I have developed lessons designed primarily for middle and high school students in science. These labs have been classroom tested for many years. Awards 2007-2005 Professional Learning Grant from the Waltham Chamber of Commerce 2001, and my name is on Mars 2001 Mars Rover for my contributions to NASA educational system.
I have developed lessons designed primarily for middle and high school students in science. These labs have been classroom tested for many years. Awards 2007-2005 Professional Learning Grant from the Waltham Chamber of Commerce 2001, and my name is on Mars 2001 Mars Rover for my contributions to NASA educational system.
A quick fun lab to teach students about the speed of falling objects. Perfect for a physics class. There is no prep or clean up involved. Students will understand gravity after performing this lab.
Written in word so you can easily make changes for your class!
Protect the egg!!! **
The first lesson aims to inspire your students through an exciting STEM challenge: they will design and construct a car for the grumpy Humpy Dumpty! Their designs must adhere to Newton’s Three Laws of Motion. Students will thoroughly enjoy exploring how mass and force influence motion in this captivating and informative STEM project.
Using Newton’s Laws of Motion, Engineering Design Processes, students will design, build and test a car made of materials selected by you to protect their egg when the car crashes into the wall!
Racing to Measure
If you send a toy car down a ramp at what ramp angle will the car travel the farthest when it hits the ground? Use your protractor and your tape measure to find out.
Start by setting up a series of ramps at different angles. Make sure each ramp is securely positioned to ensure accurate and repeatable results. Measure and record the angle of each ramp using your protractor.
Next, release the toy car from the top of each ramp and let it travel down and off the end. Use your tape measure to record the distance the car travels from the end of the ramp to the point where it first contacts the ground. Repeat this process several times for each angle to ensure consistency and reliability in your measurements.
Analyze your data to determine which ramp angle allowed the toy car to travel the farthest distance. You may find that there is an optimal angle that provides the best balance of speed and trajectory for maximum travel distance. This experiment will help you understand the principles of physics, such as gravity, friction, and motion, that influence the car’s performance.
https://youtube.com/shorts/bMBWzRklgBE?si=c9fnLKkL2_9DUdSm
The following standards are listed
PS3.A: Definitions of Energy
PS3.B: Conservation of Energy and Energy Transfer
PS3.C: Relationship Between Energy and Forces
PS3.D: Energy in Chemical Processes and Everyday Life
This lab can be used in chemistry, health, physics, or Earth Science class.
Students will learn the effects of evaporation on cooling. Materials are items found in every science class. They will fill in a chart with their data to discover the information for themselves. A worksheet is included to check your students; understanding.
Materials
2 Thermometers
2 Pieces of dry cloth
Water
*Answer key is provided
https://youtu.be/yajQdRwxCi4
Here is a fun lab to use this popular toy to teach your high school chemistry and physics students thermodynamics in simple yet very important experimental techniques in this lab.
Included is
Explanation of how this bird acts as a heat engine
4 Labs
directions on how to make your own drinking bird
Lab questions with an answer key
Apply the concept of significant figures to limit measurement to the proper number of digits.
Recognize the number of significant figures in a given quantity. Limit mathematical results to the proper number of significant figures.
Are you looking for a fun activity to motivate your high school students to learn significant digits?
Included
Summary of the rules
10 practice problems
3 Engaging Worksheets
A complete answer key is provided
Keep one of the worksheets as a review or a sub plan!
Total Pages
6 pages
Answer Key
Included
Teaching Duration
2 hours
Are you looking for a fun way to motivate your students to learn about concave/convex lenses and how they work? This is an important concept for both Astronomy and Biology.
This product can be used as Observations Stations where they have 15 minutes to experiment before they move to the next table.I have also taught this lesson as a lab one day for a week.They both work equally well and help to keep your students on task.
