In this activity, students use the scientific method to design a paper car that will travel down a ramp on its own. Then they will use the car to investigate and calculate speed.
In this activity, students design their own airplanes and fly them. The challenge is to create a fast plane and a slow plane and compare the speed to the design. Students will hypothesize and test which factors affect the speed of the plane (e.g. mass, shape, force thrown, etc.).
Students will build an open spectrograph to calculate the angle the light is transmitted through a holographic diffraction grating. After finding the desired angles, the students will design their own spectrograph using the information learned.
The student will use purple cabbage indicator to test five know substances for acidic/alkaline balance. The student will discuss the safety precautions required both inside and outside a lab in handling acids and bases.
This lesson looks at the compositions and structure of diamonds and basic mineral structures formed by the bonds in the crystal structures created by nature. The students have an extensive hands-on lab experience with crystal growth from two very different processes, all recorded on video for later analysis. They also use the internet for a short introductory lesson to crystal systems and use the Nature Video “Diamonds” to tie their knowledge back to real life.
This resource is a part of the Diamonds Are Forever-Most of the Time lesson plan. This resource provides step by step ways for teachers to implement the lesson.
This resource is a part of the Diamonds Are Forever--Most of the Time lesson plan. This resource includes links to student resources for the lesson.
In this activity, students identify and distinguish acids and bases using litmus paper, pH paper, and indicator solution.
This lesson explains how simple quantities can change depending on the frame of reference.
In this data-based activity, students gather data as a class from a person running at different rates on a football field. Synchronizing stopwatches and placing students every 10 yards apart as a classmate runs down the field and data is collected. The students then share the data as a class and transfer it to any graphing program. Once graphed, the entire class has the exact same distance versus time graph. As a class we then discuss what was happening between various time intervals, record in words what the graph is showing, and calculate average velocity.
Students will make predictions about the solid and liquid states of matter. They will meet both math and science standards in measurement and physical science.
Students will make predictions about the liquid and solid states of water. They will use both nonstandard and standard units of measurement to compare the weight of water in a container both before and after freezing. (2.P.2.2)
In this physics lab students will investigate whether Ohm's Law applies to common electric devices (incandescent light bulbs and LEDs). Students will design a controlled experiment, including a written procedure, and then conduct the experiment, collect and graph data. Students may submit their findings in a formal written report or through informal class discussion.
This resource allows students to practice drawing Lewis structures, or dot diagrams, of molecules and ions. Students count the number of valence electrons, then draw the bonds between atoms and the electrons.
Students drag symbols for bonds and electron lone pairs to build a Lewis structure of a molecule. The simulation tells them when they have it right, or tells them to go back and try again if the structure is not correct.
In this lab activity, students build a container to safely deliver 2 eggs from the top of the school to the pavement below. Students will use the mass of the container and the time it takes to fall to calculate average velocity, acceleration, momentum, and force as it hits the ground.
In this electric circuit guided inquiry students will investigate what an electric circuit is, the main parts of a circuit and the difference between series and parallel circuits. Students will work in small groups and create a circuit using materials provided by the teacher. Students will draw and label a closed and open circuit, a series of circuits, and parallel circuit. Students will then meet with a different small group and share their results.
This brief video lesson discusses the physics of electrical phenomena by looking at the history of the major vocabulary terms associated with electricity such as electron, battery, charge, and current. Discussion/assessment questions and suggested supplemental resources are included.
Students will understand that electrons are the things that make electricity work, name and define the two basic kinds of electricity as static and current, compare conductors and insulators, and construct a battery to show electrical flow.
Students will expand upon their previous knowledge about electromagnetic induction by investigating how transformers work. Students will work in pairs to complete a series of hands-on activities using iron cores, a battery, wire, and a galvanometer.