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States of Matter
Students examine the properties of solids, liquids, and gasses. In this states of matter lesson, the teacher guides students through a series of experiments to illustrate each state of matter and how matter changes from one state to...
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What's a Resistor?
Students determine what a resistor does as they construct parallel circuits. In this circuitry lesson, students experiment with batteries, alligator clips, a resistor and a three-way switch to find out what a resistor does. They continue...
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Magnetic Discovery Bottle
Pupils examine how to conduct simple investigations and use simple equipment to gather data. In this magnet lesson plan students decide what types of objects are attracted to magnets.
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Metalloids
Students discuss metalloids, their use as semiconductors, and their impact on the computer industry. They work in groups to create a visual timeline showing the evolution of the computer.
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Wind Power for Educators
Students explore wind power as a renewable resource. In this wind power instructional activity students build models of wind turbines and experiment with different changes to see if it increases efficiency.
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All Steamed Up
Pupils examine the energy conversions and simple machines are involved in the operation of a steam engine. They make a replica of a small steam engine.
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Sedimentary Size and Structures
Students interpret the Earth's history from models. In this investigative lesson students create sedimentary deposit models.
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Please Turn Up the Lights!
Eighth graders discuss series and parallel circuits and design an investigation to test a hypothesis on total resistance of series and parallel circuits in combination. After discussion, groups design their experiments, run tests, and...
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Help Wanted: A Lighting Engineer For Popular Rock Group
Students are assigned to groups, and determine each member's role in the group. They will design an experiment to determine a way to produce the three primary and five secondary colors. Students discuss color and mood. They listen to a...
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Conserving Energy Resources
Seventh graders research on energy conversion. After they have researched several types of energy resources, teams of two to four create posters which depict how these resources can be conserved.
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Investigating and Using Biomass Gases
Students examine the definitions of biomas gasification and generate their own biomass gas. In this renewable energy lesson plan students collect gases and roast a marshmallow.
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Solar Power
Students discover how engineers use solar energy to heat buildings. They investigate the thermal properties of different materials. They evaluate the usefulness of each material.
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Waterwheel Work
Students investigate the history of the waterwheel and common uses for water turbines today. They construct an experimental waterwheel using a two-liter plastic bottle, measure the rate of revolution of a waterwheel, and complete a...
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Motions and Forces
Students explore motions, forces and magnetism. They investigate magnetism as a force and examine the construction of a magnet. Students examine the force that magnetism produces.
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100 Years of Flight
Students investigate Bernoulli's principle of air pressure and how it
relates to the lift of an airplane. Students identify various Aeronautical vocabulary terms. Students construct a paper glider and experiment with the control surfaces...
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Exploring Magnetism in Solar Flares
Young scholars apply concepts of magnetism to help them understand the production of solar flares. In this solar flare instructional activity, students complete activities and graphic organizers to help them learn about magnetic fields...
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The Day the Atom Died (Grade K-1)
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...
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Deposition
Students follow carefully designed instructions to bond silver to glass thus creating a mirror. The process used, Brashear's Process, uses sugar rather than formaldehyde to reduce the compounds, but many of the chemicals are dangerous,...
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The Nutrients Public Transportation System
Students investigate the human circulatory system by experimenting with hoses. In this human body lesson, students create a system of hoses simulating the circulatory system which they utilize to pass objects through....
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Energy Transformation
Students identify different kinds of energy such as heat energy, kinetic energy, potential energy, and magnetic energy. They investigate the concept of conservation of energy.
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Magnetic Mapping
Students draw arrows to show the direction the compass needle is pointing when it is placed around different points of a penny and a bar magnet. Students must then answer questions about the activity on a provided worksheet.
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Junkyard Wars: Air Movers
Students study Rube Goldberg machines. In this investigative lesson students design and build a machine that uses several steps to move an aluminum can.
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The Periodic Table of the Elements
Students examine different elements and explore how their properties play a role in technology. In this periodic table lesson students view a few short videos, answer questions then research the Internet to find products made from...
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Our Energy
Fifth graders research energy sources used in the United States. For this energy sources lesson, 5th graders work in teams to research various energy sources. Students complete a worksheet for the research and make a short video of a...