Curated OER
Use Or Abuse?
Students explain the meaning of "use value" of nature's resources by researching and writing studenT books personifying an aspect of nature. They produce public service announcements regarding use value for their local community.
Nuffield Foundation
Investigating Enzymes Used in Laundry Detergent
It's a win-win situation: learn about enzymes and get clean clothes, too. Young scientists add enzymes to a dilution of laundry detergent. They apply them to stained fabrics to determine the effectiveness of the enzyme-filled detergents.
Curated OER
The Race for the Double Helix
Students participate in an ethics-based simulation. In this ethics lesson, students role play research scientists working to decipher a code. Students work in small collaborative groups and must interact with other small groups to...
Curated OER
Using Plant Pigments to Link a Suspect to a Crime
Students use chromatography to separate plant pigments collected from a fictitious crime scene and suspects. They compare the Rf values of the plant pigments to determine whether the plant pigments found on any of the suspects match the...
Curated OER
Estimating Errors in Chemistry
Estimating Errors in Chemistry is a detailed handout that illustrates the importance of calculating the percent error when working in the chemistry lab. There are no actual problems to solve, just notes and examples of calculations. Hand...
Teach Engineering
Designing a Sustainable Guest Village in the Saguaro National Park
Brainstorm ideas to design a sustainable guest village in the Sonoran Desert. The first installment of a nine-part unit teaches young environmental scientists about the basics of the Saguaro National Park and about sustainable design....
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,...
National Museum of Nuclear Science & History
Nuclear Popcorn
Make your lesson on radioactive decay pop with this lab exercise. Using popcorn kernels spread over a tabletop, participants pick up all of those that point toward the back of the room, that is, those that represent decayed atoms. As the...
Curated OER
A Weighty Task
Students aim to explain the need for standardization of units of measurement. They pose their own standards for the value of a kilogram and compare them with the currently used standard.
Curated OER
Species for Sale
Students explore wildlife conservation by investigating animal species that are near extinction due to their value as commodities. They defend the protection of an endangered species researched in class by creating an informational poster.
Curated OER
Good For You?
Students discuss nutrition and compare nutritional values of a snack product claiming health benefits with a candy product.
Curated OER
Properties of Water with a Splash of Color
Students explore the properties of water. In this cross curriculum art and physical science activity, students experiment with a variety of materials to demonstrate the cohesive forces and adhesion of water. Students create a water color...
Curated OER
Why Is Evolution Controversial?
Students examine the legal side of the teaching of evolution. They study the Scopes Trial and reflect on what it means for a teacher to be denied the right to teach a key scientific concept. In addition, they design their own editorial...
Curated OER
Some Fats Aren't Phat
Students examine nutritional information on various food labels and then consider the nutritional value of the foods in their own diets. They create posters illustrating their diets "before" and "after" they considered their fat intake.
Curated OER
Pine Barrens
Tenth graders study environmental values vs. economic development. In this environmental decisions lesson students role play in a policy making setting.
Curated OER
Looking At the World Through Different Eyes
Middle schoolers are introduced to the concept of reframing as a problem-solving alternative. They present the value of incorporating adults into their suport system. Students draw what they think Creep Face and Maggie saw when they...
National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science
Bad Blood
When it comes to science and medicine, ethics should always be a primary consideration; unfortunately, that has not always been the case. There are countless examples throughout history of questionable medical practices, marginalized...
Curated OER
The West the Railroads made
Young scholars investigate the effects of time and distance for the creation of a successful railroad. In this railroad lesson, students recognize the railroad's need for an exact time schedule was the cause for the creation of...
National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science
The Zarkah Stone
Astronomy stars read the account of the Zarkah meteorite that struck thickly populated Park Forest, Chicago in 2003. In doing so, they differentiate between meteors, meteorites, and meteoroids. They will also be able to explain...
Curated OER
Exploring Weather Conditions Through Painting
Your advanced class will paint a picture of a particular weather condition. In this painting lesson young scholars describe elements of art in pieces of artwork. They analyze the weather and seasons in the artwork. The students use...
Curated OER
Genetic Engineering
Students identify relationships between scientific concepts and their historical roots. They discuss and debate issues of ethics in science, specifically on the concept of genetic engineering and describe the processes of cloning and...
Curated OER
Fish and Zooplankton Through Remote Sensing
Ecology aces examine sea surface temperature maps and relate temperatures to concentration in fish and zooplankton populations. Take your class to a computer lab and provide experience with actual remote sensing data. Some of the links...
Curated OER
THE BACKWARD DESIGN PROCESS
Young scholars explain the practical uses of robots. They interpret possible careers in robotics, apply the safety guidelines of robots, and develop a perspective of the use of robots. They empathize with the cultural issues of robots in...
Curated OER
Fish and zooplankton habitat through remote sensing
High schoolers are exposed to the variety of ways in which scientist use remote sensing and it used in everyday life. They investigate about zooplankton and fish. Students list the two important groups of organisms in both aquatic and...