Groups simulate an orbit using a piece of string and a water balloon. Individuals spin in a circular path and calculate the balloon's velocity when the clothes pin can no longer hold onto the balloon.

Can people really measure time just by using the sun? Scholars venture outside on a nice, sunny day to build sundials and learn how people measured time 600 years ago. The class builds two different sundials while gaining practice with...

Class members create their own social networks by collecting signatures before graphing the interactions with their fellow classmates. The degree distribution of the simulated social network is determined by calculating the degree of...

Having read and discussed Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle, third graders demonstrate their bullfrog expertise by writing informational paragraphs. Building on the note-taking and paragraph planning from the previous lesson plan,...

This worksheet leads the class through the calculations needed to construct circles to represent the planets of our Solar System. The actual values are provided, as are suggested calculations to create the scale diameters. The ten...

How much plastic do manufacturers use to create water bottles each year? The class explores the number of water bottles used throughout the years to determine how many consumers will use in the future. Class members compare different...

Students demonstrate direction of velocity of an object in circular motion. They discuss the mathematical formula, and demonstrate the formula using a string, rubber stopper and a target.

Who wants to go fast? The answer? Your sixth-grade science superstars! The complete resource offers the ultimate, all-inclusive playbook for mastering the important concepts of speed versus time; distance versus time; and how...

Young scientists play tag as they act out the food pyramid in the ocean ecosystem. Energy circles pass from the smaller prey to the predators and at the end of the activity, a data chart and analysis questions allow pupils to apply their...

Add a visual aid to your solar system lessons. Enthusiastic astronomers create a model depicting the nine planets and their distance from the sun. 

Your class will watch as one child orbits the sun as Earth, while another orbits as Mars. If the timing is right, they will see the repetitive dance between the two planets and discover how often they are opposite from each other. For...

Space explorers take a virtual trip around the sun right within your classroom! They stand in a circle facing away from the "sun" (a lamp) in the center of the room. As they move according to your instructions, they view different...

Clever! In order to compare indoor and outdoor dispersal rates for the movement of gases and particles through air, collaborators will participate in a classroom experiment. Set up a circular grid and set students on lines that are...

The sun sends the earth 35,000 times the amount of energy required by all of us on the entire planet, every day. The fourth instructional activity in the 10-part series looks at how light energy from the sun transfers into thermal...

A multi-part lesson opens with a review of p waves and s waves. Then scholars use a simple s wave simulator to view the way the wave travels. Next, pupils use cups and various fluids to simulate p waves moving through different...

How do you grow crops in a area with insufficient rainfall? Why you irrigate, of course. Class members investigate irrigation systems by designing a system of their own. After examining irrigation related concepts, vocabulary terms, and...

For this measuring speed in the universe worksheet, students use photographs of 3 astronomical phenomena including supernova explosions, coronal mass ejections and solar flare shock waves to find how fast they move. The photographs show...

Students describe habitats within ecosystems, describe how organisms modify environment to meet their needs, and identify characteristics for butterfly survival. In this butterfly lesson plan, students explore all aspects of the...

Students use streaming videos, web sites, and hands on activities students to explore matter. They focus on how temperature affects matter and what the particles look like in the states of matter.

What happens to light as it passes through a hole? This is the main question centered around the designing of a solar eclipse dynamic art piece that uses a solar eclipse and paper to create a pinhole projection of the art.

Don't just look at pictures of the Milky Way galaxy, build it with this hands-on activity in which scientists recreate the galaxy we live in.

NASA presents a mini-unit on distances in our solar system. It incorporates scientific concepts of gravity, mass, density, and payload while your aspiring astronauts also employ mathematics skills. They calculate speed, they determine...

Think you can solve the energy problem? You'll first need to know about current energy use. Analyzing a set of circle graphs lets scholars see where energy consumption is the greatest, both by sector and by household use. They develop a...

More than anything, this is great practice in scientific inquiry. After discovering that the color coating of an M&M® dissolves in water during a preceding activity, investigators now question whether or not the color makes a...