Materials
6 Magnifying Glasses
Piece of white paper
Window
Rolled piece of paper
Very sharp knives such as box cutter
Tennis Ball
The plastic container is just slightly larger than the ball
Distilled water (from grocery stores or pharmacies)
Flat page with printed words such as a piece of newspaper or a page cut from a magazine.
Plastic wrap
Large metal spoon
The lamp with the shade removed shows just the bare bulb.
2 Lens from a par of drugstore reading glasses (+1.00, +1.25 or +1.50 strength)
Painter’s tape or masking tape
1 Sheet of white copy paper
Tape measure
Magnifying glass
Small rectangular mirror
Sheets of paper
Colored marker pens
Magnifying Glass
Piece of white paper
Window
1 sheet of white copy paper
Tape measure
Description
Are you teaching your students the planet’s size, density, and tO distance from the sun? This interesting hands-on project will motivate your students to learn and apply math concepts to science.
This product contains
Directed Reading
2 Mini Labs
Lab A Compare the size of planets to the size of certain objects in the real world
Lab B Pennies and Coke Cans (One of my all-time favorite activities)
Walking to the Rocky Planets (Get your students outside, active, and review math skills)
MATERIALS
Permanent marker
11 clean empty 12-ounce (340g) aluminum soda cans
Masking tape or duct tape
1,100 pennies ($11 in pennies coins
1 Full, unopened can of the same liquid
Permanent marker
11 clean empty 12-ounce (340g) aluminum soda cans
Masking tape or duct tape
1,100 pennies ($11 in pennies coins
1 Full, unopened can of the same liquid
1-meter stick
1 yogurt cup
1 large nail
1 small nail
Total Pages
15 pages
Grade 8 STEM labs
Are you having trouble explaining the phases of the Moon?
PRODUCTS CONTAINS
Moon Observations Sheets
Directions to find an estimate of the Moon’s angular height
Two Classroom Labs
Tables of names of Full Moons of the AbenakiNortheast, Maine, and the early English Settlers . Students can see what was important to each settlement . Great lesson to combine history and science.
In the labs, your students will understand the reason why we do not ever see the Dark Side of the moon The earth’s position relative to the moon is demonstrated. This lab has been classroom-tested for over 40 with several teachers. There is a very easy setup and no mess to clean afterward.
MATERIALS
Sheet of newspaper
Cup with handle
Ball or balloon wrapped in aluminum foil (the Moon)
Flashlight (the Sun)
Darkened Room
Friend
In my years of teaching, I have found be the best labs to explain to middle school students the motions of the moon around the Earth. Included is a student worksheet to make sure that your pupils do not leave without an understanding of this concept.
Total Pages
12 pages
Answer Key
Included
Teaching Duration
1 Week
https://youtube.com/shorts/RvZXELdSQJY?si=6VKU4MYVBceTJkCp
Description
Are you having a hard time teaching your students about the constellations in the night sky? Here is your answer. Classroom-tested for many years. Students have informed me years later that they still look at the night sky.
Complete discussion questions with answers to engage your students!
Objectives
Become familiar with the constellations visible in the Northern Hemisphere
Observe the constellations visible on a particular night.
Your students will learn how to make an astrolabe and star charts.
Included also 3 labs.
Detailed instructions on how to make star grazing safe.
2 Graphic organizers which students can complete for extra credit or keep as emergency sub plans.
Materials
Large Index Card
Protractor
String 30 cm
Large Metal Hex Nut
Tape
Plastic Drinking Straw
Magnetic compass
Drawing compass
Construction paper
Colored pencils
Protractor
Metric ruler
Tennis ball
Basket Ball or soccer ball
Bunsen burner
Googles
Picture Wire
Pliers
SCI.K.8.C
Earth and space. The student knows that there are recognizable patterns in the natural world and among objects in the sky. The student is expected to: observe, describe, and illustrate objects in the sky such as the clouds, Moon, and stars, including the Sun.
