Current Lesson Plans: -
AGPA P-16 Home A Brief History of Rubber - NEW - For Grades 6-8
In this social studies lesson plan, students will explore the development of rubber and its use in society. They will research the history of rubber and will construct a timeline to display key events and the progression of rubber's use in society.
Adhesives: How sticky is your tape? - Man-made Products - NEW - For Grades 6-8
In this lesson, students will test the shear strength of different sticky tapes by performing tests in which they will take measurements, record data, and report their findings. They will explain how the usefulness of a manufactured product depends on its function for a particular purpose. Students will learn about how scientists and engineers look to nature to invent products that are useful in our lives.
Adhesives: Measuring Stickiness - Natural Products - NEW - For Grades 6-8
Students will make a simple device to test the stickiness (adhesion) of household "glues" to determine strength or weakness of the substance to stick two surfaces together. This experience leads to a discussion of adhesion, adhesives (glues), product testing, and applications to daily life. Optional suggestions for Internet research on adhesives are provided.
Age of Fossils - For Grades 9-12
This lesson is designed to help students understand the concepts of radioactive dating to help determine the approximate age of fossils and rocks. After this lesson students will have an understanding of how maerials undergo radioactive decay and that the rate of decay allows scientists to predict the approximate age of the specimen. This lesson is geared to help take the "mystery" out of scientific dating of rocks and fossils.
Balloon Ball Bounce - NEW - For Grades 6-8
In this activity, students will realize that different sports use balls with different amounts of rebound. Understanding this idea, the students will determine if the number of balloons in a balloon ball affect the rebound height. The students will then use the ball to discuss energy conversions.
The Bending and Bouncing of Light - For Grades 6-8
Students will learn about the transfer of light energy as it interacts with matter. Key terms of refraction and reflection will be explored through hands-on inquiry. The science of the formation of rainbows will also explored.
Build a Better Bouncer - NEW - For Grades 6-8
Students discover the effect of placing additives in a glue-based putty to alter the physical properties of the putty. They are then challenged to use their knowledge to design the best bouncing ball possible from the simple materials available to them.
Building Polymer Cup Speakers - For Grades 9-12
Students will establish criteria by which to test their speakers. Students will construct and test their speaker. The students will compare speakers and test variable components of a speaker.
Can You See the Light? - For Grades 6-8
Students will learn through design and implementation of their own experiments about the transmission of light energy. Vocabulary terms such as transparent, translucent, and opaque are introduced and explored through hands-on exploration.
Check out Lights and Shields with Beads - For Grades 6-8
Students explore Ultraviolet (UV) detecting beads, conduct several investigations with them to find sources of UV radiation, and find materials that block U V radiation. Eventually students will realize that over-exposure to UV radiation is harmful to their eyes and skin.
Classification of matter - For Grades 9-12
This activity involves the students in an inquiry into classifying various materials.
Cling On's - For Grades 6-8
Through design and implementation of their own experiments, students will learn about static electricity and its relationship with various materials. Additionally, students will learn the conditions in which static electricity is produced and how it can be reduced.
Color Your World - NEW - For Grades 6-8
In this lesson students solve a problem about painting the walls of a room. Dimensions of the problem include calculating the surface area to be painted, the cost of the paint and labor, and the amount of time expended. After students report their solutions, a new technology is introduced that would both save time and money. Besides this home decor example, other examples of this amazing advance in polymer films can be discussed after viewing the
short video clip of Dr. Miko Cakmak, Professor of Polymer Engineering at The University of Akron.
Condiment Diver - For Grades 6-8
This activity uses a condiment packet to teach students how fish use their swim bladders to rise and descend in the water. The students will also learn about density, buoyancy, and sinking and floating.
Consider Your Options - For Grades 6-8
Students will watch another student make a lunch to take to school. The students will make a list of all the plastic items used to make the lunch. Discussion will follow about the items used to make a complete list. Other students will make the same lunch without using plastic items.
Counting Animal Populations - For Grades 6-8
Through hands-on investigation, students will learn about the method field scientists use to determine the population of a species for a specified study area. Through collaboration they will design and implement their own strategic method for counting the population of students in their school.
Cross that Bridge! - For Grades 6-8
This hands-on inquiry activity sets up a problem for students (design a bridge) and gives them specific constraints (type of materials, amount of materials, length of bridge, etc.) under which to work. The participants will work in groups to brainstorm and test multiple bridge designs. Throughout this lesson, the best teaching practices of inquiry approaches, hands-on/minds-on learning, and applications to the real world, will be emphasized.
