Middle School Lesson Plans (108 results)

Science Buddies' middle school science projects are the perfect way for middle school students to have fun exploring science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Our middle school projects are written and tested by scientists and are specifically created for use by students in the middle school grades. Students can choose to follow the science experiment as written or put their own spin on the project.

For a personalized list of science projects, middle schoolers can use the Science Buddies Topic Selection Wizard. The wizard asks students to respond to a series of simple statements and then uses their answers to recommend age-appropriate projects that fit their interests.

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Turn Milk into Plastic! Log in to add favorite More Menu Read More Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th 1 2 3 4 5 5 reviews Teach your students how to make plastic out of milk in this hands-on lesson plan! You will conduct a simple milk-transforming experiment to explore how plastics can be derived from a natural resource such as milk. Students will perform their own experiments and can even create a product from their resulting organic casein polymer. Read more NGSS Performance Expectations: MS-PS1-2. Analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred. MS-PS1-3. Gather and make sense of information to describe that synthetic materials come from natural resources and impact society. Balloon Car Log in to add favorite More Menu Read More Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th Your students will design, build, and race balloon-powered cars in this fun lesson plan that teaches about engineering design and kinetic and potential energy. Read more NGSS Performance Expectations: MS-PS3-5. Construct, use, and present arguments to support the claim that when the kinetic energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from that object. MS-ETS1-4. Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved. Paper Roller Coasters: Kinetic and Potential Energy Log in to add favorite More Menu Read More Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th 1 2 3 4 5 1 review What goes up, must come down in this thrill-seeking lesson plan! How much energy does a roller coaster car need to make it through a loop? In this lesson your students will learn about kinetic and potential energy as they build their own roller coasters from simple classroom materials. Read more NGSS Performance Expectations: MS-PS3-2. Develop a model to describe that when the arrangement of objects interacting at a distance changes, different amounts of potential energy are stored in the system. MS-PS3-5. Construct, use, and present arguments to support the claim that when the kinetic energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object. Build an Earthquake-Resistant House Log in to add favorite More Menu Read More Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th 1 2 3 4 5 2 reviews Explore how technology can save lives in this fun engineering lesson plan! Earthquakes can cause devastation and loss of life when they strike, but earthquake-resistant buildings can stay standing and keep people safe. In this project, your students will build model earthquake-resistant buildings and measure their movement during a simulated earthquake using a mobile phone and a sensor app. A French translation of this activity is available. Read more NGSS Performance Expectations: MS-ESS3-2. Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and inform the development of technologies to mitigate their effects. MS-ETS1-2. Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem. Two-Stage Balloon Rocket Log in to add favorite More Menu Read More Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th Learn about real space flight and Newton's laws of motion with this fun lesson! This new twist on a classic project lets your students build a multi-stage balloon rocket that they can launch across the classroom. Read more NGSS Performance Expectations: MS-PS2-2. Plan an investigation to provide evidence that the change in an object's motion depends on the sum of the forces on the object and the mass of the object. MS-ETS1-3. Analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences among several design solutions to identify the best characteristics of each that can be combined into a new solution to better meet the criteria for success. Using Vaccines to Fight Outbreaks Log in to add favorite More Menu Read More Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-12th What exactly is a vaccine? Can vaccines prevent outbreaks? How effective does a vaccine need to be to help a population during an outbreak? Students will explore these questions and more in this lesson plan by first learning the biology behind vaccines. They will then use SimPandemic, a free online tool, to model different vaccine parameters to understand how vaccines affect both individuals and populations during a COVID-19 outbreak. Remote learning adaptation: This lesson plan can be… Read more NGSS Performance Expectations: MS-LS2-1. Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem. MS-LS2-4. Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations. HS-LS2-8. Evaluate evidence for the role of group behavior on individual and species' chances to survive and reproduce. Tallest Paper Tower Challenge for Grades 6-8 Log in to add favorite More Menu Read More Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th Teach your students about the engineering design process with this fun lesson plan. They will design and build the tallest possible tower using nothing but paper and tape, but there's an additional twist on this classic activity. The tower must support a heavy weight at the top without collapsing! Optionally, they can enter their designs in the 2021 Fluor Engineering Challenge for a chance to win a cash prize for your school! Teachers, note that elementary and high school versions of this… Read more NGSS Performance Expectations: MS-ETS1-4. Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved. Teaching Engineering Design with an Egg Drop Log in to add favorite More Menu Read More Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th The egg drop project is a time-honored tradition in many science classrooms. Students build a device to protect an egg and prevent it from breaking when dropped. This project typically relates to lessons about Newton's laws of motion or potential and kinetic energy. However, it is also a great way for students to practice the engineering design process, and learn about the importance of design iteration and learning from failure. 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. MS-ETS1-4. Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved. Fighting Infections with Your Immune System Log in to add favorite More Menu Read More Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th 1 2 3 4 5 1 review What happens when you get food poisoning or the flu? How does our body fight an infection when we get sick? In this lesson, students will build a model of our immune system to find out how our body responds to invading bacteria or viruses that cause diseases and to investigate the role of memory cells. Read more NGSS Performance Expectations: MS-LS1-3. Use argument supported by evidence for how the body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells. Learning the Scientific Method with Paper Rockets Log in to add favorite More Menu Read More Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th 1 2 3 4 5 1 review Do you need a fun, easy way to teach your students about the scientific method? Try this lesson that uses rockets made from nothing but paper, tape, and straws. An elementary school version of this lesson plan is also available. Read more NGSS Performance Expectations: MS-Science Practices. 1 2 3 4 5 ... 11 >