Mr Gym
Parachute Skills
Flutter, dome, mushroom, tent, jell-o, popcorn, volcano, floating cloud, and mashed potatoes. What do these terms have in common? They are all things to do in a parachute activity. Check out this activity, the pictures included with the...
Dick Blick Art Materials
Monoprinting with Washable Markers
Introduce young children to printmaking with with an activity that used washable markers to produce one, unique monoprint.
Dick Blick Art Materials
Natural Twig Journals
Connect science, art, and language arts with a nature-themed bookmaking project. Kids craft book covers, cut paper for pages, and learn how to bind their creations.
EngageNY
The Opposite of a Number
It's opposite day! The fourth installment of a 21-part module teaches scholars about opposites of integers and of zero. Number lines and real-world situations provide an entry point to this topic.
Channel Islands Film
Eminent Domain
After viewing the documentary The Last Roundup, a documentary about the transitioning of Santa Rosa from a privately own island to a National Park, class members debate the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment that permits the...
Cornell University
Chemical Reactions
Investigate the Law of Conservation of Mass through a lab exploration. Individuals combine materials to initiate chemical reactions. They monitor for signs of reactions and measure the masses before and after the reactions for...
DiscoverE
Hidden Alarm
It's time to wake up! Young engineers build an electric circuit that will activate an alarm. The use of switches in the circuit is a must—because you don't want the alarm to keep beeping forever!
DiscoverE
Oranges and Batteries
Orange you glad you can make circuits using fruit? Young electricians learn about electric circuits and electricity. As part of the activity, they build a circuit with an orange and then with a banana.
Space Awareness
Fizzy Balloons - C02 in School
Carbon dioxide is a very important gas; it is present in the air, used in cooking, and supports plant and animal life. Scholars investigate the properties of carbon dioxide with three different activities. They experience a color change,...
Curated OER
Neon Signs
Middle schoolers study a commercial art form and explore its historic and social meaning. They apply linear color to a shape, bending and forming the lines in much the same way a sign artist would form glass tubing. They design their own...
Curated OER
Flexible "Glass" Sculpture
Older artists create 2-dimensional surfaces with paint, then use these paintings as the components of a 3-dimensional sculpture. They assemble a free-standing sculpture that may be viewed from any angle by using wire to create the shape....
Curated OER
What's the Matter? (Living and Non-Living Things)
Understand how chemical reactions recombine atoms to create the "chemicals of life". An experiment, showing the basic chemical reactions of an iron nail or a match, helps young children start their understanding of permanent changes.
Curated OER
Many Paths
Learners explore the composition and practical application of parallel circuitry, compared to series circuitry. They design and build parallel circuits and investigate their characteristics, and apply Ohm's law. They recognize that...
Curated OER
Geo-Class Mapping My Neighborhood
Young scholars create a map of the school and surrounding neighborhood. In this mapping lesson plan, students discover their school's location and learn about its past. Young scholars use math skills and the steps in the...
Curated OER
The Learning Network: Poetry Pairing July, 21, 2011
Although not a complete lesson plan, this set of emotionally powerful texts could be used in a variety of lessons. From The New York Times' Learning Network site, the resource includes a poem, an excerpt from a New York Times article and...
Teach Engineering
Energy Forms and States Demonstrations
Does a tennis ball have energy? What about a bowling ball? Demonstrate concepts of different forms of energy forms and states with a variety of objects. Using the equations for potential and kinetic energy,...
Teach Engineering
Optimize! Cleaner Energy Options for Rural China
What are the trade-offs when looking to get the most benefit from an energy source? Small groups compare the cost-to-emission levels of several energy sources by looking at the information graphically. The groups utilize this...
Curated OER
Weighted Averages
Weighted averages can be tricky to explain! However, this study guide makes it easy for teachers by including definitions, explanations, and breaking down problems into three steps. Includes mixture problems and uniform motion problems.
Carnegie Mellon University
Renewables Workshop
Youngsters examine resource maps to find out which states are using solar and wind power and discuss as a class various other renewable energy sources. They use a provided data table to record pros and cons to each technology, build and...
Exploratorium
Falling Feather
Whether or not Galileo actually dropped balls from the Leaning Tower of Pisa, this demonstration will solidly demonstrate that objects are accelerated at the same rate, regardless of mass. You will, however, need a vacuum pump and a few...
Curated OER
Oxidation: Does Iron Burn?
Searching for a fairly easy demonstration of how oxidation triggers rust formation? The demonstration allows high school chemists to witness the rusting of metals, as large and small objects are held into a flame while triggering the...
Teach Engineering
Ramp and Review (for High School)
Rolling for momentum. As part of a study of mechanical energy, momentum, and friction, class members experiment rolling a ball down an incline and having it collide with a cup. Groups take multiple measurements and perform...
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...
EngageNY
The Definition of a Parabola
Put together the pieces and model a parabola. Learners work through several examples to develop an understanding of a parabola graphically and algebraically.