Current Data Graphing - For Grades 6-8
Everywhere you look graphs surround your life. All types of businesses, periodicals, and reference materials utilize graphs to visually depict statistical information. Graphing skills are not only helpful within the walls of a science classroom but also in understanding the complexities of everyday life. This lesson is designed to help students identify the difference between an effective and ineffective graph, draw their own graphs, and interpret and relay information in a graph into another form of communication. This elsson requires the use of computers and the Internet by student groups.
Describing the Motion of a Battery Powered Car - For Grades 6-8
Students use the variables of time and distance traveled to observe the characteristics of a distance vs time graphs for the motion of a battery powered car operating with one battery then again with two batteries. This allows students to explore how the number of batteries used to power the car affects the characteristics of distance vs time graphs. Students then use the time and distance data collected for the motion of the cars in the two trials to calculate the average speed of the car in each case. The average speeds will then be compared to the slopes of the respective distance vs time graphs.
Determining the Density of Water - For Grades 6-8
Students will determine the density of one drop of water using experimental laboratory methods and graphing techniques, and then independently find the density of another liquid such as cooking oil. This lesson can be teacher directed or conducted as an open investigation.
Diaper Challenge - For Grades 6-8
Students will compare the absorbency of regular disposable diapers with Swimmers in fresh water and salt water.
The Dirt on Soil - For Grades 6-8
Through hands-on exploration, students will learn about three basic soil types and some of their physical properties. Concepts of porosity and permeability will be developed through experimentation. Students will design and implement a model of a water treatment plant.
Downhill Racer - For Grades 6-8
Students investigate the motion of a car traveling on an inclined plane and along a flat surface. Students observe the pattern of drops left by the moving car. The changing distances between the successive drops indicate that the car was not traveling at a constant speed. From the drops, students will be able to collect data and graph both the velocity and acceleration of the car.
Egg Walk Challenge - For Grades 6-8
Students will design a pair of shoes using plastics that will enable them to walk on eggs without breaking them.
Electromagnetic Energy and Its Spectrum - For Grades 6-8
As a result of hands-on exploration and inquiry, students will learn about electromagnetic radiation and the electromagnetic spectrum. Students will create waves to understand the relationship between energy and wavelength. Students will design and implement an experiment to reduce UV exposure to an object.
Exploring the physical and chemical properties of polymers - For Grades 6-8
This activity involves the students in an inquiry based examination of the physical and chemical properties of polymers.
Fishing Line Tests - For Grades 9-12
This lab is to test the stretch and breaking points of various brands and strength of polymer fishing lines and to graph the data collected.
Float Your Boat - For Grades 6-8
Through design and implementation of their own experiments about Archimedes' Principle, students will learn the effects of the force of buoyancy, and the role density plays in the sinking and float of objects.
Heat loss and gain - For Grades 9-12
Students will measure both qualitatively and quantitatively the heat of physical changes and a chemical reaction.
Hold on Tight! - NEW - For Grades 6-8
In this lesson, students will test the strength of different sticky tapes, such as duct tape, cellophane tape, medical bandage tape, and painters' tape, by performing tests in which they will take measurements, record data, and report their findings. They will explain how the usefulness of a manufactured product depends on its function for a particular purpose. Content information includes a discussion of types of adhesives and the mechanisms by which they work.
How Are Polymers Utilized in Everyday Life? - For Grades 9-12
Students will choose one of the ten areas of polymer science from the Macrogalleria web site. They will use the Macrogalleria web site to gather information to put into a graphic organizer. From the information on their graphic organizer the students will construct a Power Point presentation to report their findings to the class.
How Creepy! - For Grades 6-8
Students will observe, measure, and graph a model of slow downslope movement. This task assesses students' abilities to collect, record, and organize data, set up graph axes, plot data points, draw line graphs, apply mathematics, infer based on observational data, predict based on a model, and apply models to other situations.
How Shocking! - NEW - For Grades 6-8
Students will be challenged to build a shock absorbing structure using different polymeric materials or rubber that would best protect a gelatin "head" during an impact.
Industrial Processes of Polymers: How Toys Are Made - NEW - For Grades 6-8
Students explore the ties between science and technology as they simulate the plastic manufacturing processes of extrusion, injection molding and blow molding. Interest is stimulated, and questions are initiated, as students examine a variety of simple plastic toys. Students try to find traits that would lead them to suggest a process by which a given toy was made. Next, students form "manufacturing companies" and actually extrude a product using a common toy - the Play-Doh Fun Factory®. Students also make an injection molded product using a hot glue gun, and a blow molded product using plastic tubing and a simple mold. Finally, students review their original set of toys and classify them as injected, extruded, or blow molded.
