Curated OER
Simple Machines
Students engage in a lesson that is concerned with the concept of a simple machine and uses the law of motion to justify why they operate. Students explore the laws by constructing some simple machines to illustrate the concepts.
Curated OER
Kaleidoscope
Students explore energy by creating a light project in class. In this kaleidoscope instructional activity, students discuss the properties of light and how mirrors can reflect the energy in different directions. Students view a diagram...
Curated OER
Light My Fire!
Students draw a diagram that shows the law of reflection. In this physics lesson, students investigate the relationship between the angle of incidence and angle of reflection. They explain how light travels as it reflects on a surface.
Curated OER
Survival Science: How Evaporation and Condensation Can Save Your Life!
Eighth graders demonstrate how scientific principles can be used to provide resources in an emergency situation. In this evaporation lesson students view a demonstration on a solar still and see a brief PowerPoint presentation.
Curated OER
Time Travel
Students investigate the concept of time travel and quantum physics. They complete a Webquest, read excerpts from the book, 'The Time Machine,' play an online time traveler game, and read and evaluate newspaper articles about time.
Curated OER
Applied Science - Physics Pos Lab (Air Pressure)
Students examine physics. In this air movement lesson, students conduct an experiment that shows how air moves based on the pressure it's under. They watch the teacher complete the procedure and then try it on their own in a small group....
Curated OER
The Addiction With Friction
Students compare and contrast where friction occurs in robots and bicycles. In this science lesson, students label the diagram of bicycle and robots. They investigate how friction affects their different parts.
Curated OER
The Science of Weather: Hurricanes
Students use this USA today activity to learn about hurricane season. In this hurricane activity, students study the map of the earth and hurricane science. Students complete discuss questions. Students draw a map of the United States...
Curated OER
The Physical Setting
Students study atoms and their protons and neutrons. In this physical setting lesson students work together to complete a lab activity.
NOAA
Waves
Is it possible to outrun a tsunami? After watching a presentation that explains how waves and tsunamis occur, class members investigate the speed of tsunamis triggered by an earthquake.
Curated OER
Wellness and the Benefits of Exercise
Second graders discuss benefits of keeping physically fit, predict effects of exercise on their bodies, perform various exercises correctly, including push-up, curl-up, and jumping jack, discuss and follow safety practices while...
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
The Planets and Scale
Scholars gain an insight into the relative size of planets and distance between inner and outer planets with the help of informational text, a data table, and a series of four questions.
Texas State University
Earth: Deposition and Lithification
Geology geniuses analyze sediment samples with a hand lens and sort according to physical characteristics. They also learn about the processes of cementation, compaction, and lithification within the rock cycle. The lesson plan is...
Curated OER
Habitat Assessment
Third graders demonstrate the effects of varying environmental components on plants and animals: chemical, physical and biological characteristics of a habitat. They find chemical, physical and biological characteristics of the lake at...
Teach Engineering
Energy Basics
Power up your lessons with an energetic resource. Scholars learn about work, force, energy, and power. They consider the relationships between these quantities through hockey puck scenarios and make calculations using formulas.
University of Colorado
Happy Landings: A Splash or a Splat?
Huygens spacecraft landed on Saturn's moon Titan in 2005, making it the farthest landing from Earth ever made by a spacecraft. In this hands-on activity, the 12th installment of 22, groups explore how density affects speed. To do this,...
Curated OER
The Chemistry of Refining Crude Oil
Consider our energy sources: wood, coal, oil, uranium. Learners compare the pollution to energy produced for each. They practice fractional distillation of an alcohol/water mixture to simulate the process of refining crude oil....
University of Colorado
The Moons of Jupiter
Can you name the three planets with rings in our solar system? Everyone knows Saturn, many know Uranus, but most people are surprised to learn that Jupiter also has a ring. The third in a series of six teaches pupils what is around...
Curated OER
Deck Tennis
Seventh graders study deck tennis. In this instructional activity that can be adapted to teach movement, passing and positioning in any sport, 7th graders toss and catch a rubber ring, students of varying abuilities will be able to...
Earth Day Network
Filtering Water
See the water filtration system up close with a fun science experiment. Young scientists work for several class periods to design a water filter using household objects, and then decide which filter material would be most effective...
Curated OER
Shrinky Dinks® Palettes
Here is a fun and clever lesson for teaching physics classes how to calculate wavelength if given the energy and frequency data. On a worksheet, they compute wavelengths using a table of information that you provide. On a paper palette,...
Curated OER
What are Metamorphic Rocks and How are They Formed?
Even though the student handouts are not included in the write-up, this lesson contains the instructions for terrific activities to use when teaching middle schoolers about metamorphic rocks. First, they compare granite to gneiss and...
Curated OER
Plants and Animals
Seventh graders discover the interconnectedness of plants and animals in ecosystems. In groups, they create a food web and discuss the problems when one link of the chain is broken. To end the instructional activity, they set up a...
Teach Engineering
Circuits
Don't know how to make the initial connection on electric circuits? This lesson provides the background to present the introductory vocabulary to learning about electric circuits. It is organized in a meaningful progression with an...