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.
Curated OER
Design a Bobsled
Students apply their knowledge of friction, drag, mass and gravity as they design, build, and test mini-bobsleds.
Curated OER
Smart Design
Share pupil responses to an interactive slide show about a design initiative intended to help the world's poor. The class works in groups to brainstorm ideas, and then prepares sketches of their own design solutions. Each rendering...
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Sensing the Invisible: The Herschel Experiment
Learners of light will construct a contraption in which light is passed through a prism and shone into a box. The temperatures at different points along the path and outside of the path of light. The intent is to imitate William...
Teach Engineering
Energy Efficiency
Using the resource is probably the most efficient way to learn about efficiency. The 18th installment of a 25-part Energy Systems and Solutions unit has pupils investigate energy efficiency through discussions and associated activities....
University of Notre Dame
Safe Science Lab Safety Awareness
Prepare young scientists for the ins and outs of lab safety with a thorough list of symbols, icons, and rules about staying safe during experiments. Additionally, the resource provides several assessment pages for kids to reflect on what...
Virginia Department of Education
Greenhouse Gas Modeling Activity
Why are greenhouse gases called greenhouse gases? Young Earth scientists learn about greenhouse gases though experimentation in the second installment of a 3-part series. They use lamps to model radiant energy as well...
Curated OER
"I'm Melting!"
Third and fourth graders engage with a worksheet designed to help them differentiate between melting and dissolving. After reading an informative paragraph about the two actions, they consider four scenarios, and choose whether they...
Curated OER
Household Conservation/Efficiency
Hook your class up to an online home energy usage calculator so that they can estimate the amount used per month by their families. Then give them Watt meters with which they will measure the power consumption of several small...
Curated OER
Matter
In a neat and straightforward manner, this PowerPoint delivers basic introductory information on the properties of matter, physical and chemical changes, and pure substances vs. mixtures. It also defines the states of matter. For some...
Center for Learning in Action
Water—Changing States (Part 1)
Here is part one of a two-part lesson in which scholars investigate the changing states of water—liquid, solid, and gas. With grand conversation and up to three demonstrations, learners make predictions about what they think will happen...
Science Matters
Energy and Winds
In the study of wind energy, scholars build a small windmill and observe how it transfers wind into mechanical energy. Learners will make connections to the previous lesson with concepts such as the creation of wind...
Curated OER
Differences Between Ground and Air Temperatures
Students examine the differences between air temperature and ground temperature. In this investigative lesson students find NASA data on the Internet and use it to create a graph.
Foundation for Water & Energy Education
What is the Water Cycle? Activity B
Curious physical scientists follow a instructional activity on the properties of water with this instructional activity on distillation. They observe a miniature water cycle model that filters dirty water into clean water. These two...
Discovery Education
Cushion It!
Sugar cubes, collide! Groups design protection systems using bubble wrap to protect sugar cubes from being destroyed by falling batteries in the STEM lesson. They consider how the experiment relates to collisions in real-world...
NOAA
The Oceanographic Yo-yo
How does chemistry help deep-sea explorers? Part four of a five-part series of lessons from aboard the Okeanos Explorer introduces middle school scientists to technologies used in ocean exploration. Groups work together to analyze data...
Curated OER
Coal Formation
Learners perform an in-depth study of coal - one of most important fossil fuels. Over a three-week period of time, they become familiar with how coal is formed underground, and will create a "fossil" right there in the classroom in order...
Curated OER
Liquid Rainbow
Students develop their own techniques for drawing a small sample of solutions into a straw. They hypothesize ways to increase the density of water, and discuss how salt-free rainwater tends to float on top of salty seawater.
Curated OER
Free Up the Ketchup!
Students, in teams, use given materials and their knowledge of Newton's First Law to create a device that will remove a sticky ping pong ball from a 16-oz. cup (which represents ketchup stuck in a bottle.)
Curated OER
Energy At Play
If you can find Tinker Toys™, then this may be a fun assignment for your physical science class. Using the construction set and a few other toys, they examine the forces involved when it they are being played with. For each, they...
Curated OER
Melting the Ice: Energy Transfer
Students study thermal energy and energy transfer to sea ice processes. In this energy transfer lesson, students make their own ice cream and discuss energy transfer and thermal energy. Students view a radiation overhead and its role in...
Curated OER
Gelatin Volcanoes
Students investigate magma flow using gelatin volcano models. For this earth science lesson, students sketch the magma bodies as observed from the top of their model. They explain why magma moves that way.
Curated OER
Force and Motion
Each of the slides here gives a definition, equation, or calculation example for a component of force and motion. This large collection covers topics from momentum and Newton's laws to centripetal forces and simple machines. Animations...
Curated OER
A Device That Condenses Water
Fifth graders who are studying water vapor and the condensation process use this learning exercise to help them understand the process of condensation. Most of the learning exercise is simply a source of information, with a good...