Jungle-Gym Drop - For Grades 3-5
Through several trials of dropping objects from various levels of a jungle-gym, students will be able to find out more about gravity, forces, and motion.
Making Bouncing Balls - For Grades K-2
Children have the opportunity to use different materials to make balls. They design and build balls and explore how their balls roll, bounce, and fall. They also take apart old balls to see how they are made and use these ideas in making more balls.
Magnetic Discovery Bottle - For Grades 3-5
This lesson uses a "Magnetic Discovery Bottle" to teach students: how to conduct a simple investigation; to use simple equipment to gather data; to use data to arrive at a reasonable explanation; to communicate the investigations and explanations; to describe the properties of magnets; to explain why some materials are magnetic and some are not.
Making a Model Lung - For Grades 3-5
In "The Model Lung" lesson students will construct a simple model of the human lung and use this model to identify the structure and function of the lung. In the lesson extension, students will model and research malfunctions to the respiratory system due to illness or disease.
Marbles and Momentum - For Grades 9-12
Using the game of marbles, students will explore how momentum is transferred from one object to another object in an elastic collision. Students will determine the properties that make a good shooter.
Miracle Fish - For Grades 6-8
This lesson plan leads students through the process of designing an experiment. First, students are given a miracle fish and asked to make observations. Then, through a series of steps, they develop procedures to investigate the behavior of the fish and determine the most likely cause of the curling of the fish when it is placed in the palm of the hand. After discussing the components of an experiment, students are led through a second exploration, involving polymer spikes, where they practice and build on what they have learned by forming questions, identifying variables, making observations, collecting data, completing graphs, and drawing conclusions.
Mystery Powders - NEW - For Grades 6-8
Students will observe physical changes by adding water to eight different polymer powders. They will record physical properties before and after adding the water. Students will analyze their observations to identify the powders. They discover polymers are more than just plastic.
The Nanofiber Chocolate Factory: An Analogy - NEW - For Grades 6-8
A nanometer is one billionth (1 x 10
-9) of a meter which can be about 3 to 5 atoms in width. Electrospun nanofibers produced from polymer solutions are being used in unique ways by scientists. Nanotechnology allows the manipulation of matter, atom by atom at the "nanoscale." Properties of these materials are amplified due to the fact that many fibers can fit into a very small space. Scientists have found many unique ways to use such fibers from producing new materials capable of blocking moisture, removing of toxins from both water and air, delivering medicines to a specific region in or on the body, and tissue scaffolding. The possibilities are endless as scientists and inventors produce new products formed from these extremely small fibers.
In this investigation students will determine the advantages of going small by comparing the amount of chocolate syrup coating on a large diameter pretzel to that of an equal volume of smaller pretzels coated with chocolate. Students will learn what happens to the surface area as the diameter gets smaller and smaller. Students will determine what advantages exist in making the size (diameter) of a pretzel smaller. Students will make the comparison by massing a cup of chocolate syrup before and after dipping the pretzel(s). Students will use their data to support their conclusions. The lesson contains a PowerPoint review of the metric system with pictures to help students visualize large and small number lengths. Using a second PowerPoint set of slides in the elaboration, the teacher can relate the activity to the new field of nanotechnology and discuss with students why it is advantageous for newly developed materials to be so small. This often has to do with the large surface area available on nanosized particles and fibers.
Nanofibers: Why Go Small? - NEW - For Grades 9-12
A nanometer is one billionth (1 x 10
-9) of a meter which can be about 3 to 5 atoms in width. Electrospun nanofibers produced from polymer solutions are being used in unique ways by scientists. Nanotechnology allows the manipulation of matter, atom by atom at the "nanoscale." Properties of these materials are amplified due to the fact that many fibers can fit into a very small space. Scientists have found many unique ways to use such fibers from producing new materials capable of blocking moisture, removing of toxins from both water and air, delivering medicines to a specific region in or on the body, and tissue scaffolding. The possibilities are endless as scientists and inventors produce new products formed from these extremely small fibers.
In this investigation students will determine the advantages of going small by comparing the amount of chocolate syrup coating on a large diameter pretzel to that of an equal volume of smaller pretzels coated with chocolate. Students will learn what happens to the surface area as the diameter gets smaller and smaller. Students will determine what advantages exist in making the size (diameter) of a pretzel smaller. Students will make the comparison by massing a cup of chocolate syrup before and after dipping the pretzel(s). Students will use their data, graphs and mathematical equations to support their conclusions. The lesson contains a Powerpoint review of the metric system with pictures to help students visualize large and small number lengths. Using a second Powerpoint set of slides in the elaboration, the teacher can relate the activity to the new field of nanotechnology and discuss with students why it is advantageous for newly developed materials to be so small. This often has to do with the large surface area available on nanosized particles and fibers.
