Students observe demonstrations, and build and evaluate simple models to understand the greenhouse effect and the role of increased greenhouse gas concentration in global warming.
Why are some substances liquids, while others are solids? Why are some substances harder than others? Why is water essential for life on Earth? This pathway provides resources for answering these questions by looking at the types of intermolecular foces that exist between particles, and the effect that these forces have on the macroscopic properties of substances.
While building and testing model rockets fueled by antacid tablets, students are introduced to the basic physics concepts on how rockets work. Students revise and improve their initial designs. Note: This activity is similar to the elementary-level film canister rockets activity, but adapted for middle school students.
A series of interactive applets use scientific models to teach some basic concepts of matter, including states of matter and physical and chemical changes.
How can you lift a heavy metal table using air? In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, cast members succeed in lifting a table using their own breath and a few plastic bags.
Chemistry is often defined as the science of matter and how it changes. This pathway introduces the composition of matter and the physical and chemical changes it can undergo.
This lesson explores the drag force on airplanes. The students will be introduced to the concept of conservation of energy and how it relates to drag. Students will explore the relationship between drag and the shape, speed and size of an object.
This lesson plan introduces the properties of mixtures and solutions. A class demonstration gives the students the opportunity to compare and contrast the physical characteristics of a few simple mixtures and solutions. Students discuss the separation of mixtures and solutions back into their original components as well as different engineering applications of mixtures and solutions.
Through three lessons and their four associated activities, students are introduced to concepts related to mixtures and solutions. Students consider how mixtures and solutions and atoms and molecules can influence new technologies developed by engineers. To begin, students explore the fundamentals of atoms and their structures. The building blocks of matter (protons, electrons, neutrons) are covered in detail. The next lesson examines the properties of elements and the periodic table one method of organization for the elements. The concepts of physical and chemical properties are also reviewed. Finally, the last lesson introduces the properties of mixtures and solutions. A comparison of different mixtures and solutions, their properties and their separation qualities are explored.
Join a group of middle-school students on a visit to a laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where they experiment with "mystery mud" and learn about the relationships between magnetism, particle motion, and changes in the state of matter.
Comet collision with Jupiter with lots of pictures and some text. Links to the information about the comet, the impacts, and observations made by four different spacecraft.
Nitrogen, one of the most abundant elements in the universe, is essential to life. This interactive activity adapted from the University of Alberta provides an overview of the nitrogen cycle.
Did you know that water has different states? Learn all about it with Boris in Copenhagen.
Set sail with Oleif, the Viking. Make his boat move by learning all about matter and particles.
Experiment with a helium balloon, a hot air balloon, or a rigid sphere filled with different gases. Discover what makes some balloons float and others sink.
Students studying buoyancy will better understand its concepts with this virtual experiment using various balloons and testing what makes them float or sink.
Pump gas molecules to a box and see what happens as the volume changes, add or remove heat, change gravity, and more. Measure the temperature and pressure, and discover how the properties of the gas vary in relation to each other. Challenge the mind to predict how changing the temperature will affect the molecules' speed.
This animation explains what happens to particles when an ice cube melts or water boils.
Students design and build paper rockets around film canisters, which serve as engines. An antacid tablet and water are put into each canister, reacting to form carbon dioxide gas, and acting as the pop rocket's propellant. With the lid snapped on, the continuous creation of gas causes pressure to build up until the lid pops off, sending the rocket into the air. The pop rockets demonstrate Newton's third law of motion: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Educational site highlights the three states of matter as well as provides microscopic views.