Idea Sheets

Explore the relationship between gravity, pressure, and the flow of liquids!
Subjects: Physical Science

Ever carry Moonbeams home in a jar? How about just hold the Moon in your hand? These tiny, little Moon globes are quick and fun to make, and they introduce students to some of the main geographic features of the lunar surface.
Subjects: Earth/Space Science

Students sort plastics by properties in this activity that also raises student awareness of plastics recycling in their area.
Subjects: Physical Science

Look very carefully! Can you find the 1 marked square in a million?
Subjects: Math

Appeal to sensory learners at every level with this amazing substance that sometimes behaves like a liquid and sometimes behaves like a solid!
Subjects: Physical Science

Create a journal for outdoor observation
Subjects: Life Science, Language Arts, Art

In this dice game, students race to be the first to reach 50 points by matching categories to space objects. Teachers can use the game as a quick reinforcement when a few minutes remain in class. Out of this World also makes a great review for a test or quiz.
Subjects: Earth/Space Science

Grow crystals overnight in this fun activity that can be used to teach solutions, phases of matter, solids, and crystal systems.
Subjects: Physical Science, Earth/Space Science

Owls regurgitate (spit out) a pellet made of the indigestible parts of the animals they eat. Studying the bones in the pellet will indicate which animals the owl ate.
Subjects: Life Science

Automated DNA replication using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) allows scientists to make multiple copies of DNA inside a test tube. Modeling PCR cycles helps students practice base-pairing rules, appreciate and apply exponential numbers, and understand the roles of the components involved in DNA replication. The models can help teachers assess student readiness for class lab experiences with PCR.
Subjects: Life Science, Math

This ancient game is easy to learn and fun to play. Players race to earn 100 points, but if they get too "piggy", they will get no points for the round.
Subjects: Math

Students estimate and measure how far they can punt a packing peanut!
Subjects: Physical Science, Math

These soft cover notebooks have the added feature of covers that look like paint canvases.
Subjects: Language Arts, Art

This quick-to-make instrument produces surprisingly nice tones. Students can actually tune their pipes and even play a tune.
Subjects: Physical Science, Art

Combine fun, treasure hunting, and the study of physical properties (density) in an interdisciplinary activity covering history and physical science.
Subjects: Physical Science, Earth/Space Science, Social Studies

Students enjoy turning throwaway papers, like junk mail, into beautiful, fancy paper!
Subjects: Physical Science, Earth/Space Science

Use this simple paper rocket and its straw launcher to explore forces and motion.
Subjects: Physical Science, Earth/Space Science

Each sunflower is made from 3 yellow punched circles. The center is a black circle punched from black paper, cardstock, or a file folder.
Subjects: Life Science, Math

Parking lots and cars are a good way to get students motivated to use direction - an important precursor to primary math. In a parking lot cars can go left, right, forward, and back. In this activity, students figure out directions to park a car in a numbered space.
Subjects: Math

Students will learn about other places and cultures while creating these fun "passports to adventure"
Subjects: Social Studies, Language Arts, Art

Pattern blocks are an excellent introduction to geometry and allow for exploring a wide range of patterning.
Subjects: Math

Students will love investigating patterns with these color-coded lab vials! Copy, extend, or create... the more practice the better
Subjects: Math

Interchangeable patterning strips can allow for quick and easy assessments of students' growth on pre-reading skills that include symbol, object and letter recognition.
Subjects: Language Arts

Tessellations are repeating patterns that cover a surface without any gaps, which are made of one or more shapes. Polygons provide an excellent starting point for a topic that spans art and mathematics.
Subjects: Math

In this activity, students observe patterns created in baking soda, modeling patterns created by sand and other substances in nature.
Subjects: Physical Science

This is a fun activity that challenges everyone - and everyone has an equal chance! One of the best things about this game is that the smart kids are not always the winners!
Subjects: Math

These quick-to-make, tiny books can hold artifacts or secrets in their hidden pages.
Subjects: Language Arts, Art

Learn what made the pendulum a key part of early clocks. Pendulums are made in a variety of ways - this design allows for easy adjustments of experimental variables.
Subjects: Physical Science

The "smartest" kid in class will not always be the first to solve this puzzle; but all students will use the scientific method? without even knowing it.
Subjects: Physical Science, Math

Match, match, who's got a match? The objective of this game is to match the card that has the picture of a student to the card that has that students name on it.
Subjects: Math, Language Arts

Create personalized mini-books to review and see photosynthesis in a new light!
Subjects: Life Science, Language Arts

This fun math project encodes the first digits of Pi into a pin that reinforces the famous ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter!
Subjects: Math

Students compare polymer packing peanuts made from different materials in order to determine the environmental impact of each material and identify the life cycle or linear life of each product.
Subjects: Physical Science

This game, which plays similarly to "War", provides a fun opportunity for students to practice their math skills.
Subjects: Math

Create "motion pictures" by combining "persistence of vision", student drawings, and a RAFTy version of an early motion picture maker - the Zoetrope!
Subjects: Physical Science, Life Science

Investigate density, pressure, and the gas laws with this easy-to-make Cartesian diver.
Subjects: Physical Science

This fast-paced game reinforces place value, rounding, and comparison of number values! It may be customized to include decimals, fractions, and/or negative numbers.
Subjects: Math

Students select beads to represent the planets and place them at the appropriate spacing on a string to represent the distances between the planets.
Subjects: Earth/Space Science, Math

Create a pocket sized foldable strip with a scaled down solar system that shows the relative distances between the planets' orbits and the Sun.
Subjects: Earth/Space Science, Math

Gain a deeper understanding of the structures and functions found in plant cells by creating a model from repurposed materials.
Subjects: Life Science

Given enough time, everything changes: mountains are built up and torn down, continents move and change shape, even rocks get worn down and reform. Imagining these changes that take millions of years is often easier for students if they model the processes in class using familiar materials. In this activity, students model the changes in rocks over time using crayons.
Subjects: Physical Science, Earth/Space Science

Model the taking, recording, and interpreting of "ocean" depth measurements using a opaque foam container, a hidden ocean "floor", and a simple tool.
Subjects: Physical Science, Math

Create a mystifying illusion based on polarized light that will fool the eye and engage students' curiosity and interest!
Subjects: Physical Science, Life Science

This fun hands-on game reinforces recognition of several geometrical attributes such as polygonal shape, angular measurement, & symmetry.
Subjects: Math

Flip over a stack of mathematical "pancakes" made of equivalent versions of first, second, and third degree polynomials!
Subjects: Math

The challenge: design a rocket that will consistently land in a target box from 2 different distances.
Subjects: Physical Science, Earth/Space Science

Develop students' topographic map reading skills while making models showing the powerful effect of a volcanic eruption!
Subjects: Earth/Space Science

Engage your students' interest with one of the amazing properties of dry ice!
Subjects: Physical Science

In this interdisciplinary activity, students choose an object in the Solar System to "visit" then send a postcard to a loved one describing their adventure (via "interplanetary post"). Postcards From Space combines science knowledge (astronomy), art, and writing skills.
Subjects: Earth/Space Science, Language Arts

If everything in a house were 1/20th normal size why would you need lots of straws?
Subjects: Physical Science