Students, working in groups, create "artificial seeds" for a wind dispersal experiment. After trial runs, they redesign their seeds, and re-test them under the same conditions. Finally, they interpret, compare, and evaluate the original...

Young academics create a current events journal by skimming newspapers for articles that fit defined guidelines for informational texts. After cutting out two articles each week to add to their journals, they write a brief description of...

Help youngsters get to know their states and capitals, explore their own country, and study American symbolism. They take a "trip" across America collecting symbols, images, and information about each state as they go (through text and...

Do you know how the population has grown of your community? Can you predict the population over the next half century? Can we find an algebraic model that matches our data? These along with many more questions can be researched by...

Students extract DNA and test for its presence from unroasted (raw) wheat germ using a prescribed procedure. They modify the procedure to provide a less expensive, easier method. They also extract DNA from different available plant,...

Students investigate how rocks are modified into construction materials. In this building up and breaking down lesson plan, students explore what happens to building materials over time and how people modify natural materials. Students...

Students, in hands-on activities, explore how a dump truck might be made to negatively accelerate or slow down. They participate in activities using friction force to modify the truck-and-ramp system. Student groups test ideas for...

Ninth graders use a spring scale to drag an object such as a ceramic coffee cup along a table top or the floor. The spring scale allows them to measure the frictional force that exists between the moving cup and the surface it slides on....

Children gain first-hand experience with Native American agriculture while investigating the life cycle of plants with this engaging experiment. Focusing on what the natives called the Three Sisters - corn, beans, and squash - young...

Middle schoolers observe and discuss several different fractal drawings and relate them to patterns they see in nature. They use an online fractal tool to create and modify a fractal image and then create their own fractal image with...

Students study changes in the environment using a microscale experiment. In this environmental science lesson, students construct a modified "Winogradsky Column" to observe bacteria activities. They record observations and formulate a...

Students play a modified game of hangman. One students is the drawer and the other the communicator. They also experiment playing the game in which both students can talk.

Learners examine the food web of the kangaroo. They discover the consequences of modifying ecosystems and discuss the issue of kangaroo culling. They view this issue from different viewpoints.

Students examine the positive benefits and negative consequences of genetically modified organisms following a lecture covering key biotech concepts and techniques. Students then conduct and experiment comparing the travel rate of...

In a simulated crime science investigation, chemistry or physics sleuths use spectroscopy to analyze solutions. The lesson gives learners practice making salicylate solutions, using spectrophotometers, calculating dilution amounts,...

High school learners read and discuss an article about genetic ancestry and genetic ancestry testing. They complete a paper and pencil activity that mimics the function of a DNA microarray and consider the ethics of genetic testing in...

Students compare their perceptions of risk to the perceptions of scientists and risk professionals. in small groups, they evaluate risks on a scale of 1 to 10 for the average American on a yearly basis.

As an anticipatory set, young environmental technicians watch a video about how ocean temperatures seem to be changing along with the global climate. They perform a laboratory demonstration with the purpose of observing what happens to...

How did scientists determine the cause of illness before technology? Science scholars play the role of medical researcher in an engaging guided inquiry activity. Using observations, technical reading, and Punnett squares, learners...

Students participate in an investigation in which they compare a polyethylene bag designed for recycling or disposal with a polyethylene food storage bag. Students use hexane to determine the differences between the low density...

Learners identify and analyze land use changes over time with historical aerial photographs. They classify different land use into categories.

Investigators collect the carbon dioxide produced when an antacid tablet is activated and identify what alteration produced the most gas. They also collect the gas in a buret in order to practice precision. Then they choose between two...

Students conduct qualitative and quantitative investigations based on the interaction between water and various polymers. They determine the percent moisture contained in various plastics along with a qualitative procedure to determine...

Students participate in lab activities in which they examine immersion, stain resistance, and stress cracking of synthetic polymers. Students use their collected data to discuss service applications and possible performance of materials.