Middle School Projects, Lessons, Activities (Page 116)

Environmental Monitoring

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th

Does human activity impact the environment? If so, how can we measure our impact on the environment? How can we use these measurements to change our behavior? In this project, your students will explore these questions by designing and building an electronic circuit that can measure environmental parameters like water quality or light pollution. Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-ESS3-3. Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.

Factors that Affect the Transfer of Force through Saturated Soil

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Soil liquefaction is a phenomenon where soil that is saturated with water suddenly loses its strength and behaves like a liquid. This usually occurs due to sudden, large stresses on the soil — for example, from an earthquake. This can be very dangerous for buildings sitting on top of the soil, as they can suddenly sink into the ground! The embedded video explains soil liquefaction in more detail. Is there a way to prevent soil liquefaction? Do you think adding certain materials to… Read more

Feel Free to Sleep at School... If You're a Computer!

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Sleeping in class isn't allowed... unless you're a computer! In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) suggests that putting your school's computers to sleep when they're not in use might reduce a school's energy bill significantly. In a study done at the North Thurston public schools in Olympia, Washington, EPA officials worked with the district to cut computer energy and costs by approximately $45,000 annually! How? By implementing a variety of power-management strategies for the… Read more

Fighting Litter in Your Neighborhood

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Is there a public park, playground, or beach near you that suffers from a litter problem? Here is a way that you can do something about it! First, get a measure of the size of the problem by conducting a litter survey. Select a fraction of the area to survey at regular intervals (e.g., every two or three days, or maybe once a week). The area should be large enough so that you can get a representative sample of litter, but not so large that you can't clean it up. Each time you conduct your… Read more

Flight Simulators: From Flaps to Flying

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Did you know that commercial airline pilots use high-tech flight simulators to learn how to fly big jumbo jets? Before they ever step behind the controls of a real jet they've already logged thousands of virtual air miles. It might not qualify you to fly a real jumbo jet, but you, too, can learn the logistics of aviation by experimenting with the types of flight simulators sold at computer game retailers. Use a flight simulator to investigate the relationship between flap settings and the stall… Read more

Focusing Your Flash for 'Freezing' Motion

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Here's an interesting flash photography project. With an inexpensive Fresnel lens, you can concentrate the light from your flash. You'll be able to shoot with a smaller aperture and a shorter flash duration. This will give you greater depth of focus and will allow you to 'freeze' motion at higher speeds. The trade-off is that the light will be concentrated toward the center of the frame. This project shows you how you can investigate that trade-off and find out how you can best use your flash… Read more

Foldable Paper Robotic Gripper

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-12th

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When your students think of robots, they probably think of materials like metal or plastic—but what about paper? In this lesson plan, your students will learn to make robotic parts from readily available classroom materials. Optionally, they can apply the engineering design process to improve the design or come up with their own designs. Read more

Food Waste Audit

Lesson Plan Grade: 3rd-11th

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"Fresh Food In Garbage Can to Illustrate Waste" by SpeedKingz/Shutterstock.com Have you ever thrown away food after a meal? Have you ever thrown away a whole piece of food? What are some of the reasons you threw away that food? During this Food Waste Audit, students will explore their own impact on our food system. Students will brainstorm solutions to reduce their food waste and be challenged to try out their solution! Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-ESS3-3. Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.

Fossil Fuels: Air Pollution and the Greenhouse Effect

Lesson Plan Grade: 4th-8th

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"Nuclear Power Plant Cattenom" © 2005 Stefan Kühn In these two activities, students will explore two consequences of burning fossil fuels: air pollution and the greenhouse effect. For a comprehensive unit on fossil fuels, this lesson works especially well as an extension to Fossil Fuels: Chocolate Chip Mining. Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

4-ESS3-1. Obtain and combine information to describe that energy and fuels are derived from natural resources and that their uses affect the environment
MS-ESS3-4. Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth's systems.

Fossil Fuels: Chocolate Chip Mining

Lesson Plan Grade: 4th-8th

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NGSS Performance Expectations:

4-ESS3-1. Obtain and combine information to describe that energy and fuels are derived from natural resources and that their uses affect the environment.
MS-ESS3-4. Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth's systems.

Middle School Projects, Lessons, Activities (1,334 results)

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