Columbus City Schools
Thinking Like A Soil Scientist
Ready to roll up those sleeves and get your hands dirty? Dirty with soil science content, that is! Overcome those "But it's just dirt" objections with a trip outside to collect soil samples for some in-class analysis. Use the...
Cornell University
Catapult
Studying levers couldn't be more exciting! Learners build their own catapults and test the results as they make adjustments to the fulcrum. They compete against other groups to create the most accurate apparatus.
Curated OER
Scientific Method Experiment: Factors Affecting How Ice Melts
Young scholars demonstrate the scientific method by conducting an ice cube melting experiment. They make predictions and observations, and conclude what factors make ice melt more slowly or quickly than normal.
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
Weather Watch Activity Guide: Groundhog Day
Exactly what do groundhogs know about weather? Not as much as your science students will after completing these lessons and activities that cover everything from the earth's rotation and the creation of shadows, to cloud...
PHET
Features of the Sun
There are so many things to discover about the sun! Pupils discuss their knowledge of the sun, explore its features, apply their knowledge by labeling photographs, and then reflect on their learning by working in groups to draw and label...
New South Wales Department of Education
History of Plant Classification
Bamboo, the fastest growing plant in the world, can grow up to 35 inches in one day! Pupils learn how plants historically have been classified and determine if these traits are appropriate to use in this 17th lesson of 20. They will also...
Science Matters
Slip Sliding Along
The San Andreas Fault is the largest earthquake-producing fault in California. In the seventh lesson plan in the 20 part series, pupils create maps of California, focusing on the San Andreas Fault system. The comparison of where...
LABScI
Photosynthesis: How Do Plants Get Energy?
Examine the mechanism of photosynthesis through different light scenarios. Pupils vary the amount and type of light exposure on plant leaves in the fifth lesson plan in a 12-part series. Through observation, they determine the rate of...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Viral Lysis and Budding
How do some viruses spread so quickly, and why do they make us feel terrible? Answer these (and many more) questions through a simple yet impactful lessons. Pupils observe demonstrations that show the two methods viruses use to escape...
Pingry School
The Gelation of Guar Gum with Borax
Some of kids' favorite toys are the products of science experiments. Scholars follow precise measurements to mix and create their own slime and Play-Doh. They observe the changing textures and the chemical reactions throughout the...
Agriculture in the Classroom
Seed Match
Using this resource, your team of green thumbs discuss why plants are a part of a healthy diet and the different ways they are used in daily life. They then observe the characteristics of different seed as they attempt to match...
University of California
Plankton
Plankton: so much more than just a SpongeBob character. Three different activities have kids looking at both phytoplankton and zooplankton in pictures, as well as collecting their own samples (depending on your access to a saltwater...
Nevada Outdoor School
Let It Snow! Let It Melt!
Winter weather offers a great opportunity to teach young scientists about the states of matter. This activity-based lesson plan includes a range of learning experiences, from experimenting with the rate at which ice...
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...
Beyond Benign
Breaking the Tension
The tension builds as learners experiment in your classroom. The 17th installment in a 24-part series has scholars investigate the concept of surface tension. After discovering characteristics of surface tension, they add a compound...
NOAA
Graphing Temperatures
Battle of the hemispheres? In the fourth installment of a five-part series, young oceanographers use the NOAA website to collect temperature data from drifters (buoys), one in the Northern Hemisphere and one in the Southern Hemisphere....
Baylor College
What's That Food?
Get things cooking with the first lesson in this series on the science of food. Working in small groups, young scientists make and record observations about different mystery foods. These descriptions are then shared with the class and...
Foundation for Water & Energy Education
How Can Work Be Done with Water Power? Activity B
In this second of three activities, energy engineers plan and create a hydropower dam as they learn how hydroelectric power plants generate electricity. A hydropower puzzle is also included, which can be worked on by teams that finish...
It's About Time
Color
How can a hand puppet's shadow look like a dog? The lesson explains the science behind shadows, combining paint colors and the colors used in old televisions. Scholars use white, red, blue, and green lights to experiment with colors...
American Chemical Society
Using Dissolving to Identify an Unknown
There is a solvent called aqua regis that can dissolve gold! After observing a solubility demonstration, groups receive four known crystals and one unknown. Based on the demo, they design an experiment to determine the identity of the...
Curated OER
Multi-dimensional Modeling of Ore Bodies Making Sense of Empirical Data
Math scholars identify four different rock types in that strata and use this identification and data to construct a two dimensional geologic cross-section. They use data tables to construct a three-dimensional geologic cross-section.
Curated OER
"Living in the Limelight The Universal Dream"
High schoolers, using Leo's Lyrics, investigate common themes in popular music. They create a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that analyzes their findings along with a 200 word paragraph stating their observations, conclusions and hypotheses...
Pingry School
Effect of Solutes on Boiling Point
Anyone that lives around snow knows that adding salts to water increases its melting point. Are there solutes that affect the boiling point as well? A scientific experiment has learners add different solutes to water and then...
American Chemical Society
Molecules Matter
Did you know that jumping spiders sometimes wear water droplets as hats? A seventh grade science lesson introduces the concept of what makes up water: tiny molecules that are attracted to each other. Starting with a...