Science Worksheets and Lab Write-Ups

I created this worksheet this year to help my students visualize light reflecting and refracting. I didn't want to over do it, and at the same time, I wanted the students to have fun with this interactive. I had them do the Intro part and measure the angles of reflection and refraction. At the end of the worksheet, I really just wanted them to play with the prisms and see white light bending and separating into the rainbow.

Worksheet includes atomic symbol. Students will need to put the correct number of valence electrons around each symbol.

Interactive to help my students to see a Position v. Time graph, Distance v Time graph, and a Velocity v. Time graph. I kept is simple. I gave them a couple of scenarios to do, and then copy the data shown.

I use the PHET interactive to help my students calculate Work and Power. This is a 5 question worksheet to use the interactive.

A quick and easy activity to help with the understanding of Distance vs. Time graphs. You will need a tape measure that goes up to 10 meters (at least). You will need a way to time the trials. I prefer to use timers but cell phones can work as well.

Determine #protons and #electrons of an element. Then determine valence electrons with Lewis Dot Structure to determine how many valence electrons the element gains or loses. After comparing the new electron number to protons, the student should be able to find the oxidation number and use it to create the correct ion.

This lab is intended to show how objects with a greater mass require more force to move them. The set up is simple. You need three meters sticks to create a track and two (and 3) textbooks to elevate the track/ramp. You will also need balls of varying masses. You use the backend of a spring scale and place it against the object. You transfer the energy by pulling back on the spring scale and letting it go. It may not give you perfect results but the students will see how more force equals

This lab is meant to replicate the Newton's Cradle device. When using the meters sticks, make sure there is enough space between them that the marbles don't get slowed down (by friction), and not to much space that prevents the marbles from lining up. Marbles work, but I like using large sized steel ball-bearings. If you widen the margins the most narrow setting, it should fit better.

This is a simple lab to reinforce the formulas for KE and PE. The advanced version is to reinforce all the formulas we've used in class. This lab allows students to find experimental values instead of made-up numbers from a word problem. If you want a better chance to time the drop, you can use 2 or 3 meters (not 1 meter). If you use 2 meters, the time should be .6387 seconds. You will also need to use the formula v=gt for velocity.

This is my packet I give my students for the Balloon Powered Car project. It is the final activity we do after we've covered Newton's Laws. It gives my rules, directions, point breakdown, data table (for students), graphs (for students), and conclusion questions (for students).

In this project I have my students build a neutral atom/element, an isotope version (that can not be the neutral version), an ion version, and a compound using their element. I have them present their models in class, which can take some time. The models have to be 3D, and can not be represented as a Bohr Model. I try to give them a lot of freedom for creativity. I don't like to show examples, or they will copy them. The project really helps students visualize the difference between a neutra

When teaching KE, PE, and ME, I use this lab to simulate rollercoasters. This is a three part lab. In part 1, students roll a marble (or steel bearing) down a foam insulation tube at different slopes. The main question is: Does slope have any effect on speed/energy?. You can get the insulation tube at any hardware store. I cut them in half. This way, I get more tubing. The wider the tubing the better. In part 2, I have the students make a rollercoaster course that must include two hills.

Questions to help students to determine the different variables in an experiment. Helpful hint: With some questions, the baseline test would be your control.

This contains all of my Forces, Newton's Laws, Balloon Car Project, and Slot Car lab write-ups. I have also included my PHET worksheets on Forces and Friction. Worksheets are intended for 8th grade science.

Here are 40 or so lab write-ups I use for my 8th grade science class. I've included a couple of projects as well. Many of these labs can take multiple days.

Here is a quick activity that takes 10-15 minutes. It helps the students see air particles in sounds waves. The PHET interactive includes water and light waves, but it specifically for sound waves in this worksheet. It helps to see the compressions, and then I have them count the compressions at different frequencies. I also have them use the little tape measure device to measure the wavelength in a compressional wave (from the PHET interactive).

I use PHET - Forces and Motion to help explain Net Forces. This is a worksheet I created to introduce Forces and the PHET interactive Forces and Motion: Basic. I also use it to show how it requires an applied force to make an object move. In class, we have covered speed and acceleration. This ties in those concepts as well.

Here is a friction lab that I do with my students. They use a block with a hook screwed into it. They use a spring scale to drag the block across different surface types. You will need a paper towel, a piece of wax paper, and two different grades of sand paper. You can modify it and use aluminum foil, a cloth, etc. I tape the items down so they don't move. Materials needed: Spring scale, a wooded block with a hook or attachment for spring scale, and four different surface types (sand paper,

Page 1: Practice writing covalent molecule formulas based on the name. Page 2: Practice writing the covalent molecule names based on the formula.

This is a series of worksheets for my students to understand ionic bonding. I start with learning Lewis Dot Structures, to oxidation numbers, to using that information to bonding cations to anions. If you follow the worksheets, I slowly pull away some of the aspects of the worksheets until it is just a few categories.