Ray Byle

This is a one period activity/lab to teach students about the concept of density and Archimedes Principle, why things float. Students each get a piece of aluminum foil and design and make a boat. They then must calculate how many pennies it will carry before sinking, and then test it. This is an excellent one day STEM project that combines science, math, design and construction. Students will use the formula Density=Mass divided by Volume.

This is a one week STEM science project for grades 7-12. Students research, design and build a solar oven. They test it and collect data, graph results and draw some conclusions about effective design and construction. Some of the questions and research also require students to look into how homes can take advantage of solar energy.

This is a 20-30 minute activity to introduce students to the mole and the concept of using mass to count small objects. This concept is often difficult for students to grasp at first and this simple activity is a good hook to introduce them to it without overwhelming them with the math involved.

This is an exciting, hands-on STEM project in which students make small catapults with classroom supplies and collect data to calculate force, work, power, momentum and kinetic energy. At the end of the project the class can set up and compete in mini battles with their catapults in whatever type of games you want to come up with. Some game suggestions are given.

This project is designed for high school Physical Science classes but can be amended for other grades. It is a hands-on project that students do primarily at home and bring to school to present. The project will introduce the students to Rube Goldberg and his crazy contraptions along with learning about simple and compound machines, mechanical advantage, the design process and lots of problem solving. This file includes lesson plans, teacher notes and a student project booklet. The booklet i

A worksheet with ten simple balancing equations problems. This is a good worksheet for introducing how to balance equations. A key is provided.

This is an activity that involves the students in measuring, collecting data, calculations and graphing. This is done as a class with 8 timers, 3 volunteers to walk/run and a recorder. Volunteers are timed moving down the hallway and the time and distance data is used to create graphs showing constant speed/velocity and acceleration. Students have to calculate average speed and answer questions on how to identify the differences in movement on the graphs.

This is a two week water unit that includes some notes, research and presentation on a major river/lake, research on water treatment, and a STEM project/lab making a water filter and testing it. The math and equipment needed (microscope, electronic scale etc.) are for the high school level.

Students use a cheap and easy ramp and balls to follow Galileo’s discovery about gravity’s impact on acceleration of balls down a ramp. They use the scientific method with a problem to solve, a hypothesis to make and test, and an experiment to run. The lab includes graphing the data collected, speed calculations, analysis and conclusion questions, and identifying the dependent and independent variables.

This is a hands-on activity in which students work in small groups and create series and parallel circuits. The worksheet guides them as they work through increasingly more complex circuits. You will have to drag them away from the equipment because they like it so much. Lots of experimenting going on outside of the directions. Equipment needed includes small gauge wire, light bulbs, batteries, solar cells and DC motors. These can be purchased from school supply companies like Kelvin, and u

This is an activity that requires students to use conversion math skills to change English units to Metric following the steps of the Scientific Method. Students work in pairs to calculate how much water, sugar and Kool-Aid powder will be needed for a family reunion or group of people. They have to read directions and units from a packet of koolaid and convert to metric units.

This is a nice activity to illustrate some basic principles of energy. Students collect data from bouncing golf and ping pong balls on a hard floor. Students use data to make observations about the energy used and transferred, how factors like mass and height effect energy, and if you can get more energy out of a system than was put in it. There is an additional homework assignment at the end in which students create and do their own experiment.

This is an outdoor ecology project that can be done at school or home over several weeks. Students select an area outside and do a number of activities which they record in a journal or log. The project is designed to connect students to the local outdoors and teach them how ecosystems function. Activities like leaf and insect collections can be adapted to all grade levels. Other activities like drawing food webs and food chains, a soil study and population study are included.

This stream ecology unit is a great hands-on project that involves a lot of equipment, working outdoors in small groups, observations, writing, and critical thinking skills. Students work in four groups studying various parameters of stream ecology: Water Chemistry, Stream Velocity and Flow, Biological Indicators, and Habitat Survey/Samples. This unit has a 21 page student booklet with online tutorials and questions, a note outline, online research and instructions for all four groups. I have a

This is a 4-5 day project that teaches the students some physics basics by using problem solving and hands-on action. The students learn and use information about speed, momentum, kinetic energy, friction and Newton's Laws of Motion. This file includes lesson plans, teacher notes, materials and cost estimates, and a student booklet. The student booklet has directions, a design page, project journal, questions, physics problems and a writing assignment.

A 1.5 to 2 day lab activity for grade 7-10 students studying waves, light and lasers. Students will learn about the Law of Reflection, use a protractor and design a maze of mirrors to bounce through a laser beam from a laser pointer. You will need pencil, paper, protractor, some mirrors and a laser pointer. Students will have to learn how to use a protractor to measure and draw angles if they don't already know.

This is a 25 minute Physical Science activity in which students calculate their walking and jogging speeds in miles per hour. They measure out a distance and time themselves walking and jogging it. They first calculate speed in feet per second, then convert it to miles per hour using dimensional analysis. There are six follow up problems using variations of the formula Speed = Distance/Time to calculate distance or time using their speeds from the initial activity. This can also be used in a

In science class students often are given values calculated by the experts. This is a nice hands-on activity that students can do to calculate for themselves the speed of sound. The critical component is to find a location that produces an echo. Students can work in small groups or do it as a whole class activity. Once data is collected everyone can return to the classroom to complete the math, questions and research portion.

Students take a worksheet home and go through various spots in the house to get names of chemical ingredients from common household chemicals. In class the next day the students research the health hazards of these chemicals, how to properly dispose of them, and safer alternatives. A second assignment is a short research and report back assignment. This is designed to be done in small groups. Students do further research on the benefits and dangers of chemicals used in all facets of modern so

This is a worksheet for use in introducing students to vectors. It has a short explanation of scaler vs. vector quantities and some sample diagrams. There are a couple of story problems that require students to draw vectors, adding and subtracting them. It is a two page worksheet with an additional sheet for teacher information.