On the first day of this two-part module, students will determine the physical properties of assorted building materials using a range of hands-on tests. The following day, they will use that information to decide the best materials for constructing a given item or structure, pitching their designs to prospective “customers”.
Many children today have only experienced digital weighing devices, black boxes that with the touch of a button magically display the weight of an item. This low cost, easy to prepare exercise lets children experience how people measured mass for thousands of years.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated 2019 as the International Year of the Periodic Table (IYPT) to mark the 150th anniversary of the Mendeleev periodic table. This iconic resource, a vital tool for all who learn and work in science, provides ample opportunities to engage even the youngest students. You do not have to wait for the next anniversary to include a periodic table session in your science enrichment program.
To most people the electronic devices they encounter daily are simply black boxes. What’s underneath the screen of a tablet, inside the TV, or behind the touch pad of the microwave? This module introduces children to the basic components that make up every electronic circuit.
Games most young children already know how to play are popular station activities. A printer and cardstock are all you need to create your own science-based versions. Alternatively, inexpensive blank playing cards are readily available online. Attaching printed text and images with clear packing tape produces sturdy, long-wearing cards. An Read more…
This module is an alternative version of The Great Boat Float Challenge, which may be more satisfying for older students — third grade and up — than simply building a boat to hold as much weight as possible. Students consider the real-world problem that marine engineers and naval architects face when designing ships to pass through the Panama Canal. “Panamax” refers to the maximum allowable dimensions for those ships. This is a good activity for teams of two students.
This activity introduces the concept of displacement and buoyancy as it relates to boats and ships, and then lets students put this knowledge into practice by designing and building model boats to hold as much weight as possible without sinking or capsizing.
How can you tell how acidic or basic something is? Touching or tasting it could be dangerous or unpleasant. In this activity, students use indicator papers made from familiar fruits & vegetables to see which are the best at measuring pH.
In this module, each student represents a carbon atom. The purpose of the activity is to show how carbon atoms move through the environment over time, known as the “carbon cycle”.
A mysterious white powder! What could it be? Our young investigators will sleuth out the identities of the mystery mixtures by first building an “answer key” for how the individual “known” powders react to a variety of tests. Then they’ll use this key to figure out what pair of powders are in each unknown mixture by subjecting them to these same tests.