Space Awareness
Transforming Water Into Acid ... And Back
Greenhouse gases affect marine wildlife in life-threatening ways. Through experimentation, your classes explore the acidification of water from the main greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. As they introduce carbon dioxide to water, a pH...
Penguin Books
Teacher's Guide: Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
A teacher's guide for Kindred provides instructors with a wealth of materials to enrich either a full-class reading or independent study of Octavia E. Butler's popular science fiction novel. The activities are designed to...
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
Coffee Break with Nanoscience: Film Formation and “Coffee Rings”
Prepare scholars for micro and nanoscale investigations. A lab activity allows individuals to practice their experimental techniques while becoming to accustomed to the smaller scale of the materials. They also make decisions about the...
Pingry School
Determination of Molar Mass by Boiling Point Elevation
Francis Raoult discovered the change in boiling points of solutions varies by the number of particles in the solution. Scholars apply the concept to determine the molality of a solution based on the change in boiling point. They use an...
Curated OER
Transport in Plants
Quite a detailed and advanced look at the transport mechanisms of a plant. The absorption and control of sugar and water concentration are explained and will help an understanding of homeostasis concepts and organ specialization.
Curated OER
Lab-Percent of Composition of KClO3
Students find the percent composition of oxygen in potassium chlorate. In this percent composition lesson plan, students heat a sample of potassium chlorate to decompose it into potassium chloride and oxygen. They weight their initial...
Curated OER
The Floating Egg Problem
This is the grown-up version of the classic "float an egg in salt water" experience, plus an experiment in soap making. High schoolers explore density, but more importantly, practice accuracy, precision, and the use of significant...
Curated OER
What Makes a Seed Breathe Faster?
Here's a five-star lesson plan in which inquisitors conduct sophisticated experimentation with cellular respiration in plant seeds. Placing seeds in a closed system they measure the amount carbon dioxide produced and relate it to...
Curated OER
Circle of Pong
Students, in groups, use given materials to devise a way to deposit a ping-pong ball into a paper cup that is located in the middle of a 6-foot diameter circle, while standing outside the circle.
NASA
The X-1 Paper Glider Kit
After reading an interesting account of how the X-1 aircraft was designed, built, and utilized, young engineers try their hand at constructing a paper glider version of the airplane. They cut out the plane out of a nicely designed...
Exploratorium
Balancing Ball
Demonstrate lift to the class that is studying aerodynamics. In the stream of air produced by a blow dryer, little physicists place a wad of tissue paper and a spherical figure to compare. Or, if you have a vacuum cleaner and beach ball,...
Curated OER
Fossil Fuels (Part I), The Geology of Oil
Junior geologists work through three mini-lessons that familiarize them with the formation and location of fossil fuels. Part one involves reading about petroleum and where it comes from via a thorough set of handouts. A lab activity...
Curated OER
Solar Kit Lesson #9 - Properties of Solar Radiation: Reflection, Transmission, and Absorption
Middle school science stars observe and record data on the solar radiation reflected off or transmitted through various materials. They predict properties for various materials, and test their predictions by touch. This lesson becomes...
Curated OER
The Legendary Raptors
How are raptors and airplanes alike? Combine science and language arts in this fun and interactive project. Young scientists research the animal in order to design their own aircraft, and compete in a contest for farthest, fastest, and...
PHET
Planetary Magnetism
What do magnetic fields look like? The best way to learn about magnetic fields is to try identifying them for yourself. Scholars will understand the importance of magnetic fields after completing this experiment. The extension activities...
Curated OER
A House is a House for Me
Students evaluate the impact climates have on the building of structures. They research the different types of materials used to build houses in various climates and build small models of houses which are tested against different climates.
Curated OER
The Importance of Making Labs a Priority
The benefits of inquiry-based exploration can be attained in any classroom.
Serendip
Is Yeast Alive?
Through two investigations, life science learners determine whether or not yeast is alive. They perform tests for metabolism by providing sugar and observing if gas is produced as a byproduct. They incubate some of the sample for at...
Columbus City Schools
Changes All Around Us
Whoa! What just happened? That's right, change is everywhere. But what exactly is changing? Middle school science sleuths get to the bottom of the changes matter can experience. Through simple demonstrations, engaging videos, and an...
Kenan Fellows
Sustainability: Learning for a Lifetime – Soil
Do great gardeners really have green thumbs—or just really great soil? Environmental scholars discover what makes Earth's soil and soil quality so important through research and experimentation. Learners also develop an understanding of...
Curated OER
Diffusion and Osmosis Challenge
Challenge your biology class to analyze an experimental setup, in which a selectively permeable membrane separates two distinct solutions. They consider the concentration of the contents and answer ten questions pertaining to the...
Curated OER
Safety Comes First
Here is a thorough lesson on safety in the chemistry lab. Chemists review a detailed list of safety rules, draw the layout of the laboratory area to include emergency equipment, identify hazard warnings, and consult the MSDS in order to...
Curated OER
Pharmaceuticals and Treatments
Students perform an experiment involving reverse transcriptase-polymerized chain reaction HIV replication to better examine the biotechnology used by scientists in pharmaceutical research of infections diseases like HIV. Students examine...
Curated OER
Cell respiration
Three lab guides are given here that detail experiments to illustrate the oxidation of glucose for the production of ATP. The first will compare photosynthesis and respiratio and show theimporatnce of both to plants. The next will show...