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A Weighty Issue
Want to get your students motivated in science class? Given only a piece of aluminum foil, assign groups the task of designing a "barge" that will support the weight of a bunch of pennies. The group who is able to put the most pennies...
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Rock and Their Properties: Days 2-4
Young scholars engage in cooperative research projects in order to study about the properties of the three basic rock types and the processes that form them. They plan and develop their products.with the resources for conducting their...
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Rainforest (Elementary, Social Studies)
Explore the rainforest with your class. Learners study the meaning of the word endangered, choose an animal to study, gather data, and discuss why the animal is in danger of extinction. This is a motivating way to have your class discuss...
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Eco-Healthy Lunch
Students plan healthy lunches and how to dispose of their lunch waste. In this pre-field trip lesson, students and teachers plan healthy, nutritious lunches to bring on a field trip. They also discuss how to sort their garbage into the...
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Bubble-ology and Bernoulli
Students explore aerodynamics and Bernoulli's principle by devising ways to keep bubbles aloft.
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Rocks and Minerals
Review the difference between rocks and minerals using this resource. Learners identify and investigate the physical properties of these objects. They create a Venn diagram to compare and contrast types of rocks. This is a motivating way...
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Busted Bubbles
Using the scientific method, and bubble gum, learners conduct a motivating experiment. After conducting a series of tests involving bubble gum, they graph and analyze their results. This is the type of activity everyone loves.
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Sizing Up The Solar System
Students investigate and design various models of size and distance related to the solar system. They work together to build a solar system model. The models should focus on distance and scale. They don't include moons or satellites in...
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The Male Reproductive System
Students identify the parts of the male reproductive system. They explore the functions of the male reproductive system. Students demonstrate the connection between reproductive health and the ability to reproduce. Students prepare...
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Protecting Natural Resources
Third graders recognize what our natural resources are and their importance. In this natural resource recycling lesson, 3rd graders understand why it is important to recycle and conserve natural resources. Students can explain how...
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Adaptations to Environments with Mammals
Fifth graders, after viewing a PowerPoint on different mammals, analyze what a biome is. Then they choose a mammal to research and go outside to feel the grass and leaves and hypothesize about which biome they live in as well as its...
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Magnetic Mystery
Fourth graders investigate the poles of a magnet. For this magnet lesson, 4th graders explore what a magnet attracts and what it repels. Students view the N and S on magnets. students recognize that like poles repel and opposite poles...
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Theobroma - Food of the Gods
Learners discuss the history of cacao and its use in the production of chocolate. They analyze actual cacao pods and record their observations. Finally they create a five minute contour drawing of the cacao pod and seeds.
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Can You See the Light?
Explore plants and flowers with this lesson. Learners talk about plants, conduct an experiment with suflowers, and track a plants growth. This is a motivating way to present this concept.
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Life Cycle of the Monarch Butterfly
Third graders access prior knowledge of the monarch butterfly and discuss what they would like to know. In this Monarch Butterfly lesson,students read Monarch Butterfly and discuss the life cycle of the butterfly. Students gather...
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The Physics of Sound: How We Produce Sounds
First graders construct a KWL chart on sound. In this physics instructional activity, 1st graders describe different ways to produce sound. They explain how sound waves propagate.
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The Physics of Sound: How We Produce Sounds
Students are introduced to how they produce sounds. In groups, they participate in experiments in which they measure sound and identify their five senses. Individually, they make their own musical instruments using different objects and...
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Go Cough Up a Lung!
Third graders examine and identify the effects smoking has on the lungs. They view and discuss pictures of a smoker's lung and a healthy lung, and read and discuss an informational handout. Students then participate in an aerobic...
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Indianapolis 500 Unit-Science
Fourth graders access prior knowledge of simple machines to build a car. In this car design instructional activity, 4th graders create and race their cars. Students evaluate what was good and bad about their designs. Each car will...
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A Day on the Farm
First graders, with a collection of various art supplies, plant a seed to observe it growing and record specific data on a data record sheet. They create a collage from various magazines of ten different foods farm animals eat and make a...
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China's Giant Panda
Third graders read an article called "All About Pandas." In this Panda instructional activity, students become familiar with the connection of the Panda to Chinese culture. Students recognize that Pandas are endangered. Students...
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Jackie Gore
Students identify the amount of heat given off by solar energy. In this solar energy instructional activity, students complete an experiment using soil and sand measuring the heat from solar energy.
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What's Your Favorite Planet?
Fourth graders, after listing the nine planets and their differences, choose one planet as their favorite. From the information acquired on each students favorite planet, they make a graph illustrating their favorites and then transform...
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Heat Energy
Students study how matter changes from solids to liquids or liquids to solids. For this physical science lesson, students discuss heat energy and experiment with heat by changing a candle into a liquid using a hot plate.