Curated OER
Rockin' Minerals
Third graders view a clip of the video Backyard Safari, "Rocks and Minerals," and discuss properties of rocks and minerals. They view and discuss a clip on where rocks and minerals are found.
Curated OER
Building Materials
Fifth graders are presented with three rocks and a variety of tools and are asked to investigate the properties of the rocks to see which rock is best for building tables and benches for a museum picnic area.
Curated OER
Motion and Forces
Eighth graders define the terms: magnetism, poles, compass, magnetic field, lines of force, electromagnet. They name two properties shared by all magnets and describe how one magnet will affect another.
Curated OER
Enzyme Grabbers
Students perform simple experiments to show properties of enzymes through studying how apple sauce can turn into apple juice and experimenting with papaya seeds. Students witness how enzymes speed up reactions through witnessing the...
Curated OER
Salt Water Wedge
Students conduct an experiment to observe the properties of both salt and freshwater. They explain why freshwater will stay at the surface while salt water will travel up a river bottom because of density. Students also research the...
Curated OER
Oobleck
First graders explore Oobleck. They manipulate and observe the properties of Oobleck. Students discuss the differences between solids and liquids. They investigate Oobleck. Students write a sentence describing what they observed about...
Curated OER
Separating Soup Mix
Students use screens of three sizes to separate a mixture of five solid materials. They plan and conduct simple investigations using appropriate tools, measures, and safety rules and record and report observations, explanations, and...
Curated OER
Exploring Rocks
Students recognize differences in the size, shape, texture, and color of different rocks. In this rocks lesson plan, students also learn and repeat back how a volcano erupts and make one out of a toilet paper tube.
Curated OER
Does Size Matter?
Students explore chemical solutions. In this chemistry activity, students investigate the relationship between three related experiments about solutions. Students determine variables that affect the chemical concentration of each solution.
Curated OER
Let's Study Outdoors - Outdoor Classroom
Students research native plants. They identify the plant by scientific name, size, amount of water needed and color. Pupils measure and plot an area of school property. Students create an outdoor classroom. Additional cross curriculum...
Curated OER
Temperature
Several slides compare different temperature scales. Thermal expansion, heat transfer, and Maxwell speed distribution are also explored. The last two slides seem unrelated to the topic of heat, but are easily left out of this otherwise...
DiscoverE
Creepy Putty
Mold your learners into materials engineers. Using glue, Borax, and water, scholars create a viscoelastic material. But your class might know it by another name—Silly Putty.
Curated OER
How Am I Supposed to Eat THAT?
Students explain nutritional strategies of benthic organisms.They describe nutritional strategies of benthic organisms and describe these physical characteristics.
Cornell University
Density
Certain things just do not mix, including liquids of varying densities. Learners collect data to determine the densities of several liquids. They then use the density information to predict the type of liquid.
Curated OER
Rocks and Minerals
Students investigate the properties and uses of rocks and minerals. They build towers using only one material from a pile of stones, tiles, wood, etc. provided by the teacher. Students test the hardness of rocks by scratching them with...
Curated OER
A Healthy Diet is a Balancing Act
It's important to teach kids how to have a balanced diet. They are provided with six different meals, they fill in the blanks to complete each one to make it balanced. The answers could be anything and the meals offered don't seem very...
Polar Trec
South Pole Ice Cream!
How can you turn an ice cream activity into a scientific investigation? It's easy if you know ionic compounds, heat transfer, and the exothermic and endothermic process. Learners will explore the science behind freezing, insulation, and...
Virginia Department of Education
Acids and Bases
What did one titration say to the other titration? We should meet at the end point! Young chemists perform four experiments: dilute solution, neutralization, titration, and figuring pH/pOH.
Curated OER
Our Earth
In this Earth's environment worksheet, students complete a crossword puzzle given 35 clues about a variety of topics related to our Earth. Topics include ecosystems, precipitation, biomes, energy transfer, soil, weathering and rocks.
Curated OER
It's A Gas!
Fifth graders complete a worksheet which has them place a list of gases in order from the least to the most dense. The density in grams is given for each. There's a good paragraph which provides background knowledge about the volatility...
Illustrative Mathematics
Cari's Aquarium
The volume of a fish tank is a rather important measure when it comes to building an aquarium for different species of fish. In this problem, your kids look at how many different ways they can make a fish tank of a specific volume,...
Cornell University
Study Soil
What's in soil? Young scientists study the pH levels of soil from their school yard. They observe the land and area the soil came from to decide if location has anything to do with acidity level.
Curated OER
Air Pressure
Learners participate in a series of demonstrations about Bernoulli's principle. They explain how air pressure varies with air speed. They write a detailed lab report about the activity. This is a great way to explore this concept.
Teach Engineering
Engineering and the Periodic Table
Elements, to the rescue! Scholars first review the periodic table, and then learn about the first 20 elements and their properties and uses in the fourth of six lessons in the Mixtures and Solutions unit. Applying their newfound...