Projects, Lessons, Activities (Page 101)

Rubber Band Car Challenge for Grades 3-5

Lesson Plan Grade: 3rd-5th

1

2

3

4

5

13 reviews

In this fun engineering lesson plan, your students will build rubber band-powered cars using readily available craft supplies. The challenge is to build a car that goes as far as possible while making careful use of materials. Middle school and high school versions of this lesson plan are also available. This lesson was part of the 2024 Science Buddies Engineering Challenge. Note for K-2 teachers: you can do this challenge with younger students too! Contest entry is open to all K-12… Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

3-5-ETS1-2. Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

Rubber Band Car Challenge for Grades 6-8

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th

1

2

3

4

5

16 reviews

In this fun engineering lesson plan, your students will build rubber band-powered cars using readily available craft supplies. The challenge is to build a car that goes as far as possible while making careful use of materials. Elementary school and high school versions of this lesson plan are also available. This lesson was part of the 2024 Science Buddies Engineering Challenge. Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-ETS1-2. Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

Sandy Beaches and Reef Disturbance

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

When you go to the beach, you may not know if the beach is natural or man-made. The popularity of sandy beaches prompted developers in the past to bring in sand to cover rocky shorelines and turn them into more popular sandy beaches. However, the actions of the tides, currents and waves carried the extra sand out into the reef, endangering the reef and the creatures living on it. You can use a water table to conduct experiments with sand movements and reefs. How is sand moved by water? How… Read more

Saturated Solutions: Measuring Solubility

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Many essential chemical reactions and natural biochemical processes occur in liquid solutions, so understanding the chemical properties of liquid solutions is fundamentally important. This project asks the basic question, how much of a substance can dissolve in water, for three different substances: ordinary table salt, Epsom salts, and sugar. Read more

Science Fair CSI: Can You Predict the Spatter?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

There is evidence to be gathered at every crime scene. The hard part is making sense of it all. That's where crime scene investigators and forensic scientists come in. In this science fair project, you will investigate blood spatter using fake blood. Your job, as an impartial scientist, is to deliver facts so that justice can be served. Are you up to the challenge? Read more

Science with a Smartphone: Lux Meter

STEM Activity

1

2

3

4

5

4 reviews

Did you know that you can use a smartphone as a scientific instrument to explore the world around you? Smartphones contain many built-in electronic sensors that can measure phenomena such as sound, light, motion and more! In this activity, you’ll use your phone’s light sensor to examine the brightness of light from different light sources and locations. How bright is the reading lamp in your living room compared to direct sunlight? Try this activity to find out! Read more

Scientific Method: How Do Scientists Make Discoveries?

Video Lesson Grade: 3rd-8th

1

2

3

4

5

16 reviews

This lesson will introduce students to the scientific method using a fun, hands-on activity about the role of animal camouflage in evolution. During the activity, students will practice each step of the scientific method including doing background research, making a hypothesis, conducting an experiment, analyzing data, and drawing conclusions. By going through this process, students will also learn how camouflage helps animals survive. Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

3-LS4-2. Use evidence to construct an explanation for how the variations in characteristics among individuals of the same species may provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing.
3-LS4-3. Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
MS-LS4-4. Construct an explanation based on evidence that describes how genetic variations of traits in a population increase some individuals' probability of surviving and reproducing in a specific environment.
MS-LS4-6. Use mathematical representations to support explanations of how natural selection may lead to increases and decreases of specific traits in populations over time.

Seasonal Science: The Reasons for the Seasons

STEM Activity

1

2

3

4

5

20 reviews

Have you ever lived someplace where you get to experience the full glory of all four seasons? If so, you know well the heady blossoms and dramatic skies of spring; the long, sun-drenched days of summer; the trees shaking in crimson and gold in fall; and the sparkling, brittle snows of winter. But do you know why we have these seasons, over and over again, in a cycle as predictable as the rising and setting of the sun? It actually has to do with the Earth’s tilt and the Moon. In this… Read more

Seebeck Effect: Turn Heat into Electricity, Then Measure It with a Thermocouple Thermometer

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Everyone knows electricity can create heat, especially because our electrical appliances tend to warm up when turned on. But wouldn't it be cool to do the reverse — generate electricity from heat? In this science project, you will study why it happens, measure the effect, and then use the phenomenon to build your own device, a thermocouple thermometer, that will enable you to convert heat into electrical energy. Read more

Seeing in the Dark

STEM Activity

1

2

3

4

5

8 reviews

Have you ever considered taking a nighttime nature walk? Would you wait until there is a full moon, so you could profit from sunlight reflected on the moon, or would you rather take a flashlight? Do you think trees would look black, green, or grey in the dark? Do this activity to examine your night vision and prepare for your next nighttime adventure! Read more

Projects, Lessons, Activities (top 2,000 results)

Explore Our Science Videos