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Book Chapter
In this lab, students will experience the interaction of charged objects. Students should realize that the phrase “opposites attract” isn’t exactly correct. It is not just positively and negatively charged objects that are attracted. Positively...
Book Chapter
This inquiry activity is performed before students understand the difference between current and voltage. Students also determine the procedure themselves and design the data chart and graph on their own. This makes it Level 3 inquiry. The lab introd...
Book Chapter
This activity is inquiry-based in that students will perform the activity before they formally learn about how objects can become charged with static electricity (induction, contact, etc.). This will allow the teacher to refer to this activity when t...
Book Chapter
The number of batteries used in this lab is determined by the type of lightbulbs that are used. A 3 V lightbulb will require two batteries. Students should perform this activity after being instructed how to use the multimeter. Instructions will vary...
Book Chapter
An LED should never be connected directly to a battery or it will be damaged. A current-limiting resistor must be attached to either leg to prevent this damage. The value of the resistor will depend on the battery that you use and the LED that you us...
Book Chapter
This activity is inquiry-based in that students will perform the activity before they formally learn about how a switch works. They will use a multimeter to discover the different settings on a triple-throw switch. The teacher should show the student...
Book Chapter
This lab is between a Level 2 and Level 3 inquiry activity in that it should be assigned after students understand acceleration but before they learn about the acceleration gravity. Because there are many sources of error when using a pendulum, stude...
Book Chapter
In this investigation, students will construct electromagnets and test to see which variables make them stronger. Although elementary and middle school teachers are expected to have done this activity with their classes, teachers of younger students ...
Book Chapter
This activity will introduce students to the idea of magnetic field lines—a concept they have probably encountered but may not fully grasp. Completing this activity and reading the corresponding background information should enable students to unde...
Book Chapter
Resistance is how much an object resists the flow of electrons. This depends on the material (its resistivity) and the size and shape of the sample being tested. In this lab, students will determine whether resistance is directly or indirectly relate...
Book Chapter
Students can easily see what series resistance means in this activity. Students are sometimes confused by the fact that all real resistors are the same size even when they have far different values. It is recommended that after this lab at home, stud...
Book Chapter
Students will measure the resistance of resistors that they have drawn on paper with a graphite pencil. They will then connect two resistors in parallel and measure the resistance of the combination. In this activity, it is important that students co...
Book Chapter
It is important for students to understand how resistors, capacitors, and batteries combine in series and parallel. The combination of batteries has a lot of practical applications in science competitions. This lab also reinforces how to use a voltme...
Book Chapter
This lab is not an inquiry activity. There are some students whose reaction times will not allow them to catch a 12 inch ruler. They may use a dowel, stick, strip of cardboard, etc. Although the students are led to believe that the point of the lab i...
Book Chapter
This lab is an inquiry activity in that students have not been exposed to the idea of terminal velocity, though they are using skills that they already have to analyze the balloon’s motion. The lab is both a review of graphing and translating dista...
Book Chapter
This inquiry activity is used after students have learned how to calculate kinetic and potential energy but before they learn about conservation of energy. It is important for students to repeat the measurement three times because it is not easy to m...
eBook
Take-Home Physics: 65 High-Impact, Low-Cost Labs (e-Book)
Take-Home Physics is an excellent resource for high school physics teachers who want to devote more classroom time to complex concepts while challenging their students with hands-on homework assignments. This volume presents 65 take-home physics labs...
eBook
Assessing Science Learning: Perspectives From Research and Practice (e-book)
This book contains many essays and multiple examples of meaningful science assessment practices they explore. The collations of essays reflect work with socioeconomically and ethnically diverse populations to better understand the attributes of equit...
eBook
Exemplary Science in Grades 5-8: Standards-Based Success Stories (e-book)
Do the Standards really matter in middle school? Nine years after the National Science Education Standards’ release, just how well do science teachers in grades 5 to 8 actually use them to plan content, define improved teaching, and assess real lea...
eBook
Exemplary Science: Best Practices in Professional Development (e-book)
This collection of 16 essays is ideal for staff development providers (university faculty, district supervisors, lead teachers, and principals) as well as preservice science methods instructors. Each essay describes a specific program designed to tra...
