Using a variety of science topics, these projects link your class with classes around the world in data collection and analysis. There are projects recommended for all grade levels. Begin dates and end dates are listed to help in planning for the school year.
Fifth Grade Science curriculum used and maintained by the Utah Board of Education
Physical, Earth, and Life Science for fourth grade. Used and maintained by the Utah State Board of Education
In this activity students examine and learn about the various jobs and skills within aerospace engineering careers.
Students are challenged to design a way to drop a raw egg from varying heights without letting the egg break. Creative thinking and evaluation of results are critical to the project.
This video segment explains centripetal force and illustrates how roller coasters rely on it to give you a thrilling ride.
This lesson introduces the concepts of wavelength and amplitude in transverse waves. In the associated activity, students will use ropes and their bodies to investigate different wavelengths and amplitudes.
Watch the ZOOM cast find out how many balloons filled with air and then with water are required to support the weight of a cast member.
In this video segment, members of the ZOOM cast experiment by bending and folding sheets of paper into various shapes to see which shape will support the weight of a heavy book.
Students make a simple conductivity tester using a battery and light bulb. They learn the difference between conductors and insulators of electrical energy as they test a variety of materials for their ability to conduct electricity.
Students learn about using renewable energy from the Sun for heating and cooking as they build and compare the performance of four solar cooker designs. They explore the concepts of insulation, reflection, absorption, conduction and convection.
This lesson will focus on the dynamics and interactions surrounding coral! While exploring in Aurelia, you will have seen the different organisms that call coral reefs their home. This lesson will expand on coral, how they create such a uniquely diverse and productive environment, how organisms within this habitat support each other through symbiosis and how these natural interactions can be used to protect our coral reef
ecosystems.
Estimated time required: 1-2 class periods.
Technology required for this lesson: Tablet or Smartphone.
As a class, students work through an example showing how DNA provides the "recipe" for making our body proteins. They see how the pattern of nucleotide bases (adenine, thymine, guanine, cytosine) forms the double helix ladder shape of DNA, and serves as the code for the steps required to make genes. They also learn some ways that engineers and scientists are applying their understanding of DNA in our world.
Through eight lessons, students are introduced to many facets of dams, including their basic components, the common types (all designed to resist strong forces), their primary benefits (electricity generation, water supply, flood control, irrigation, recreation), and their importance (historically, currently and globally). Through an introduction to kinetic and potential energy, students come to understand how dams generate electricity. They learn about the structure, function and purpose of locks, which involves an introduction to Pascal's law, water pressure and gravity. Other lessons introduce students to common environmental impacts of dams and the engineering approaches to address them. They learn about the life cycle of salmon and the many engineered dam structures that aid in their river passage, as they think of their own methods and devices that could help fish migrate past dams. Students learn how dams and reservoirs become part of the Earth's hydrologic cycle, focusing on the role of evaporation. To conclude, students learn that dams do not last forever; they require ongoing maintenance, occasionally fail or succumb to "old age," or are no longer needed, and are sometimes removed. Through associated hands-on activities, students track their personal water usage; use clay and plastic containers to model and test four types of dam structures; use paper cups and water to learn about water pressure and Pascal's Law; explore kinetic energy by creating their own experimental waterwheel from two-liter plastic bottles; collect and count a stream's insects to gauge its health; play an animated PowerPoint game to quiz their understanding of the salmon life cycle and fish ladders; run a weeklong experiment to measure water evaporation and graph their data; and research eight dams to find out and compare their original purposes, current status, reservoir capacity and lifespan. Woven throughout the unit is a continuing hypothetical scenario in which students act as consulting engineers with a Splash Engineering firm, assisting Thirsty County in designing a dam for Birdseye River.
This activity is an entire-class lab experiment that refreshes the concepts of sinking and floating, while introducing the concepts of bouyancy and density using the fizz from sprite (carbon dioxide gas) and raisins.
In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, cast members use a hair dryer to balance a ball in a stream of air, seemingly defying gravity.
In this video segment, the ZOOM cast is challenged to keep a ping pong ball in a funnel while the funnel is held upside down, seemingly defying gravity.
This video segment adapted from ZOOM offers a clever demonstration of buoyancy by showing how to pour a cup of air into a cup filled with water.
Will a grape float in oil? Will a metal nut sink in corn syrup? Watch as the ZOOM cast tests the buoyancy of a variety of liquids and objects.
In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, cast members design and build door alarms using a variety of materials, including aluminum foil, batteries, and buzzers.