Total Pages
19 pages
Answer Key
Included
Teaching Duration
2 Weeks
This is the perfect resource to help explain to your students the main facts about the inside of a thunderstorm. All the major parts of what causes the storm to develop is explained. Students can use this sheet for
A. Homework
B. Extra Credit
C. Help visual learners understand
D. To decorate your room
Why use graphic organizers? It helps my students organize their notes, so we don’t need to spend a lot of time on them.
Coloring is a technique that should be used in all grade levels because there is research that shows that it helps us to retain information on a deeper level. Coloring activates both sides of the brain’s hemisphere to help us remember, concentrate, solve problems, and use our fine motor skills to fill in each section.
Studies show that adding images with notes increases retention by 30% with their
study guides
Conversations naturally start among the students. When we color, we do not need to concentrate as fully on the task as we would if we were completing a worksheet or writing a report. This frees us up for, well, talking.
A fun lesson using your i phone to learn about Moon details and the rotation around the earth Students will learn new technology skills and discover that the sun and the moon has the same movement in our sky. Both rise in the east and set in the western sky.
Common core standards are listed
Total Pages
5 pages
Answer Key
Included
Teaching Duration
1 hour
Students design and create containers that will keep one standard-sized ice cubes in their solid form for a set period of time. The winner is the person who creates the container that keeps the ice cube solid for the longest period of time.
Ribbon Templates are included for first, second, and third prize
After the actual “Great Ice Cube Melt” students will analyze what worked and what did not
Take the classic STEM challenge to the next level. Question Can you build a better cooler that can hold ice colder longer? This lab is an application of the engineering process. Also, includes
Engineering
Geometry
Ratios
Critical thinking
Materials are common items around the home
No prep for you but lots of science for your students.
Students learn and apply concepts in thermodynamics and energy—mainly convection, conduction, and radiation— to solve a challenge. This is accomplished by splitting students into teams and having them follow the engineering design process to design and build a small insulated box, with the goal of keeping an ice cube frozen
This is a fun lab for students to learn important constellations. Clear step by step instructions with materials found in every classroom. Lessons has been classroom tested for many years.!
Are you looking for Back to School Activities to teach/review lab safety. Look no further.
Here is a fun and engaging way to review lab safety with your students. Also works great to decorate your room. Use it for extra credit or to teach how to act in a lab. Fully editable
No Prep!
Total Pages
1 page
Answer Key
Rubric only
Teaching Duration
30 minutes
This lab can be used in a chemistry, health, physics or Earth Science class.
Students will learn the effects of evaporation on cooling. Materials are items found in every science class. They will fill in a chart with their data to discover the information for themselves. A worksheet is included to check your students; understanding.
*Answer key is provided
Your students will have a terrific time in this activity when they model the different size of the planets. This lesson will enable you to teach your students the differences in the sizes of the planets using everyday objects. Classroom tested!
This lesson is fully editable.
**Fun lab
**
Your students will love making a thunderstorm at their lab stations
This lesson can be used for teaching a unit on weather or your high school physics class.
Contains 2 readings
Lab
Oral questions for you to ask with answers included
Objectives
Model the buildup of charges that can occur during a storm
Model a Lightning Strike
Use a ground to control the path of discharge
Materials
Modeling clay
2 Aluminum pie pans
Foam plate
Wool cloth
Paper Clip
Total Pages
9 pages
Answer Key
N/A
Teaching Duration
1 hour****
The incredible power of magnets is illustrated in two engaging labs hands-on labs. Clear and easy-to-follow editable lab worksheet
Included is a reading for students to fully understand the power of magnets
Students will discover that magnets are attracted to special metals.
Objectives
Magnets attract and repel other magnets.
What makes some materials magnetic
Materials
Wide mouth jar
Book
Magnet
Compass
Eisco Labs Floating Ring Magnet Set with Wooden Base
Total Pages
7 pages
Answer Key
Included
Teaching Duration
45 minutes