Idea Sheets

Create an autograph book to share with friends
Subjects: Language Arts, Art

This diorama helps students visualize life and ecology in an arctic environment.
Subjects: Life Science, Earth/Space Science

This is a great activity for investigating sound. It might just be a history lesson about records for your students; and you can tell them, "No, this will not work with CDs."
Subjects: Physical Science

Balancing an object takes more than just coordination. The distribution of mass in an object determines its center of gravity and its rotational inertia.
Subjects: Physical Science, Life Science

Objects are more stable when they have a low center of mass. This game allows students to investigate balance and discover that raising an object's center of mass increases its tendency to tip over... and they have fun in the process!
Subjects: Physical Science

Give pre-school and primary-aged children an opportunity to develop their eye-hand coordination with this fun and easily modified toy.
Subjects: Life Science

Students use balloons to approximate the relative sizes of the Earth and the Moon and estimate the relative distance between them using the scale of the inflated balloons.
Subjects: Earth/Space Science, Math

Combine two common household ingredients to cause an exciting, safe, chemical reaction.
Subjects: Physical Science

This neat trick is easy to do and serves as a great introduction to a discussion about air pressure.
Subjects: Physical Science, Earth/Space Science

Take these balloons for a spin to create fun sounds and great science investigations!
Subjects: Physical Science

The idea of an expanding universe can be seen with dots on an expanding balloon.
Subjects: Earth/Space Science

Evaluate potential natural hazards and develop plans to address the dangers.
Subjects: Earth/Space Science, Social Studies

Traditional bead weaving is a bit easier with this larger-sized version of a bead loom.
Subjects: Math, Social Studies

Students gather a bead at each station in this activity that works particularly well with a field trip or special event where you want students to participate in a variety of learning activities.
Subjects: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth/Space Science, Math, Social Studies, Language Arts, Art

The old "Bed-of-Nails" trick is a great attention-getter, but it is really not a trick at all. Rather, it is a demonstration of force distribution and pressure. In this miniature, "safety" version, students can investigate the decrease in pressure on their skin with the increase of contact points.
Subjects: Physical Science

A blown column of air will suspend the ball in mid-air... but for how long?
Subjects: Physical Science

This easily make wind vane will point to the source of a real or a student generated wind!
Subjects: Physical Science, Earth/Space Science

Learning about binary numbers (Base 2) incorporates number sense, exponents, and the conversion of numbers between different bases. Binary numbers are essential to the functioning of common digital electronic devices but are usually well hidden!
Subjects: Math

Learning about binary numbers (Base 2) builds an understanding of number sense, exponents, and different base number systems. In making a Binary Bracelet for the 4th of July, students will encode our nation's birthday into a wearable bracelet.
Subjects: Math

Counting in binary is quite straightforward and makes for an interesting and compelling activity for any student who can do simple addition. This uncomplicated game creates an opportunity to practice counting in binary. It reinforces understanding of place value and can be extended into a discussion of other bases and number systems.
Subjects: Math