A fun lab experience with little extra prep or materials needed. Kids are amazed that 1+1 doesn't equal 2!
Students work as engineers to learn about the properties of molecules and how they move in 3D space through the use of LEGO MINDSTORMS(TM) NXT robotics. They design and build molecular models and use different robotic sensors to control the movement of the molecular simulations. Students learn about the size of atoms, Newman projections, and the relationship of energy and strain on atoms. This unique modular modeling activity is especially helpful in providing students with a spatial and tactile understanding of how molecules behave.
Spreadsheets across the Curriculum Module. Students build spreadsheets to practice converting between moles, grams, and atomic mass units.
This video segment adapted from NOVA relates the dramatic story of vulcanologists trying to predict the timing of the cataclysmic eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines.
This is a guided inquiry investigation for students to determine the state of matter of a mystery material and to make potential real world applications/products for the mystery material.
This activity is an investigation of a "mystery material" where students have to determine whether the substance is a solid or a liquid. This activity can be done as part of an earth science or chemistry lesson.
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.
In this classroom guided inquiry lesson, students will complete a serious of tests using five different mystery powders. Student will develop hypotheses, make observations, and draw conclusions about what each powder is and the physical and chemical reactions that occur when heat, water, iodine, and vinegar are added to each substance.
NREL’s Education team presents Matter by Andi Diehn. Join us as we read about matter and chemistry. After the story, we create animals made of gas, using balloons and other art supplies.
Student teams learn how water filtration systems that use nanoparticles and nanotechnology can remove organic compounds from water. First they learn about the role nanoparticles play in water filtration. Then they are introduced to the basics of nanoparticles and nanotechnology, focusing on the impacts and benefits this innovative technology has on our daily lives. Using methylene blue and methyl orange solutions, students test for the efficiency of photocatalytic nanoparticles to sanitize water. They expose a solution sample of water and methyl orange (the microbe indicator) with their newly-made water sanitation filters under UV light (sunlight) to activate the photocatalytic properties of three specific nanoparticles. They visually compare them with control samples to determine the best photocatalytic nanoparticle to sanitize water.
Learn about nanoscience from the staff at the Lab's Molecular Foundry in this Live Science event, hosted by the K-12 STEM Education office on Oct. 9, 2020
In this video adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, find out about the discovery of a new building material, the carbon nanotube, whose physical properties could theoretically enable the creation of a 22,000-mile elevator to space.
Students come to see the exponential trend demonstrated through the changing temperatures measured while heating and cooling a beaker of water. This task is accomplished by first appealing to students' real-life heating and cooling experiences, and by showing an example exponential curve. After reviewing the basic principles of heat transfer, students make predictions about the heating and cooling curves of a beaker of tepid water in different environments. During a simple teacher demonstration/experiment, students gather temperature data while a beaker of tepid water cools in an ice water bath, and while it heats up in a hot water bath. They plot the data to create heating and cooling curves, which are recognized as having exponential trends, verifying Newton's result that the change in a sample's temperature is proportional to the difference between the sample's temperature and the temperature of the environment around it. Students apply and explore how their new knowledge may be applied to real-world engineering applications.
In this lesson designed to enhance literacy skills, an early astronaut's experiences teach students that Newton's third law of motion—for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction—applies both on Earth and in outer space.
In this video segment adapted from NOVA, NASA learns hard lessons from the first American attempt to do work while "walking" in space. The video also explores Newton's third law of motion.
In this video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, MIT engineer Dava Newman is working to replace today's bulky, inflated space suits with a radical, sleek design that may one day allow astronauts to walk easily on Mars.
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.
Students are introduced to acids and bases, and the environmental problem of acid rain. They explore ways to use indicators to distinguish between acids and bases. Students also conduct a simple experiment to model and discuss the harmful effects of acid rain on our living and non-living environment, as well as how engineers address acid rain. In an associated literacy activity, students learn how persuasive techniques are used to develop an argument, and create an environmental case study.
A description of the nuclear fuel cycle
This edition of Nuclear Mythbusting discusses the impact INL operations has on the environment.