Lessons
Blast Off
BuoyANT Behavior
Centripetal Force
Chalk Fizz
Eggs’ceptional Experiments
Moo-velous Butter!
Mystery Eggs
Nailing Rust
Pop Rocket—Trash to Treasure
The Magical Diving Sub
What Is Viscosity?
Wild and Wonderful Weather
Lesson Descriptions |
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| Blast Off |
Students use a toy cannon constructed of a film canister to explore the effects of volume and temperature on the pressure of gases.
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BuoyANT Behavior
Students observe and predict the floating behavior of an egg placed in tap water and saltwater. They learn the terms "observant" and "buoyant." Students complete lists of other words ending in "ANT," and read several books about ants. Extensions are also provided for language arts, mathematics, and social studies.
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Centripetal Force
In this lesson students create a string toy to experiment with centripetal force. Cross-curricular activities in language arts, social studies, and math are included.
Requires activities published in Teaching Physics with TOYS.
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Chalk Fizz
In this lesson students experiment with acids and their effects on the calcium carbonate in chalk. Cross-curricular activities in language arts, social studies, and math are included.
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Eggs’ceptional Experiments
Students see evidence of chemical reaction and follow the scientific method to hypothesize, observe, and reach conclusions. Lesson plans are included for cross-curricular integration into language arts, math, and social studies. All of these experiments are tied together through a day of "eggs’ceptional experiments" introduced by the book Rechenka’s Eggs by Patricia Pollacco.
Requires activities published in Teaching Physical Science through Children’s Literature, Fun with Chemistry, Vol. 2 from the Institute for Chemical Education, and Investigating Solids, Liquids, and Gases with TOYS.
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Moo-velous Butter!
Students investigate how temperature and motion (energy) create a chemical change that turns cream (a liquid) into butter (a solid). Students create a class pictograph of their favorite milk choices (white, chocolate, or strawberry) and draw a bar chart of the data; they read the books No Moon, No Milk! and The Milk Makers; and they study the production of milk and careers in the dairy.
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Mystery Eggs
This Science Day lesson plan used the "Mystery Eggs" activity as an introduction to the water cycle and a weather unit. This fourth-grade cross-curricular lesson includes science, language arts, mathematics, art, and social studies.
Requires activities published in Investigating Solids, Liquids, and Gases with TOYS.
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Nailing Rust
The students are grouped in pairs and go on a walking tour of the school grounds. They look for evidence of physical and chemical changes and record their findings on a Change Chart.
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Pop Rocket—Trash to Treasure
Students design a paper rocket propelled by an effervescent antacid tablet and water in a film canister. They use scrap paper to construct the body of the rocket and observe how various designs affect the height the rocket reaches. The lesson demonstrates Newton’s third law of motion, with students observing an action creating an opposite reaction. Students theorize variables that might change the force or action.
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The Magical Diving Sub
In this two-day exploration, students use their background knowledge of how scientists’ work to discuss and predict if a given object will sink or float.
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What Is Viscosity?
In this lesson students experiment with the viscosity of corn syrup, mineral oil, vegetable oil, water, and honey. Cross-curricular activities in language arts, social studies, and math are included.
Requires activities published in Science Projects for Holidays Throughout the Year.
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Wild and Wonderful Weather
In this lesson, students learn what clouds are, why rain comes from clouds, and other facts about weather. Students make cloud bottles and create rain gauges and other weather instruments. This lesson also includes numerous cross-curricular activities linking weather topics with art, citizenship, mathematics, reading, and writing. Students read Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain, by Verna Aardema, and The Rains Are Coming, by Sanna Stanley.
Requires activities published in Teaching Physical Science through Children’s Literature.