Hydrogen has an important role to play in the future of clean energy, both as a fuel and as a way to efficiently store and transport energy from localized renewable sources like solar and wind. In this Month's After School Science Hour, we'll talk to scientist Julie Fornaciari who is trying to generate hydrogen using sunlight to create a carbon-neutral fuel, and see first-hand demonstrations of how hydrogen is made from water.

This inquiry activity is designed to have students measure when a mood object (pencil or straw that changes color with temperature) changes color. They can than report on their precision, accuracy, margin of error, degree of uncertainty, and level of confidence in their answer.

In this lab students will make qualitative observations of flame color, a property of metals, to identify unknown metals in salt compounds.

In this interactive periodic table from the NOVA Web site, find out the role of various elements in making fireworks.

This is an guided inquiry lab activity in which the student will design and carry out a qualitative analysis scheme for the separation and identification of metal cations from an unknown sample.

This is an outline for how one could incorporate quantum mechanics into atomic structure. Students really seem to get hooked on it and it makes atomic structure way more interesting to teach.

Spreadsheets Across the Curriculum module. Students build spreadsheets to forward model an example of exponential decay and interpret the meaning of the decay constant.

In this inquiry lab activity, the students will attempt to layer 6 different kinds of soda pops in a large test tube. The students will have to use prior knowledge of the physical properties of liquids, in particular density, to accomplish this task.

When a chemcial reaction occurs in a closed system, it will reach an equilibrium state in which reactants and products are produced at the same rate. This pathway provides resources to undestand the factors that affect chemical equilibrium.

Students investigate the endothermic reaction involving citric acid, sodium bicarbonate and water to produce carbon dioxide, water and sodium citrate. In the presence of water [H2O], citric acid [C6H8O7] and sodium bicarbonate [NaHCO3] (also known as baking soda) react to form sodium citrate [Na3C6H5O7], water [H2O], and carbon dioxide [CO2]. Students test a stoichiometric version of the reaction followed by testing various perturbations on the stoichiometric version in which each reactant (citric acid, sodium bicarbonate, and water) is strategically doubled or halved to create a matrix of the effect on the reaction. By analyzing the test matrix data, they determine the optimum quantities to use in their own production companies to minimize material cost and maximize CO2 production. They use their test data to "scale-up" the system from a quart-sized ziplock bag to a reaction tank equal to the volume of their classroom. They collect data on reaction temperature and CO2 production.

Students take advantage of the natural ability of red cabbage juice to perform as a pH indicator to test the pH of seven common household liquids. Then they evaluate the accuracy of the red cabbage indicator, by testing the pH of the liquids using an engineer-designed tool, pH indicator strips. Like environmental engineers working on water remediation or water treatment projects, understanding the chemical properties (including pH) of contaminants is important for safeguarding the health of environmental water sources and systems.

Through this lab, students are introduced to energy sciences as they explore redox reactions and how hydrogen fuel cells turn the energy released when hydrogen and oxygen are combined into electrical energy that can be read on a standard multimeter. They learn about the energy stored in bonds and how, by controlling the reaction, this energy can be turned into more or less useful forms.

Oxidation and reduction reactions power your phone and make it possible for your body to use the oxygen you inhale. We will learn about oxidation states (numbers), oxidation-reduction (redox) reactions, galvanic/voltaic cells, electrolytic cells, cell potentials, and how electrochemistry is related to thermodynamics and equilibrium.

Khan Academy learning modules include a Community space where users can ask questions and seek help from community members. Educators should consult with their Technology administrators to determine the use of Khan Academy learning modules in their classroom. Please review materials from external sites before sharing with students.

The Remote Control Glow Discharge (RGDX) is a plasma you can control from the comfort of your browser. You have control of the entire experiment, including the gas pressure inside the tube, the voltage produced by the power supply that makes the plasma and the strength of an electromagnet surrounding the plasma. You can perform experiments from any computer anywhere in the world!

In 2002, we began developing plasma sources for educational purposes, and one of our devices won second place in the national Apparatus Competition(Link is external) sponsored by the American Association of Physics Teachers. In 2003, we began controlling our plasma sources by computer for a plasma exhibit in a science museum. This progression led to remote control of a plasma from any location by anyone with an internet connection. This type of control could serve as an experimental component of an online physics class or for a school that typically does not have plasma physics equipment.

Featuring slow-motion footage of insects in flight, this video adapted from NOVA explores the engineering challenge of designing a robotic aerial vehicle that flies like a bug.

Students see and learn how crystallization and inhibition occur by making sugar crystals with and without additives in a supersaturation solution, testing to see how the additives may alter crystallization, such as by improving crystal growth by more or larger crystals. After three days, students analyze the differences between the control crystals and those grown with additives, researching and attempting to deduce why certain additives blocked crystallization, showed no change or improved growth. Students relate what they learn from the rock candy experimentation to engineering drug researchers who design medicines for targeted purposes in the human body. Conduct the first half of this activity one day before presenting the associated lesson, Body Full of Crystals. Then conduct the second half of the activity.

This interactive resource adapted from the National Park Service profiles rocky coast environments and describes how various geologic features form.

In this video adapted from the Encyclopedia of Physics Demonstrations, learn how plotting the changes in an object's position on a graph can provide information about the object's motion.

Learn about rotational forces by watching astronaut Jeffrey Williams spin objects onboard the International Space Station in this interactive activity adapted from NASA.