Animal Survival: Physical Characteristics of Environments

Learn about the physical characteristics of environments and act out the animals that live there! You are the next contestant on the Take the Stage game show ANIMAL SURVIVAL where you will travel in a hot air balloon to the forest of North America, the savanna of Africa, and then take a submarine ride underwater in the ocean. To play the game, you will act out an animal that would live in each environment, and then write how the physical characteristics of each environment helps your animal survive. Learning Objective: observe and describe the physical characteristics of environments and how they support populations and communities of plants and animals within an ecosystem.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson

Animal Adaptations

This lesson will introduce camouflage and adaptations, enabling students to be able to identify the importance of animals adapting in a changing climate. 

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Diagram/Illustration, Lesson, Lesson Plan

Author: Gonzaga Climate Institute

Animal Coverings

It takes a thick skin to withstand the hardships that life has to offer. This collection of images shows a variety of animals, each with a slightly different type of protective covering.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Diagram/Illustration

Authors: National Science Foundation, WGBH Educational Foundation

Gumdrop Atoms

Students use gumdrops and toothpicks to make lithium atom models. Using these models, they investigate the makeup of atoms, including their relative size. Students are then asked to form molecules out of atoms, much in the same way they constructed atoms out of the particles that atoms are made of. Students also practice adding and subtracting electrons from an atom and determining the overall charges on atoms.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Authors: Brian Kay, Daria Kotys-Schwartz, Janet Yowell, Malinda Schaefer Zarske

Concord Consortium: Atomic Structure

This interactive, scaffolded activity allows students to build an atom within the framework of a newer orbital model. It opens with an explanation of why the Bohr model is incorrect and provides an analogy for understanding orbitals that is simple enough for grades 8-9. As the activity progresses, students build atoms and ions by adding or removing protons, electrons, and neutrons. As changes are made, the model displays the atomic number, net charge, and isotope symbol. Try the "Add an Electron" page to build electrons around a boron nucleus and see how electrons align from lower-to-higher energy. This item is part of the Concord Consortium, a nonprofit research and development organization dedicated to transforming education through technology. The Concord Consortium develops deeply digital learning innovations for science, mathematics, and engineering. The models are all freely accessible. Users may register for additional free access to capture data and store student work products.

Material Type: Lesson

Author: The Concord Consortium

Elements and atoms

How elements relate to atoms. The basics of how protons, electrons, and neutrons make up an atom. Created by Sal Khan.

Material Type: Lesson

Author: Sal Khan

Chemical Reactions and Stoichiometry

In this activity, students explore reactions in which chemical bonds are formed and broken. Students experiment with changing the temperature and the concentration of the atoms in order to see how these affect reaction rates. They also learn how to communicate what happens during a chemical reaction by writing the ratios of reactants and products, known as stoichiometry.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: Concord Consortium

Chemical Reactions and Pancakes

Students will compare ingredients in two different pancake recipes, then taste the difference. We will talk about the chemical reaction that happened when the recipes are mixed and why there are bubbles in the pancakes.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan

Castle Mendeleev: Periodic Table Escape Room

Students will explore the periodic table by using clues from Mendeleev to decipher which element each room is made of. A basic understanding of the periodic table is needed including atomic number, atomic weight, periods, rows, and groups. An embedded periodic table is included to help students solve the riddles. The element's symbol is the password that unlocks each of the 12 rooms.

Material Type: Homework/Assignment

Author: Rose Van Moorlehem

Periodic Table in 3D

This Demonstration shows 3D bar charts of the periodic table with various element property values.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Diagram/Illustration, Homework/Assignment, Interactive, Simulation, Teaching/Learning Strategy

Author: Yu-Sung Chang and Brett Champion

The Periodic Table Introduction

This is an introduction to the History on the development and contributions of the modern periodic table.The lesson includes a PowerPoint, activities, Pretest and a lab.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Homework/Assignment, Lecture Notes

Author: David Gleason

Investigating Patterns: An Introduction to Mendeleev, Periodicity, and the Periodic Table

This activity is a puzzle where students organize samples and look for patterns in order to predict properties of missing puzzle pieces. The students then relate their experience to the historical development of the Periodic Table and the ways that the Periodic Table can be used to predict the properties of the elements.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Assessment, Lesson Plan

Author: Jennifer Hogan