Virtual
Floating Fractions
Format: In Person, Virtual | Grade: Upper Elementary (4-5), Middle (6-8)
Students use Archimedes Blocks and density calculations to connect visual and numerical representations of fractions.
Access to a water supply is also required.
Keyword(s): Fractions, Math
Sink or Swim - Who Will Win?
Format: In Person, Virtual | Grade: Lower Elementary (K-3)
Students test whether different objects sink or float and consider the relationship to material properties. Students get excited as items sink or float unexpectedly! They then engage in an engineering challenge to build a boat that will float and hold as many marbles as possible!
This investigation requires access to a water supply.
Keyword(s): Sinking and Floating
You're Oil I Need
Format: In Person, Virtual | Grade: Upper Elementary (4-5), Middle (6-8)
Students use a simple model to consider what happens during an oil spill, making predictions, observations and explanations. Students are surprised by how the oil and water will not mix, however hard they try!
This investigation requires access to a water supply.
Keyword(s): Density, Oil Spills
Stormy Weather
Format: In Person, Virtual | Grade: Upper Elementary (4-5), Middle (6-8)
What does the inside of a hurricane look like? Students unpack this question using a tank model and all its stormy patterns.
This investigation requires access to a water supply and a power outlet.
Keyword(s): Density, Heat Transfer, Convection, Hurricanes
Sea for Yourself
Format: In Person, Virtual | Grade: Upper Elementary (4-5), Middle (6-8)
Students consider density in the context of ocean flows as they make predictions and then test their ideas by creating their own density currents!
This investigation requires access to a water supply, ice, and a power outlet.
Keyword(s): Density, Ocean Currents
Freeze Your Mind
Format: In Person, Virtual | Grade: Upper Elementary (4-5), Middle (6-8), High (9-12)
Students unpack the concept of heat by comparing how ice responds to different materials. There are plenty of surprises as the ice melts!
This investigation requires access to ice.
Keyword(s): Temperature, Heat
Do You See What I See?
Format: In Person, Virtual | Grade: Lower Elementary (K-3)
Students make observations and draw diagrams as they observe objects through a microscope. Students are amazed at the details the microscope reveals.
This investigation requires access to a power outlet.
Keyword(s): Microscopes, Observing small objects
Acid Rain
Format: In Person, Virtual | Grade: Upper Elementary (4-5), Middle (6-8)
Physical and chemical changes are compared through a simple model of acid rain. Students get excited as they create a bubbly chemical reaction.
This investigation requires basic familiarity with physical and chemical changes.
