbage juice, groups determine the pH of different everyday liquids. As they work, pupils gain an understanding of pH that may help deal with contaminants in the water supply.
Exploratorium
Indicating Electrolysis
Sure, your learners know water is made up of two molecules, but watching them separate helps the class see the construction like never before. This resource provides directions on how to build a simple electrolysis device using a...
Teach Engineering
Density Column Lab - Part 1
Mass and density — aren't they the same thing? This activity has groups use balance beams and water displacement to measure several objects. The pupils use the measurements to calculate the density of the objects.
It's About Time
Elements and Compounds
Young scientists use electrolysis to separate water into its elements before experimenting with fire to learn about their properties. A helpful resource provides a reading passage and analysis questions.
Discovery Education
School of Rock
Why do rocks break down over time? Learners explore this concept by simulating physical and chemical weathering of different types of rocks. They use an abrasive to demonstrate physical weathering and acid to demonstrate chemical...
Teach Engineering
Engineering and the Periodic Table
Elements, to the rescue! Scholars first review the periodic table, and then learn about the first 20 elements and their properties and uses in the fourth of six lessons in the Mixtures and Solutions unit. Applying their newfound...
Teach Engineering
Density Column Lab - Part 2
Groups suspend objects within layers of liquids to determine the densities of different liquids and compare them to the densities of objects calculated in Part 1. The groups then carefully test their calculations by layering the...
Teach Engineering
Surface Tension Lab
What constitutes a good soap bubble? In the second installment of a nine-part series, scholars apply their understanding of surface tension to soap bubbles. They experiment to determine the best solutions to use for the...
Texas State Energy Conservation Office
Investigation: Oil Recovery
Energy conservers investigate gravel size to discover if it impacts the amount of oil recovered in the extraction process.
Teach Engineering
Messin' with Mixtures
Do you separate your trail mix before eating it? Then you've been separating mixtures your whole life! Scholars model a contaminated soil sample using trail mix and estimate the percentage of each component. They consider how to clean up...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Physical and Chemical Properties of Water
In this lesson students will understand the difference between chemical and physical properties by studying the properties of water. Students will also understand how to perform the different laboratory techniques that go along with the...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Red Cabbage Chemistry
Students take advantage of the natural ability of red cabbage juice to perform as a pH indicator to test the pH of seven common household liquids. Then they evaluate the accuracy of the red cabbage indicator, by testing the pH of the...
![American Chemical Society: Best of Wonder Science: Air: It's Really There [Pdf] Activity](https://d15y2dacu3jp90.cloudfront.net/images/attachment_defaults/resource/large/FPO-knovation.png "American Chemical Society: Best of Wonder Science: Air: It's Really There [Pdf] Activity")
American Chemical Society
American Chemical Society: Best of Wonder Science: Air: It's Really There [Pdf]
An experiment to explore the properties of air, using a cup placed upsidedown in water.
American Chemical Society
American Chemical Society: Best of Wonder Science: Ice of a Different Color [Pdf]
An experiment to test what happens to water when salt or sugar is added and it is then frozen into ice cubes. Students also explore the ice's physical properties by rubbing cubes on sandpaper and dropping a heavy object on each type.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Surface Tension Lab
Students extend their understanding of surface tension by exploring the real-world engineering problem of deciding what makes a "good" soap bubble. Student teams first measure this property, and then use this measurement to determine the...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Tension Racers!
Students see how different levels of surface tension affect water's ability to move. Teams "race" water droplets down tracks made of different materials, making measurements, collecting data, making calculations, graphing results and...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Let's Get Dirty
In a very hands-on activity, students observe and feel the differences between two cleaning methods, with and without hand soap, using coffee grounds to represent "dirt."Most of the dirt and bacteria on our hands is encased in a thin...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Hot Potato, Cool Foil
Students explore material properties by applying some basic principles of heat transfer. They use calorimeters to determine the specific heat of three substances: aluminum, copper and another of their choice. Each substance is cooled in...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Saturated Solutions: Measuring Solubility
Many essential chemical reactions and natural biochemical processes occur in liquid solutions, so understanding the chemical properties of liquid solutions is fundamentally important. This project will challenge you to discover how much...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Get Your Charge Away From Me!
This activity is an easy way to demonstrate the fundamental properties of polar and non-polar molecules (such as water and oil), how they interact, and the affect surfactants (such as soap) have on their interactions. Students see the...