Curated OER
Chemistry & The Community
Students complete a Webquest which investigates the chemistry in items such as shampoo. They research the Internet, perform a lab experiment, and write a scientific lab report with their findings. Upon completion of the activities, the...
Virginia Department of Education
DNA Extraction from Strawberries
Has your class ever been astounded by the complexity of DNA analysis? Have they ever asked why genetic engineering has become so important to our daily lives? Young scientists perform DNA extraction on strawberries and explore how the...
University of Georgia
Would Your Cat Eat This Stuff?
Processed foods use inorganic compounds for flavoring and preservation. This take-home laboratory challenges scholars to find 20 different compounds identified on the labels of foods to list on their data collection sheet. The activity...
Curated OER
Magma Flow
Students explore the flow of magma. They observe the effect of silica and heat on lava flow through a model using everyday items. in addition, they complete analysis questions.
Curated OER
An Introduction to Acids and Bases
Students explore acids and bases. In this lesson about acids and bases, students do an experiment to test certain items to determine what they are. Students use cabbage and litmus paper as indicators. Students understand how to sort the...
Curated OER
What Contains Carbon?
Students explore elements by analyzing everyday objects and materials in class. In this carbon lesson plan, students define several vocabulary terms such as carbon dioxide, hydrocarbon, and carbonate. Students view a group of items,...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Can You Copperplate?
Introduce emerging engineers to the process of metal plating. This resource provides background reading on chemical engineering, plating, and corrosion. It concludes with a copper plating activity. The standards alignment list includes...
Curated OER
Operating the spectrophotometer
Working in small groups, students explore the operation of spectrophotometer. Using the spectrophotometer, they investigate Beer's Law with everyday items.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: The Mole in Chemistry: Determining the Number of Atoms in Everyday Items
Students explore the concept of the mole as a measure of quantity. They build spreadsheets that allow them to convert between moles, grams, and atomic mass units for given quantities of everyday items, elements, and simple chemical...