Potential & Kinetic Energy: Jumping Frogs

Originally posted on February 18, 2010


Have students fold origami jumping frogs using green index cards (the color really doesn’t matter, just makes it more fun). Allow students to play with the frogs and have them explain at which point the frog possesses 100% potential energy and at which point it possesses 100% kinetic energy.



Make sure you try your hand at making the frogs before presenting this lesson to your students. It's not hard to do, but you'll be much more effective at helping students if you've done it yourself first!

Classification: Pasta Dichotomous Key

Originally posted on February 17, 2010


Collect a large variety of different pasta shapes. Place one of each shape in a bag. Provide each student/pair/group with a bag of pasta shapes. Students then create a dichotomous key to identify each pasta shape. After completing the dichotomous key, groups can exchange keys to test them.

Oceans: Earth Ball Catch

Originally posted on February 16, 2010


Beg, borrow, steal or buy an inflatable globe or other spherical representation of the Earth that can be tossed around the classroom.

Have students throw the globe to one another around the room. When a student catches the globe, he/she should look to see if his/her left thumb is on water or land. The student will call out "land" or "water" and the teacher (or another student) keeps a tally of land and water catches on the board.

At the end of the game, analyze the data and you should find that about 70% of the time, the student's thumb was on water. A great introduction to a study of oceans and water - emphasizing the large percentage of the Earth that is covered with water.

Density: Coke Cans

Originally posted on February 15, 2010


A classic…
Fill a small aquarium (or other clear container that can hold enough water) with water. Place a can of Coke and a can of Diet Coke in the water. The Diet Coke will float while the regular Coke sinks. Very little artificial sweetner is needed to sweeten the Diet Coke, as compared to the sugar used in regular Coke.

Some extensions…

Test your students understanding of density by using different sized cans of soda, if you can find them.


Measure out the amount of sugar and artificial sweetner used in each can to show students. Once you have it measured, store them in small plastic bags, so you have them for next time.

American Museum of Natural History: Seminars on Science

Originally posted on February 12, 2010


If you're looking for professional development credits, consider the American Museum of Natural History's Seminars on Science. There are currently 11 online courses offered, spanning the range of science disciplines. Graduate credit is available through a number of institutions.

The courses are co-run by an educator and a scientist from the museum. They run 6 weeks (with a 7th week to finish assignments) and you are provided with a CD of course materials (which are also available online).

I have personally completed the Space, Time, and Motion course and the Genetics, Genomics, Genethics course. I thoroughly enjoyed both courses and found the discussions, despite taking place through the computer, to the thought-provoking and engaging. I found the costs to be very reasonable and I couldn't recommend the program more.

**I am not being compenstated in any way for my endorsement of the American Museum of Natural History's Seminars in Science - I just really enjoyed my experience and want everyone to know about the program.

Action/Reaction: Hero's Engine

Originally posted on February 11, 2010


First, a little story...
Back when I first graduated and was looking for a teaching job, I needed to prepare a demo lesson on the 3rd Law of Motion. Being the dilligent (and hopeful) interviewee, I scoured the internet for ideas to bring to the lesson. One of the things I found was to make a Hero's Engine using a soda can. I had never heard of such a thing before, but gave it a shot. Turns out it worked pretty well. Fast forward a few months, when I had a teaching job at a well-supported school with a science lab filled with goodies and gadgets of all sorts... one of those nifty gadgets was a fancy, purchased-from-a-catalog Hero's Engine. Unfortunately, you needed to heat it (with a flame) for it to work and even then it really didn't work!

So, today, I provide you with some guidance for making your own Hero's engine - it's generally safe, it costs next-to-nothing, and it WORKS!

Get an empty, clean soda can out of the recycling. You'll be using a nail to punch holes around the bottom of the can. Before doing any hole-punching, you'll want to plan approximately where you'd like the holes to appear, as you'd like them as evenly spaced as possible.

To make the holes: use a hammer to pound the nail into the can. Once the nail is poking through the can, push it (the nail) to one side, so you create an angled hole (see picture below). Remove the nail and make additional holes. Make sure you angle all of the holes in the same direction.

Lift the tab on the top of the can, so it's sticking straight up. Tie a length of string to the tab.

To use: You'll want to work over a large sink/bin or outside and you'll want to work quickly. Fill the can with water and hold onto the string. The water will come out of the holes in one direction and push/spin the can in the opposite direction. Can be used as a demonstration or as one station in a series of activities related to the 3rd Law of Motion.

Microscopes: The e lab

Originally posted on February 10, 2010
e Cut out a lower-case letter e from a newspaper. Create a wet mount slide by placing the e on a slide, placing a drop of water on the e, and dropping on a cover slip. Place the slide on the microscope, so that the e is facing you, as you would read it. Draw what you see through the microscope. Move the slide to the right as you watch through the eyepiece, to the left, up and down.

This is a great introductory microscope lab for students. You can easily determine if students are accurately drawing what they see through the microscope or just drawing what they think they are supposed to see.