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...

Students recognize epoxy glue formation as two part polymerization (usually the curing agents act as co-monomers). They monitor the reaction by the changes in viscosity of the reacting mass, the temperature rise and fall, and the...

Students are introduced to a gas chromatography using a discovery-based approach. They are presented with a scenario/industrial application where their job is to verify that the company's mouthwash contains a specific percentage of...

Students recover latent prints by iodine fuming, cyanoacrylate fuming, and dusting with powder, after a lecture/discussion on fingerprinting techniques. They each provide a fingerprint for identification by another student. A database of...

Tenth graders distinguish between acids and bases. For this pH lesson, 10th graders view a PowerPoint and discuss the characteristics of an acid and a base. They investigate natural substances to determine the pH level of each.

Young scholars investigate the spectroscopic colors unique to elements, and to use this information to create a specific color. They follow a detailed schematic to produce a spectroscpoe to be used in the testing.

A kaleidoscope is constructed using polarizing polymer paper and then low-density polyethylene, high-density polyethylene, and polypropylene are all melted onto individual glass slides and examined through a microscope. The intent is to...

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...

Young scholars calculate the volume of a specific mass of water placed in selected pieces of common laboratory glassware, using the density formula. They then determine the accuracy of the volumetric measurement for selected pieces of...

Seventh graders become museum conservators and undertake the hypothetical restoration of an ancient American work of art. Groups design a plan for reconstructing the work of art, outlining the steps they need to take and the materials...

Future chemists practice laboratory techniques by creating a monochloramine solution. The objectives are to use of dilution, 9concentration, and measurement skills and to prepare a solution that will be used in a water treatment...

Middle-schoolers still enjoy playing with bubbles! In this series of eight laboratory activities, science learners explore convex and concave surfaces, angles, gas laws, buoyancy, density and more! 

Students explore about propagation of error in calculations using experimental data. They develop their weighing and pipetting techniques. Students explore the following terms: Standard deviation and relative standard deviatin. They...

Students in this inquiry-based experiment, put in the role of a method development chemist. The scenario they are given is that a train wreck has occurred resulting in a chemical spill. Students are told that the spill mixture consists...

Students investigate that chemicals may affect different people in different ways. They also realize that their perceptions of dangerous materials may not be realistic and that the news media may not provide all the information needed to...

Over several days, learners communicate and defend an argument regarding environmental justice issues in Chester, PA. After discussing the issue and viewing a video about the location of several toxic waste facilities in Chester, they...

Students participate in an activity in which they investigate the scientific method and seed germination as well as practice graphing and metric measuring skills. Students examine toxicity by exposing Wisconsin Fast Plants seeds to toxic...

Students work in groups to prepare a brief broadcast or print news report from one of five possible viewpoints about an environmental contamination scenario. Students are given basic information about a chemical spill in a small town and...

Beginning biologists place a drop of food coloring into water of differing temperatures to observe the effect on the diffusion rate. They remove the shells from raw eggs and then experiment with osmosis over the remaining membranes....

Students examine potential contamination on the environment due to products and by-products of a new industrial process. Students conduct a lab that explores the economic differences between choices of pollution cleanup and prevention.

Students examine elastomeric polymers in a lab activity in which they design a bungee cord. Students must determine the tensile strength, percent elongation, and plot stress versus strain graphs for their experiments on rubber bands...

Students are introduced to how the differences in solubility of materials are used in the manufacture of fibers and films. They are also introduced to the various processes used to make films and fibers. Pupils prepare fibers using wet...

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.