Next Gen Sci Guy

In Brief: In this activity NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards) aligned activity, students 1) use a website to design and simulate the performance of three different wind turbines, 2) use the data to design their own turbines (using simple materials), 3) construct a wind turbine, 4) test the ability of the wind turbine to lift a small object 5) use simple formulas to calculate the power of their turbine, 6) evaluate their design Time Frame: This lab usually takes two classes or so (obvio

Brief: In this activity, students practice writing step-wise instructions for constructing a small object (legos, K’nex, household materials…it doesn’t matter). Then, students switch with one another, and try to construct the intended object using their classmates’ instructions. Finally, they self-assess their success. It is a fun and creative way to teach following directions, descriptive writing, and procedure writing for science experiments. A. NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS HEREIN DCI’s

This activity proceeds as follows: 1. Students brainstorm about why it is important to estimate the population of organisms 2. Students learn how to estimate population using the “sampling” technique 3. Students learn how to estimate population using the “mark and recapture” technique 4. Students design a study to estimate a real population, and carry out their study. 5. Extension Activity: Students read an article about the overfishing of Bluefin tuna, which is down to 4% of the population that

Peppered Moth Activity – Grades 3 through 8 The language, depth, vocabulary, data representation, and size of the activity has been differentiated to meet learners 3rd through 8th grade. In this activity NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards) aligned activity, students (Part 1:) Read background information on camouflage, evolution, and the peppered moth. In Part 2, students use manipulatives to inform a hypothesis about how well the peppered moths will survive in differing forest landscapes.

In this activity NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards) aligned activity, students (Part 1:) design and carry out a study to calculate how much water will be saved if they turn the water off while brushing their teeth, and (Part 2:) design and carry out a loner-term study at home to calculate how much water can be conserved. The lesson proceeds as follows: 1. First, students watch a short video on water conservation, and the growing water shortage crisis worldwide. They answer a few questi

Summary: Students will experiment to create three different mixtures (one of which is cornstarch an water), and test the mixtures for their efficacy as a bio-armor. Then, they will play the role of a material-science engineer to design a vest or suit of armor, based upon the results of their lab. DETAILS BELOW: I'm new to TPT, and would love feedback if you have a minute. I'm adding new content on a weekly basis, so click follow me under my store name to be the first to know. Like this lab? C

This activity proceeds as follows: 1. First, learn about the theory of Tragedy of the Commons, using a short video link 2. Then students describe a real-world example using a website (provided) as a resource 3. Then students walk around the school (in pairs), or as an entire class (teacher lead), and must identify examples of Tragedy of the Commons around the school 4. Students generate possible solutions to the problem areas that they located 5. In conclusion, students choose two real-wor

In this fun lab, students will produce tiny Holiday Card and use microscope skills to view them. It also comes with a fun bonus activity! I'm new to TPT, and would love feedback if you have a minute. I'm adding new content on a weekly basis, so click follow me under my store name to be the first to know. Everything you need to teach a unit on Cells, Tissues, Organelles, and using Microscopes can be found in this Unit Bundle. It is NGSS aligned.Get it here: Cells, Tissues, and Microscopes Unit

In Brief: The lab proceeds as follows: 1. Students briefly research Berlese Funnels, and answer some basic questions about the setup of the apparatus. 2. Students design their Berlese Funnel on paper, including proposed materials, sizes, and arrangement 3. Students collect material (soil or leaf litter) for the funnel, and collect data over several days 4. Students attempt to identify the organisms they have trapped using a dichotomous key 5. Students evaluate their design. A. NEXT GENERATION

In brief, this lab requires students to calculate the number of airborne bacteria in the classroom. They are given a conversion factor (50,000 bacterial cells per cubic meter), and must brainstorm what they need to know and the materials they will need. They then design a protocol to calculate the number (by accurately measuring the dimensions of the room, and applying a volume formula, LxWxH). To conclude, they average class data, and answer analysis questions. There is a link to an article

Brief: In this Next Generation Science Standards Aligned lab, students write rules for a game that simulates how a food chain works. They play two games: In Game 1, they play their first iteration of rules, taking 12 rounds of population data, and graphing the data. In Game 2, students play revised rules; tweaking their original set of rules to make the game a better model for a real ecosystem. They, again, graph their data, and analyze the results by answering conclusion questions. This ac

In Brief: Part 1: Students predict how five animals might use their mouths. Part 2: Students (or teacher, fro pre-readers) read a sentence or two that describes how each mouth is used. Part 3: Students choose one of the five templates and construct (color, cut, tape together) a mask that models the animal mouth. Part 4: Students wear their mouth models and pretend to be the animal, talking with one another about the function(s) of the animal’s mouth. Part 5: Students write about how the sha