Center for Learning in Action
Investigating Physical and Chemical Changes
Super scientists visit ten stations to predict, observe, and draw conclusions about the physical and chemical changes that occur when different states of matter—liquid, solid, and gas—are placed under a variety of conditions. To...
IOP Institute of Physics
Physics in Concert
What do physicists and musicians have in common? A lot more than you might think. After first viewing a slide show presentation and completing a series of skills practice worksheets on the physics of light, sound, and electricity, young...
Curated OER
More on Conduction and Convection
Why do some items feel colder when they are the same temperature? How should you keep your soda cold? What makes the wind blow? These are just some of the things middle schoolers discover when completing a instructional activity on...
Curated OER
Physical Science Activities: Letters in a Mirror
Investigate mirror images with alphabet letters! In order to experiment with mirror images, distortion, and reflection, class members use small mirrors and place them over and near the alphabet letters on the learning exercise....
Project Maths
Introduction to Trigonometry
The topic of trigonometric ratios is often covered with loads of rote memorization baked into the activity. This activity set, however, leans more on using similar triangles and discovery learning to help young geometers develop a deeper...
Curated OER
Regents High School Examination PHYSICAL SETTING CHEMISTRY 2007
The University of the State of New York has designed a series of exams to be given to high schoolers. This chemistry exam is one of the most comprehensive and well-written that you will ever find. It consists of 84 questions in a variety...
Ohio State University
Ohm's Law
Have you ever wanted to build a conductor? Here is a lesson that takes pupils through building a conductor based on Drude's model in order to better understand electricity.
It's About Time
Elements and Their Properties
How did ancient scientists classify elements? Answer this question and others as young chemists create a device to test the properties of various elements. They classify elements as metals or nonmetals, learn to differentiate between...
University of California
Hot! Hot! Hot!
Calories are not tiny creatures that sew your clothes tighter every night, but what are they? A science activity, presented at multiple levels, has learners experiment with heat, heat transfer, and graph the function over time. It also...
It's About Time
Special Relativity
According to Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity, time moves slower when you're working. That's not quite what it says, and in a hands-on lesson, pupils learn the actual theory. Scholars plot the half life of muons, then compare it...
American Physiological Society
Feeling the Heat
How do the changing seasons affect the homes where we live? This question is at the forefront of engineering and design projects. Challenge your physical science class to step into the role of an architect to build a model home capable...
K12 Reader
What Causes Reflections?
Your kids probably use mirrors every day, but do they know how they work? A reading passage about reflection and reflective objects can address both physical science and reading comprehension. Kids read the paragraphs and use context...
National Museum of Nuclear Science & History
Nuclear Popcorn
Make your lesson on radioactive decay pop with this lab exercise. Using popcorn kernels spread over a tabletop, participants pick up all of those that point toward the back of the room, that is, those that represent decayed atoms. As the...
Curated OER
Fast and Slow Motion
Explore the world of motion and force with an activity for kindergarten and first grade. After determining how people can make balls or bikes move slower, kids use a cardboard tube and a marble to experiment with motion and speed. A...
Curated OER
Circuit Diagrams: Switching Circuits
Use a lab sheet on circuit diagrams in your electricity unit. Fifth graders draw two series circuits with diagrams, based on two examples. A science experiment prompts learners to use 3x5 cards to illustrate the way a series circuit works.
Curated OER
Three Level Questions: Parrot in the Oven
Helpful for any reading comprehension lesson, this worksheet focuses on Victor Martinez's Parrot in the Oven. It contains three levels of questions: Right There (comprehension-level questions), Think and Search (questions you need to...
Texas State Energy Conservation Office
Nuts! Calculating Thermal Efficiency
Oh nuts! Do macadamias or almonds produce more thermal energy? Energy enthusiasts find out with this experiment. The objective is to demonstrate to your class how the chemical energy contained in foods can be converted into useable...
Curated OER
IPC Physics Vocabulary Review
In this physics review instructional activity, students review vocabulary words associated with speed, acceleration, Newton's Laws and simple machines, work and energy, magnetism, electricity, and harmonic motion and light. This...
Curated OER
Bubble Gum Physics
In this scientific method worksheet, students perform an experiment to determine the speed at which they can chew a piece of gum. They record data, calculate speed and answer reflection questions.
Curated OER
Sunken Treasure
You've located buried treasure, now what? Explore how to use algebraic and geometric methods to determine where to place a recovery ship based on the location of the treasure.
Earth Day Network
Filtering Water
See the water filtration system up close with a fun science experiment. Young scientists work for several class periods to design a water filter using household objects, and then decide which filter material would be most effective in...
Bully Free Systems
Bully Free Lesson Plans—10th Grade
Two lessons, "What Does Cyber Bullying Look Like?" and "Factors Influencing My Reporting the Bullying of Others," serve as examples of the 12 included in a Bully Free curriculum. Each plan includes discussion questions, an activity, and...
Curated OER
Words Can Hurt; Words Can Help
Help learners on the autism spectrum comprehend the social consequences of their actions by connecting kind and hurtful words to physical, tangible experiences. The worksheets in this resource prompt students to consider things they say...
It's About Time
Speedy Light
We know the speed of light, but can we measure the speed of dark? During the lesson, scholars perform gedanken, or thought experiments related to the speed of sound and the speed of light.