Curated OER
Build a battery holder
In this battery holder instructional activity, learners follow directions on how to use a toilet paper tube, foil, wires, and more to build a battery holder. Students follow 8 sets of directions.
Nikola Tesla documentary student worksheet
Texas State Energy Conservation Office
Investigation: Making a PV Cell
Rise and shine! Class members collaborate to construct a photovoltaic solar cell with two semiconductor layers, as guided by this fabulous lab sheet. They test its output with an ammeter or galvanometer.
Curated OER
Daniell Cell
Students explain how Daniell cells work. In this electrochemistry lesson, students conduct a variety of experiments to explore the different types of cells. They create a model of Daniell cell.
Curated OER
The Blues, B.B. King, Muddy Waters
B.B. King and Muddy Waters are two of the most famous blues performers of all time. In this music instructional activity, middle schoolers study the early careers and lasting musical contributions of both artists, each of whom carried...
Memorial Art Gallery
Learning to Look, Looking to Learn - Peeling Onions
Lilly Martin Spencer's "Peeling Onions" is the subject of a series of exercises that model for learners how to use the elements of art to read a painting. A series of worksheets focus viewers' attention on how Spencer uses...
Memorial Art Gallery
Learning to Look, Looking to Learn - Sunday Morning
Jerome Myers' depiction of the urban landscape in "Sunday Morning" is the focus of a series of activities that asks viewers to examine how an artist uses the elements of a painting to tell a story. The resource packet includes an...
Teach Engineering
Solar Power
Elementary schoolers discover how engineers use solar energy to heat buildings. They take a close look at some of the materials used: sand, salt, water, and shredded paper and evaluate the efficiency of each material. An incredible...
Curated OER
Green Classroom Audit
Students audit their classroom for environmentally friendly practices. In this "green" lesson, students take an inventory of the classroom and identify ways to improve practices. Students complete a worksheet, brainstorm new ideas for...
Curated OER
Planetary Place Value
Third graders explore place value to the ten thousands place. This incredibly thorough, 24-page lesson has learners construct, order, and compare numbers to 9,999. This three-day lesson includes reteaching and extension activities...
Curated OER
Creating Biodiesel and Mitigating Waste
Biotechnology pros produce their own biofuel using waste oil and fresh vegetable oil. They test the quality of their product using titration techniques and pH analysis. They write their observations and report their findings. Be aware...
Curated OER
Marking Time
Two narrative excerpts tell the same story from different points of view. In the first excerpt (first person), sequencing words and phrases are bolded and learners write down what the bold type does. The second excerpt is in third...
Teach Engineering
Racing With the Sun - Creating a Solar Car
Here's an exciting and innovative lesson that's sure to get your charges fired up! In it, they use engineering design principles to construct and test a fully solar powered car. One caveat: the kits that each group needs to make their...
Texas State Energy Conservation Office
Investigation: Crank It Up!
Following this procedure, eager engineers construct a working model of a piston system, similar to that in an internal combustion engine. Perfect for STEM or automotive technology classes, the activity comes complete with analysis and...
Captain Planet Foundation
Solar Cooking Race
Study heat transfer with activities that focus on how heat energy works. Using a solar cooker, ice cubes, and heat transfer bracelets, kids experiment and record what they find by keeping ice cubes cold and vegetables hot.
Montgomery County Public Schools
Summer Journal Ideas
Twenty prompts, fifteen starters, and ten situations. What more could you ask for from a list of journal ideas?
Common Sense Press
The Sign of the Beaver Vocabulary
A series of activities based on Elizabeth George Speare's The Sign of The Beaver takes your class through vocabulary, reading comprehension, and literary analysis. A good packet or collection of assignments for a reading circle.
American Museum of Natural History
What's This? Sensing
There is a scallop that relies on sight so much that it actually has more than 100 eyes! There are many species that rely heavily on one sense or another. An online interactive resource has youth read about several of these animals. The...
Curated OER
Uses of Coal
An interesting series of puzzles and word games are available in this multi-page collection, which focuses on coal. Learners practice math and language arts skills as they solve the puzzles, and learn many facts about coal at the same time.
Teach Engineering
Water Power
Young hydrologists observe a waterwheel which helps them investigate the transformations of energy that occur when the blades of a hydro-turbine are turning. They work together in pairs and pretend to be engineers who are building a new...
Texas State Energy Conservation Office
Investigation: Water Wheel
Middle school scientists construct a working water wheel from an aluminum pie pan. Because of the sharp edges on the cut aluminum, this activity is for mature learners only. You could have your class compete to see whose wheel can lift...
Texas State Energy Conservation Office
Investigation: Building a Parabolic-Trough Collector
Amateurs of alternative energy build a mini parabolic-trough solar energy collector and use it to heat water. Temperature is recorded over a three-minute period and the data is graphed and analyzed. Note that in order to paint aquarium...
Exploratorium
Magnetic Pendulums
Passing a copper wire coil through a magnetic field influences another coil to also sway. It is with this demonstration that you can teach your physical science fans about electromagnetism. Note that the assembly requires about an hour,...
Curated OER
Metals and Non-Metals
A table of the physical properties of metals and non-metals opens this high-school chemistry handout. Also covered are the chemical properties of metals and non-metals, reactivity, and fossil fuels. There are no specific questions to...