Kenan Fellows
The Newton Challenge
Make Newton proud. Scholars apply their understanding of forces and energy to an engineering design challenge. They learn about simple machines, create a presentation on Newton's laws, and develop a balloon-powered car.
Curated OER
Burning Snacks in Chem Lab
Students determine the energy content of various snack foods. They measure the temperature changes in various snack foods as the foods are burned in order to determine the foods' energy content. Students create graphs and data tables of...
Curated OER
Teen Driving: Skills, Responsibilities and Reactions
As an introduction to the skills required for and responsibilities of driving, pre-teens and teens engage in a series of activities, chart their response times, and analyze how variables effect these reaction times. Class...
Curated OER
General Microbiology Lab Skills
Students study the different types of equipment necessary for the experiments in the pGLO kit. They examine the techniques and safety procedures for working with the kit.
Curated OER
Oceanic Absorption- Oceanic Sequestration
Students examine the different techniques that may be used to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. In this ocean pollution lesson students divide into groups and complete a lab to see how the ocean holds carbon dioxide.
Curated OER
Oceanic Absorption- Oceanic Sequestration
Students examine the techniques that may be used to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. In this pollution lesson plan students simulate oceanic sequestration using chemistry.
Cornell University
Renewable Resins and Composites
Merge chemistry with environmental science to study biodegradable materials. An engaging activity allows learners to experiment with different resin concentrations and composites. Through experimental tests, scholars test their creations...
Beyond Benign
Catalysts and Oxygen
Here is an engaging and hands-on lesson plan that allows high school chemists to demonstrate the effects of a catalyst on various chemicals. They garner knowledge of how reactants and products differ from one another, while...
Curated OER
Orienting a Photovoltaic Cell
By mounting a light bulb on a stand and a PV cell on another, physics apprentices experiment with the angle of incidence. Their goal is to determine the optimum angle for collecting solar energy. The use of a scientific calculator...
Cornell University
Catapults
Ready, aim, fire! Launch to a new level of understanding as scholars build and test their own catapults. Learners explore lever design and how adjusting the fulcrum changes the outcome.
Curated OER
Creating a Student Safety Committee to Support Lab Safety for the 21st Century Workplace
Students create a Student Safety Committee. In this instructional activity for science lab activities, students discuss the communication skills required to help each other in the science lab. Students analyze their classmates'...
Curated OER
Castaway or Survivor
What a clever idea! Chemistry learners imagine themselves deserted on an island with a radio, but no batteries. They also have a few odds and ends in their pockets and storage chest. They are challenged to create a battery that will...
Curated OER
An Introduction to Microbes and Microbes Are Everywhere
Seventh graders define the term microbe. They identify the five main groups of microbes. Students give examples of ways in which microbes have impacted or currently impact human life. They create a hypotheses for where they expect to...
Curated OER
Earthquakes and Seismic Waves
Pupils explore earthquakes and seismic waves. They investigate how energy is released in the subsurface to create seismic waves. Students explore the inner workings of a seismograph and how they are used to determine the location of an...
Curated OER
The Influence of Carbon Dioxide on the Chemistry of Soda
Learners investigate the carbon dioxide content of different sodas. In this chemistry lesson, students explain why PET containers are preferable than HDPE for soda bottles. They collect data and graph them.
Curated OER
How Much Energy is Stored in Wood?
In this energy instructional activity, students create calorimeters out of soda cans and use them to calculate the amount of energy stored in different types of wood.
Curated OER
Rock Density Lab
Students use a balance and weigh a rock sample. They weigh the rock suspended on a sling in a glass of water. They tabulate the rock's density using the two weights and compare the density of various rocks of similar sizes.
Curated OER
Goggle Safety
In this goggle safety worksheet, students describe different types of eye injuries. They observe pictures of eye injuries and list six different types. This one-page worksheet contains five problems.
Curated OER
Mini-labs on Newton's Laws
Students are divided into 6 groups with each group rotating to a different lab. The labs can be run over the course of a few days; or spread out for a longer period of time.
Curated OER
Activity #15 The Snowy Christmas Tree
Middle schoolers weigh out the proper amount of silver nitrate and prepare the silver nitrate solution. They observe what occurs when pure copper is added to silver nitrate solution. Pupils determine whether the change in the appearance...
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
Creating and Testing Silver-Nanoparticle Socks
Antibacterial socks are a product of nanotechnology. An inquiry-based lesson asks collaborative groups to create their own antibacterial socks and then test them against other products on the market. The sock with the least amount...
Curated OER
Who Done It?
Pick and choose which activities to include in this crime scene investigation. Junior detectives can examine fingerprints, DNA, blood samples, or bone structure. The plan suggests you have teams solve a mystery, but it does not...
Curated OER
An Approach to Chemistry via the Analysis of Art Objects: The Scientific Method, Laboratory Safety, Light and Color Theory
Students create a painting that clearly exemplifies the use of primary pigments to make secondary pigments. They demonstrate the distinction between value and saturation. They explain the affect of adjacent colors on each other and...
Curated OER
Food Safety Lab-Part 3 Cross Contamination andHygiene
Learners observe the effect of croos contamination as they inoculate orange juice with penicillin mold from the refrigeration lab and active yeast solution from the sterilization lab. They experience a simulation of passing bacteria...