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.
EngageNY
Rearranging Formulas
Model for your learners that if they can solve an equation, they can rearrange a formula with a well-planned lesson that has plenty of built-in practice. As the lesson progresses the content gets progressively more challenging.
Code.org
Functions with Return Values
Young computer scientists explore how to use the return command in computer programing by playing Go Fish. They learn about functions that return values and then write a turtle driver app using the return function.
Code.org
Introduction to Arrays
How can you store lists in a computer program? The 16th installment of a 21-part unit introduces arrays as a way to store lists within a variable. Individuals program a list of their favorite things—adding interest to the activity.
Virginia Department of Education
Determining Absolute Age
How can radioactive decay help date old objects? Learners explore half-life and radioactive decay by conducting an experiment using pennies to represent atoms. Young scientists graph data from the experiment to identify radioactive decay...
Virginia Department of Education
Vapor Pressure and Colligative Properties
Hate to vacuum, but enjoy using a vacuum pump? Explore a instructional activity that starts with a demonstration of boiling water at various temperatures by using a vacuum pump. Then scholars design their own experiments to measure vapor...
Virginia Department of Education
States of Matter
Scientists have been studying exothermic reactions before they were cool. The lesson begins with a discussion and a demonstration of heat curves. Scholars then determine the heat of fusion of ice and the heat needed to...
Kenan Fellows
Effects of a Golf Course on Stream Health
Is the golf course causing issues in the stream? Find out with a resource that has groups perform chemical water tests to analyze the effects of a golf course on a stream. Pupils collect water above and below the course and analyze the...
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.
Virginia Department of Education
The Germ Theory and Koch’s Postulates
Explore the history of cholera and its effect on society with your biology class. Young biologists will then proceed to grow their own germs, prepared from live cultures, and follow the steps of the scientific method to generate data....
Curated OER
Sand Shakes & Mud Pies: Investigating Sediment
Take a field trip to a location where water and land meet to study patterns of sediment organization in wet habitats: river or ocean beaches, sand dunes, tidal marshes, the edge of a pond, or a woodland stream. Small groups collect pairs...
Virginia Department of Education
Molar Volume of a Gas
What is a chemist's favorite plant? Stoichiome Tree! Scholars produce hydrogen gas by reacting magnesium with hydrochloric acid. Then they calculate the molar volume of the gas produced before answering assessment questions.
Virginia Department of Education
The Colligative Properties of Solutions
How can you relate colligative properties of solutions to everyday situations? Pupils first discuss the concepts of density, boiling and freezing points, then demonstrate how to accurately determine the boiling and freezing point of...
Virginia Department of Education
Molecular Model Building
During this hands-on activity, young chemists build molecular models based on the Lewis dot structure before studying valence shell electron pair repulsion theory.
Curated OER
Science: Motion Commotion
Young scholars examine Newton's three laws of motion to discover what causes it and how it changes. They conduct motion experiments by building catapults and constructing balloon rockets. Finally, they conduct peer studies correlating...
Curated OER
Studying Birds in the Field
This is a well-designed science activity which helps young scholars learn the behavior of different species of birds. Working with partners and in small team, students learn to scientifically observe birds.
Foundation for Water & Energy Education
How Can Work Be Done with Water Power? Activity A
Environmentally friendly engineering teams construct a water wheel and experiment with its speed and the resulting amount of weight it can lift. Consider following this activity with two more of the same title by the same publisher when...
Curated OER
Walking Magic
Students conduct experiment with water striders by placing the insect in two different solutions and discuss their observations. They discover that weight and surface area are important factors in their experiment.
Curated OER
Alice Magic Cake
Using a famous children's story as the hook, learners explore the concept of changes in matter. First, they make a cake similar to the one made by Alice in the story Alice's Adventure in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Next, they let their...
Curated OER
Diurnal Temperature Changes and Water Vapor Content
Students examine the greenhouse effect, as they determine how moisture in the air affects the diurnal temperature range. Their investigation help them to explain different climatological regimes of both the Southern Great Plains and the...
Curated OER
Variables
Students watch a video show how to identify the independent variable, dependent variable and controls in an experiment; and design experiments that use controls to isolate a single independent variable and measure the resulting dependent...
Curated OER
Interpreting Data-Working with Controls and Variables
Young scholars review the meaning of control and variables, and state difference between dependent and independent variables. They complete a worksheet with the definitions and complete problems that show their understanding.
Curated OER
Riding on a Pendulum
A comprehensive resource gets fourth grade physical scientists making observations about the period of a pendulum and then applying knowledge to a playground swing. Through seven different stations, they will record observations and...
Discovery Education
Sonar & Echolocation
A well-designed, comprehensive, and attractive slide show supports direct instruction on how sonar and echolocation work. Contained within the slides are links to interactive websites and instructions for using apps on a mobile device to...