Lesson Plan
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Project Geode

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students predict the appearance of a geode's internal structure based on its mass and density. They form a hypothesis based on the data they collect. They also identify common minerals found in Illinois.
Lesson Plan
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Marshland Ecosystem

For Teachers K - 12th
Students classify animals based on their physical characteristics and eating habits.  In this animal identification lesson plan, students investigate the life forms shown on a Parisian ceramic basin, and discover ecosystem the...
Lesson Plan
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Elements of Chemistry: Compounds And Reactions

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers identify substances and discover common substances and their chemical composition.  In this chemistry lesson students write a description of the substances and how they are used.
PPT
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Temperature

For Teachers Pre-K - 11th
Several slides compare different temperature scales. Thermal expansion, heat transfer, and Maxwell speed distribution are also explored. The last two slides seem unrelated to the topic of heat, but are easily left out of this otherwise...
Lesson Plan
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Heat and Thermodynamics

For Teachers 9th - 12th
This is actually a 10-day mini unit on thermal energy for your high school chemists. Every avenue is taken to get learners absorbed in heat: a pretest, a PowerPoint presentation, Internet exploration, demonstrations, lab activities, and...
Worksheet
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Resources - A Reading Guide

For Students 9th - 12th
For this resources worksheet, students compare and contrast physical and chemical properties and changes. Students review the periodic table, pattern of atomic numbers and chemical reactivity. This worksheet has 56 short answer questions.
Lesson Plan
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Time For A Change: Illustrated Plates

For Teachers 6th - Higher Ed
Students create illustrated plastic plate designs depicting a physical, chemical, or biological change of some kind after investigating the artwork of porcelain artist Kataro Shirayamadani.
Lesson Plan
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What Can We Do To Change These Materials

For Teachers 1st
First graders perform experiments to investigate property changes that occur in materials or matter. In the science lab, they use heat to explore changes in rice, sand, gelatin, baking soda and more. Learners observe and record the...
Lesson Plan
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Matter

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders explore chemical reactions and their products. They define a chemical reaction and describe the characteristics of a chemical reaction. Students classify chemical reactions.
Lesson Plan
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Matter and Energy

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars participate in a small group read aloud of the short story, "Cerium" by Primo Levi. They answer several questions about the story and then relate the reading to a lecture on Kinetic theory. After the lecture they apply...
Lesson Plan
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Exploring Animal Habitats: Winter Changes

For Teachers K
Students explore animals during the winter months. They discuss the changes that animals make during winter in order to survive. Students discuss migration, hibernation, and staying active during winter months. Students create various...
Lesson Plan
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The Day the Atom Died (Grade K-1)

For Teachers K - 1st
Students investigate what is wrong with the Rutherford atomic model. In this chemistry lesson, students answer questions about the atomic model after watching a video. They draw conclusions from the video and discuss how the atomic model...
Lesson Plan
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Creative Expressions: Phase Changes

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students place themselves in the position of a water molecule, ice molecule, or steam molecule and then describe the process of changing phase.
Lesson Plan
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Modeling the Process of Mining Silicon Through a Single Displacement/Redox Reaction

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners study silicon and where it comes from.  In this solar mining lesson students complete an Internet search of mining and a lab activity. 
Lesson Plan
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Breaking it Down

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students discover how water expands when frozen during a glacier. In this matter lesson plan, students fill a glass jar with water, leaving no room for air in the jar and place it in the freezer.  Students retrieve the jar and...
Lesson Plan
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Transformations of Energy

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders investigate the relationship between energy and matter, and measure the mass of various objects. They listen to a teacher-led lecture about potential energy, and in small groups measure the mass of various objects such...
Lesson Plan
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HOW SMALL AM I? THE SCIENCE OF NANOTECHNOLOGY

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students study nanotechnology and investigate the dimensions of a nanoscale.  In this nanometer study lesson students will see how truly small a nanometer is by measuring things such as a piece of hair.
Worksheet
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Things Are Heating Up

For Students 9th - 10th
In this science activity, students read about chemical changes. Students also answer 3 comprehension questions about the reading.
Lesson Plan
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Kinetic Molecular Theory

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students analyze and evaluate evidence that matter is made of tiny particles. They observe a series of phenomena involving solids, liquids, and gases to make inferences about the spacing, interactions and relative kinetic energies of the...
Lesson Plan
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Chemistry & The Community

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Students complete a Webquest which investigates the chemistry in items such as shampoo. They research the Internet, perform a lab experiment, and write a scientific lab report with their findings. Upon completion of the activities, the...
Lesson Plan
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Go Car, Go!

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students design and build their own car. For this physics lesson, students collect data to determine the speed of the car. They plot the data on the graph analyze the relationship between variables.
Lesson Plan
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Balloons: Math with the Montgolfier Balloon

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students discover the history of hot air balloons by watching one ascent.  In this physics lesson, students utilize a Montgolfier Hot Air Balloon from an earlier lesson and record the temperature, rate of ascent and the volume....
Lesson Plan
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Communications

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students incorporate different disciplines into this lesson. In this science lesson, students investigate the use of communicating without words, and how it is different than communicating with words. They discuss the pros and cons of...
Lesson Plan
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Chemistry Module

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars build metal atomic models using styrofoam. In this chemistry lesson, students identify the different unique properties of metals. They explain how metal atoms bond.