The Energy of Decay

Start this mini unit on matter out by demonstrating how food coloring behaves when placed in cold and in hot water. Then have the class experiment with warm water and soap film. Pupils will learn that an increase in thermal energy also...

Young scientists get to the heart of the matter as they complete this instructional activity on the properties of solids, liquids, and gases.

How do different types of living things get the energy they need? This is the focus of a video that describes how carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores get the energy they need to live.

Steve Spangler plays a sneaky trick on Mark by giving him a rubber ball that doesn't bounce! Video viewers learn that different types of rubber have different properties. Show this in your physical science unit when teaching the...

While science Jeopardy games are a dime-a-dozen, this one has some pretty unique categories that are still relevant to a middle school physical science curriculum. The topics include: leading nations, famous Americans (who invented...

The Next Generation Science Standards list matter and energy as the fifth concept. The video explains how these relate to flows, cycles, and conservation. It offers an understanding of the progression of skills from kindergarten through...

After Sam knocks a glass off the lunchroom table, he uses it as a springboard for explaining kinetic and potential energy. He mentions that sound is a type of kinetic energy and introduces the different forms of energy: thermal,...

Students collect data about energy usage and use mathematical calculations to analyze their data. For this energy conservation and statistics math lesson, students survey their homes to complete an energy usage worksheet. Students...

Produce, consume, decompose...repeat! Examine how matter and energy cycles in ecosystems by watching a video discussing NGSS standard LS2B. The narrator explains the requirements of the standard at each grade level, plus gives tips to...

Elementary-aged scientists discover that all matter has mass. They are shown the difference between mass and weight, and learn how to calculate mass using the appropriate tools and methods. The scientific method is used while estimating...