Science can be quite tasty. A delectable unit from NASA shows learners why it's important to consider food, nutrition, and health in space. Four lessons explore the idea in great depth, including testing cookie recipes. Along the way,...

Ready to have an a-MAZE-ing time teaching electrostatics? Introduce physical science superstars to an engaging resource that tests their knowledge of attractive and repulsive forces. Pupils change the charge of a ball to guide it through...

Looking for a quick way to supercharge your electricity and magnetism unit? Assign a very responsive interactive designed to illustrate the relationship between charge, electric field, and the resulting forces. Learners experiment with...

See the underwater world through a different pair of eyes! Middle school marine biologists identify deep-sea organisms by examining images taken by an ROV from the Okeanos Explorer. After determining what creatures lie beneath the...

Have you ever stretched out a Slinkie so much it wouldn't go back to its original shape? Slinkies, like all springs, follow Hooke's Law. A simulation uses springs and masses to demonstrate kinetic, potential, and thermal energy. It...

Did you get to play with electric currents or were you grounded? An electrifying simulation shows how building up a charge of electricity creates a static shock once grounded. Pupils rub John's foot across the carpet and view the buildup...

Have you ever wanted to turn off gravity? This simulation allows learners to do just that in addition to altering other variables. Scholars can move the sun, Earth, moon, and space station to see how distance affects gravitational pull....

A realistic simulation uses charts to show forces, position, velocity, and acceleration versus time based on how the simulation is set up. Once those concepts are mastered, scholars use free body diagrams to explain how each graph...

Could a flux capacitor really work? An engaging simulation encourages scholars to investigate Faraday's law. They experiment with various speeds, magnitude, voltage, and different-sized coils. Hopefully experimenters will be able to...

Why do experiments require a control? Guide scholars through designing an experiment to see what they can do to evaporate water faster with a lesson plan that stresses the importance of controlling all variables. The second activity...

An educational lesson focuses on the idea of conservation of matter through a demonstration of the water cycle, a discussion of digesting food, and the path of carbon and oxygen atoms as they change form. 

Yeast and sugar go beyond the pantry and into a fuel experiment. Use these common baking ingredients to assist your class in creating ethanol, a natural fuel. Pupils observe the process and gather information to elaborate...

Scientists need to figure out how to measure interplanetary magnetic fields, but the magnetic field of the spacecraft is interfering with their readings. Scholars attempt to solve the problem that has perplexed NASA scientists for years.

Don't lift another finger, this physical and environmental science unit has everything you need to begin teaching your class about energy. Starting with a look at the greenhouse effect, these lessons and activities take young scientists...

Planning a unit on simple machines? Save some time and energy with this collection of lessons and activities that explores how these devices are used in the real world to make life a little easier. 

To gain an understanding of the significance of Galileo Galilei's revolutionary ideas, class members watch the short video "Stargazing Before Galileo," and conduct a close reading of Galileo's Sidereal Messsenger. They then...

What is an emergency, why is preparing for one important, and how can your pupils help others prepare for an emergency? Answer these questions and more with a short unit. Learners will participate in a variety of collaborative,...

The threat posed by super volcanoes is explored in a short video that reviews the destruction caused by Mount Tambora in 1815 and by Peru's Huaynaputina in 1600. Think it can't happen again? The narrator contends that the explosive...

Who says scientists are boring geeks? Certainly not the narrator of a short video who dishes up the scandals associated with Tycho Brahe, a Danish scientist and alchemist (now that's two labels you don't often see together) who used...

Conclude this chemical change unit by having your class combine two liquids that result in formation of a precipitate. The learners discover that chemical reactions result in new materials. Make sure to consider all of the preceding...

Upcoming chemists use chemical reactions to determine relative pH in two different acids. This is a terrific lesson for middle schoolers that can stand alone as a practice in precision and lab skills, or as part of the unit on chemical...

Getting back to the beginning of the unit, learners use reactions with red cabbage juice to determine if solutions are acidic, neutral, or basic. This is a straightforward and classic investigation, but what you will appreciate is the...

Alone, or as part of the intended unit on chemical reactions, this activity allows learners to experience an exothermic reaction. Here, learners add calcium chloride to a baking soda solution and watch the temperature rise! They will...

Though the publisher designated this unit for use with third through eighth grades, this particular lesson plan would be best used with middle schoolers due to the specific measurement skills required. Basically, they set up the reaction...