Pupils study the sun and how solar energy works. To learn about renewable energy, they complete a lab activity using a pizza box as a solar heater. Quite clever!

Learners explore fruits and vegetables. In this fruits and vegetables lesson, students study traits of various fruits, vegetables and seeds. Learners rename fruits, vegetables and seeds.

Students are taught that plants produce oxygen underwater, and they design an experiment that test this question. They discuss whether plants give off oxygen, and how to measure this. Students measure the increase in dissolved oxygen...

Always check your assumptions when interpreting data and data visualizations. That's the take away from this exercise. Class members examine a failed project that looks at search trends to predict flu outbreaks and consider the...

Students explore and experiment with the concept do new kinds of insects appear after soil modification. They assess and review scientific methods of observation, predicting, variables, math skills, ratio, proportions, graphs and the art...

Let the computer summarize all that data. Pairs work together to learn how to create pivot tables by following directions in the online module. They then utilize the data collected from the beginning of the unit to create their own...

How random is random? Demonstrate the different random sampling methods using a hands-on activity. Pupils use various sampling techniques to choose a random sample of elements from the periodic table. They use the different samples to...

Explore the trade-offs of using a free app. The fourth installment of a 12-part unit helps young consumers discover the cost of receiving a free service. They learn how these apps make use of their access to data.

The 13th lesson plan in a unit of 22 introduces the concept of the interquartile range (IQR). Class members learn to determine the interquartile range, interpret within the context of the data, and finish by finding the IQR using an...

Scholars apply prior knowledge of statistics to write a conclusion. They summarize using correct academic language and tell the story of the data.

Double the fun — calculate two measures of deviation. The lesson plan provides information to lead the class through the process of calculating the mean absolute deviation and the standard deviation of a data set. After learning how to...

A research position becomes a modeling job. The introductory lesson plan in a series of nine presents the challenge of analyzing a set of bivariate data. The class brainstorms what the data may represent. Pupils must decide what is...

The task? Determine the how effective hospitals are at reducing the rate of hospital-acquired infections. The method? Data analysis! Using an open source software program, individuals use provided data and create scatterplots to look for...

Ice core samples give scientists access to climates of old—those from more than 800,000 years ago. Through an analysis of various temperature graphs from ice cores, tree rings, and weather stations, scholars compare historical climates...

"If global warming is real, why is it so cold?" Distinguishing the difference between weather and climate is important when it comes to understanding our planet. In these activities, young scientists look at the climate patterns in a...

The more you text, the less you study. Have classes test this hypothesis or another question related to text messages. Using real data, learners use technology to create a scatter plot and calculate a regression line. They create a dot...

It's alive! Young mad scientists create monsters as they explore the probabilities of genetic traits during a well-structured inquiry instructional activity. Pairs travel from station to station, rolling the dice and adding traits to...

The shape of the histogram is also relative. Learners calculate relative frequencies from frequency tables and create relative frequency histograms. The scholars compare the histograms made from frequencies to those made from relative...

In previous lessons, young journalists learned about how to trace the original source of scrapes and memes. This interactive lesson plan teaches them another important step in the verification process. Participants learn how to analyze...

Scholars create and perform experiments attempting to answer Buffon's Coin problem. They discover the relationships between geometry and probability, empirical and theoretical probabilities, and area of a circle and square.

How much does your class know about the relationship between climate change and carbon dioxide? Science scholars explore the nature of greenhouse gases and rising ocean temperature through demonstrations, research, and experiments. The...

A greenhouse provides additional warmth and protection to the plants inside, but what if the greenhouse gets too hot? Pupils discuss and experiment with the difference between natural and anthropogenic greenhouse effect. They measure the...

One acre of land can contain more than a million earthworms. Scholars collect earthworms to observe their movements. Once placed on paper, the sound of movement often fascinates pupils. When placed on glass, the earthworm is unable to...

Scientists have been studying exothermic reactions before they were cool. The lesson begins with a discussion and a demonstration of heat curves. Scholars then determine the heat of fusion of ice and the heat needed to...