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Leaning Tower of Pasta
Students experiment with different structures to determine which ones are able to handle the greatest amount of load using spaghetti and marshmallows. They discuss how engineers design buildings, construct their buildings and complete a...
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TE Activity: Super Spinners!
Students make spinners to investigate rotational inertia, rotational speed, angular momentum, and velocity. They make two sets of spinners that have different mass distributions and shapes. They complete a worksheet while experimenting...
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To Float or Not to Float, That is the Question?
Ninth graders develop operational definition of density, do computations using density equation, categorize pieces of matter as being able to float on
water or not, based on density, explain why some objects sink or float based on...
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Race the Track! Super Slope (Lesson One)
Fifth graders utilize basic physics concepts to calculate speed of an object set in motion from various heights. In this basic physics lesson, 5th graders make observations, calculations, record data, and conclusions throughout experiment.
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Sitting on Nails-Boyle's Law
Students experience pressure as a force per unit area in this experiment with a board of nails. In this physics lesson, students discover Boyle's law as they perform experiments with pressure.
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Exercise and Heartrate
Fourth graders experiment to find the effects of exercise on the heart rate. In this exercise and heart rate lesson plan, 4th graders create questions about exercise and heart rate. Students use the scientific method to test and...
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Move It!
Students observe a demonstration presented by the teacher covering different types of energy. They participate in an experiment where they study numerous physics vocabulary words and visit websites that demonstrate examples of these...
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Oil Spill
Students explore an important role of environmental engineers by studying the Exxon Valdez oil spill. They experiment with different strategies in order to clean up their own manufactured oil spill.
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Hovercraft Racers!
Students gain first-hand experience on how friction affects motion. They build a hovercraft using air from a balloon to levitate a craft made from a compact disk (CD), learning that a bed of air under an object significantly reduces the...
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Not So Neutral Views
Students explore ways to use indicators to distinguish between acids and bases. They conduct an experiment to model and discuss the harmful effect of acid rain in our living and non-living environment.
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Eye on the Storm
Students discover the way geologists collect information about past hurricanes to determine patterns that may help with storm prediction. They then research the history of natural disasters in different regions of the United States and...
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Constancy and Change
Second graders investigate how objects can move in different ways. They move in different ways across the room and develop a class list of movement words. Students also conduct a measuring motion experiment, create a bar graph for the...
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Introduction to Magnets
Young scholars explore magnetism, electromagnetism, and static electricity through a series of activities and experiments. For this magnets lesson, students use magnets to observe the forces of attraction and repulsion between different...
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What is the Attraction?
Second graders investigate the law of polarity. In this magnets lesson, 2nd graders discover how magnets are used in everyday life and which objects in our environment are magnetic. Students experiment with bar magnets and record...
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Race the Track! The Time Challenge (lesson 2)
Students design a track that keeps a ball in motion for 5 seconds or longer. In this designing lesson plan, students explore force, gravity, and cause and effect when it comes to science and building before building their own track.
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Ocean Murals
Students identify characteristics of water. They describe the process by which light decreases and pressure increases as water depth increases. They demonstrate the principle of water pressure in a small group experiment.
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The Mysterious Plant Caper
Students investigate the basic parts of plant and that plants are living things which require water, air, light and nutrients for survival. They do this through a series of scientific experiements and multi-curricular hands-on activities.
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Biodiversity and Ecosystems
Middle schoolers differentiate between biotic and abiotic factors in this science lesson. Learners collect data for the experiment and analyze the data after graphing it using the CBL 2. This experiment is split into two different...
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Sound Waves
Students explore sound. In this "sound" science lesson, students define sound and explain how sound travels. Students experiment with paper cups and string to conclude how sound travels. Students research a chosen aspect of sound with a...
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Matter Matters: Solids, Liquids and Gases
Scientists participate in a variety of hands-on experiments in this ten-day unit on the three states of matter. Lessons incorporate literature, a-v materials, and poetry to help young scholars differentiate between solids, liquids and...
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Stop Heat from Escaping
Students explore the uses of insulation and describe how insulation helps to conserve energy. They work in groups and use plastic, wool, paper and aluminum to experiment with the heat-retaining properties of various materials.
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Red Light, Green Light
Learners investigate the friction between tires and the road and how it affects the movement of cars while driving. They discuss and define friction, experiment with sandpaper and wax paper to determine which material provides the least...
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What's Air Got to Do with It?
Young scholars use M&M's to create a pie graph that expresses their understanding of the composition of air. They watch and conduct several simple experiments to develop an understanding of the properties of air (it has mass, it...
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TE Activity: Oil Spill Cleanup
Students experiment by creating an oil spill and trying a number of clean up methods. They determine which methods are the least costly and most effective. They role play as an environmental engineer and as an oil company owner who must...