Science 4 Inquiry
Musical Vibes with Palm Pipes
Ancient people used musical pipes as early as the third millennium BCE. Young scientists explore the workings of musical pipes to better understand the relationship with frequency, length of pipe, and sound waves. They determine the...
Curated OER
Understanding Proportions and Scale Drawings
Proportions are ratios found using multiplication or division. Middle schoolers solve measurement problems, find a figure's missing dimension, and find the distance between two points. Resource features four lesson plans with detailed...
Curated OER
Scaling it Down: Caves Have Maps, Too
Measurement and map skills are the focus of this lesson, where students crawl through a "cave" made out of boxes, desks and chairs, observing the dimensions. Your young geographers measure various aspects of the cave and practice math...
Curated OER
A Rectangle in the Coordinate Plane
A quadrilateral is drawn on the coordinate plane, and eighth grade geometers find the length of each side and the diagonals by applying the Pythagorean theorem.
Curated OER
Riding on a Pendulum
A comprehensive resource gets fourth grade physical scientists making observations about the period of a pendulum and then applying knowledge to a playground swing. Through seven different stations, they will record observations and...
Curated OER
Solar Electricity ~ The Colour Sensitivity of a Photovoltaic Cell
Teacher's notes, a materials list, detailed procedure, tips, and extension ideas are all included to make teaching this lesson on photovoltaic cells a sunny spot in your day! After some brief background reading, physical science...
Curated OER
What a Square
Students examine the painting "Old Man With A Gold Chain" by Rembrandt. They identify geometric shapes in the painting, measure these shapes and compare the relationships of these measurements.
Curated OER
The Color Spectrum: How Does it Work?
Create models of the infrared, visible, and ultraviolet portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Working in small groups, your class can investigate metric conversions calculations. They will find the length of the waves in nanometers,...
Mt. San Antonio Collage
The Trapezoid
Enjoy this nicely organized worksheet that puts together multiple problems regarding trapezoid proofs. The resource can be used as a guide that begins with proving properties and ends with solving for measures of line segments.
Curated OER
Why Standard Units?
A variety of units of measurement are taught in this math instructional activity. First, students measure objects using their hands. Then, they use a ruler to gain more precise measurements in meters and centimeters. Nice instructional...
Curated OER
Just a Minute!
Students put the standard measure of clock time -- the minute -- in perspective. This lesson can be modified for virtually any grade level. They write about what they learned about a minute as a result of the activities.
Scientific American
Life-Sized Drawing
Ocean explorers or mathematicians research the wreck of the CSS H.L. Hunley. They investigate the actual dimensions of the Hunley using math and measuring skills. Afterward, they sketch a large scale drawing of the submarine outdoors on...
Texas State Energy Conservation Office
Investigation: Conservation of Energy
By rolling marbles down a six-foot length of track, physical scientists determine how much energy is lost to heat. It is recommended that you opt for the foam pipe insulation track because more friction slows the marble, allowing...
Mt. San Antonio Collage
Quadratic Equations and Their Applications
Show high schoolers there is more to quadratic functions than just formulas and parabolas. Connect the math to realistic application problems with a resource that has learners consider such situations as a ball hit in the air, the...
Curated OER
When a Ruler is Too Short
Students measure distances using parallax. In this math lesson, students explain how this method helped astronomers with their studies of the solar system. They determine the length of their arm using parallax and compare it with other...
Curated OER
My Tree Observations
In this tree observation worksheet, students pick a tree that they observe over the course of a school year. They make observations, they sketch the tree, they take photographs of the tree, they get a leaf sample. They estimate the tree...
Curated OER
MASS
Students distinguish between weight and mass. They examine how in oscillations of a mass against an elastic spring--in the absence of gravity, or in horizontal motion--the length of the oscillation period is proportional to the square...
Curated OER
House of Math
In this estimation worksheet, 3rd graders study the 6 dimensions of a sketch of a house. Students estimate and measure 6 different sides of the house. Students check off each of 6 items that are longer than 1 decimeter.
Curated OER
Pythagorean Theorem
In this measurement worksheet, 6th graders utilize the Pythagorean Theorem strategy to find the missing length on 8 triangles. Students put the answers on the lines provided underneath each triangle.
Curated OER
Are You Full of Hot Air?
Explore the concept of measuring and recording circumference. In this physical science and measurement lesson plan, young learners blow up balloons, measure the circumference, and record the data on an interactive graphing website.
EngageNY
Incredibly Useful Ratios
Start the exploration of trigonometry off right! Pupils build on their understanding of similarity in this lesson plan that introduces the three trigonometric ratios. They first learn to identify opposite and adjacent...
Curated OER
Oranges and Stopwatches
Students measure various attributes of an orange. They discuss the attributes of an orange that can be measured, develop a list of attributes and describe how they can measure it, and rotate through four stations measuring the volume,...
Teach Engineering
Machines and Tools (Part 2)
Which pulley system will give us a whale of a good time? Teams compare the theoretical and actual mechanical advantages of different pulley systems. They then form a recommendation for how to move a whale from an aquarium back to the ocean.
Curated OER
Converting Inches to Centimeters (A)
In this converting inches to centimeters review activity, students practice their math skills as they convert the 22 measurements in inches to measurements in centimeters.