NSTA Press Book
Activities Linking Science With Math, K-4
Science does not exist in a vacuum and, therefore, shouldn’t be taught that way. In that spirit, Activities Linking Science With Math, K-4, is a hands-on guide for preservice and inservice elementary school teachers who want to connect science inst...
By John Eichinger
Book Chapter
PISA: An Introduction and Overview
For most science teachers, the term PISA evokes images of a leaning tower in an Italian city, but PISA also is an acronym for a major international assessment of students. In 2006, the primary assessment domain of PISA was science. This chapter provi...
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Book Chapter
This simple but engaging activity about texture is for students in grades K–4. Textures are all around us, and they are important to our everyday activities—consider a piece of sandpaper, a cheese grater, or the soles of your shoes. As students b...
Book Chapter
Investigating the Properties of Magnets
In this activity, younger students encounter, discuss, and apply the basic characteristics of magnets and magnetism as they explore and elaborate on their experiences. Student groups implement some of the terminology and concepts appropriate to the s...
Book Chapter
Applying Simple Chromatography
This activity involves chemistry, mystery, colors, and measurement. Students observe the composition of various inks by separating them via water-based chromatography. Students use what they learn about chromatography to solve a mystery involving a s...
Book Chapter
Investigating Surface Tension and Soap
You students encounter soap and water every day and the activity in this chapter helps them learn something new about both substances. Students find out why water can actually overfill a cup without spilling and why soap makes dust or dirt particles ...
Book Chapter
Learning About Acids and Bases
The chemistry of acids and bases is a fundamental area of study in the physical sciences. The following activity is really two exercises in one. First, students learn to distinguish between acids and bases using various color-changing indicator solut...
Book Chapter
For this Earth science investigation, students examine the composition of soil samples taken from three different depths at the same location. Students answer questions such as “How do the three samples compare? How does the soil feel? Look? Smell?...
Book Chapter
In this activity, students examine garden variety rocks, classifying them based on observable properties. This lesson teaches students not only about rocks but also about how to take a closer look at objects and materials that they encounter every da...
Book Chapter
Students learn what evaporation is and how various factors—time, heat, surface area, and wind—affect it. They also discover that water does not always evaporate at the same rate and saltwater leaves something behind when it evaporates. Finally, s...
Book Chapter
Examining Colors, Color Perception, and Sight
Students of all ages are fascinated by color and how we perceive it. For the main activity in this chapter, your class explores colors and visual perception by mixing colors in several ways. Students learn more about colors, light, vision, and color ...
Book Chapter
Exploring the Mysteries of Fingerprints
This activity combines a variety of processes and skills into an investigation of something near and dear to your students—their fingers. Math and science blend seamlessly as students observe, compare, and apply their ideas about fingerprints....
Book Chapter
Making Prints From Fruits and Vegetables
Students may be familiar with eating fruits and vegetables, but have they ever taken a really close look at the anatomy of those specimens? In this activity, students have an opportunity to explore aspects of the internal and external anatomy of prod...
Book Chapter
What Do You See? Visual Observation
The famous New York Yankee catcher Yogi Berra once said, “You can observe a lot just by watching.” This activity helps strengthen students’ skills in a fundamental aspect of mathematics and science: visual observation. Students carefully examin...
Book Chapter
Examining Serial Sections of an Apple
In this activity, students make serial sections of an apple. Students make cross-section prints of the top portion of the apple, then another print further into the apple, and so on until they get to the bottom of the apple. This serial sectioning te...
Book Chapter
Science and Math on Television
Students certainly enjoy watching television, and they traditionally favor shows about science, mathematics, and technology. Consider the popularity of MythBusters, Bill Nye the Science Guy, National Geographic Explorer, and, of course, the old favor...