Observations and Inferences - For Grades 6-8
Students will learn to distinguish observations from inferences. Students observe what they think is a burning candle and list all their observations. In reality they are observing a cylinder of apple or potato with a burning nut on the end. When all the students' observations are listed, a discussion is lead to separate actual observations from inferences students have made. Next students observe the appearance and behavior of two balls which are similar in appearance but very different in composition. Observations and inferences are made relating to the two balls.
One Plus One Makes New - For Grades 6-8
Through the introduction of a historical event, students will learn about the properties of matter and how properties can change when composite materials are produced. Through initial guided experimentation, students will be able to apply the knowledge learned and design and implement their own experiments.
Physics on the Playground - For Grades K-2
Students are challenged to ask the question, "What materials will allow me to slide the fastest down the slide?" Allow students to make a prediction and plan a procedure to fairly test the question with polymers.
Plastics and Rubber: What's the Difference? - NEW - For Grades 6-8
In this lesson students use observation skills to classify 10-15 common household items into two groups based upon their physical properties. The items are actually all examples of rubber or plastics.
Polymer Rockets - For Grades 6-8
Students will design, create and test a polymer rocket.
The Polymer Schoolhouse - For Grades 3-5
Each cooperative group will construct a shoe box diorama of a particular room of their school. This would include rooms such as classrooms, playground, cafeteria, gymnasium, principal's office, art/music rooms, etc.
Polymers, Where Are You? - For Grades 6-8
Teacher will introduce the concept, "what is a polymer?" using video clips from the AGPA website (grades 5-8). Students will make a collection of common objects made of polymeric materials and formulate their own questions as to the make-up of these objects.
Rethink Those Polymer Six Pack Rings - For Grades K-2
Students will bury organic and man-made materials, some of which are polymers, to see if they decompose. They will observe the materials and record their results. After seeing that the polymer of the six-pack rings does not disintegrate at all after being buried, they will learn that these can photo degrade. They will then design and perform an experiment to photo degrade the six-pack rings and record their results.
Sink/Float Discovery Bottle - For Grades 3-5
This lesson uses a "Sink/Float Discovery Bottle" to teach students how to conduct a simple investigation, use simple equipment to make observations, use observations to arrive at a reasonable explanation, and to communicate their findings and explanations. This lesson will also teach students about the properties of objects that sink and float.
Specific Gravity - The Relative Density of Liquids - For Grades 6-8
Students will learn, through the creation of their handmade hydrometer, how a hydrometer functions and what it measures. Using their hydrometer, they will determine the relative differences in specific gravity of liquids and compare these values to those obtained from a commercially manufactured hydrometer. Based on their findings, students will create their own liquid density column.
Sports Helmets and Impact Testing of Polymers - For Grades 6-8
In sports, participants may be subjected to collisions with balls or other people or even crashes on bikes and skateboards. How is it possible for athletes to tolerate such blows and still "remain in the game"? This activity allows students to use inquiry to investigate the materials used to make sports helmets, a modern form of body armor. The students will perform impact tests on plastic (polymer) samples by dropping a plumb bob from differing heights onto the samples. The tests, modeled after actual industrial testing methods, will measure the brittleness of a material that has been subjected to an intense blow. Both "hard" plastics that may be used in the outer shell of a helmet and foamed plastics that can be used for the inner lining of the helmet will be tested. The students will use data gained from their tests to determine which plastics they feel are most suitable for usage in a helmet.
Study the Fizz - For Grades 6-8
This inquiry activity uses an everyday item, soda, to help the students learn the concepts of solute and solvent and to review the components of a good experiment. The students will discuss and determine manipulated and responding variables and will write a hypothesis and procedure for part of the lesson. Throughout this lesson, the best teaching practices of inquiry approaches, hands-on/minds-on learning, and applications to the real world will be emphasized.
What's In Crude Oil? - For Grades 6-8
Students will be divided into research teams. Each team will research how fractional distillation works, as well as describe one of the major products of fractional distillation. Students will then use distillation to separate 2 liquids. The concept of density will be used. (D=M/V).
Where Did the Water Go? - For Grades 6-8
As a result of the teacher-conducted discrepant event demonstration (described below), students will pose a problem. They will formulate their hypotheses, conduct experiments, and report their findings. Since it is unlikely that the students will be able to reproduce the outcome of the teachers' demonstration, it will be pointed out to them that very often scientific investigations do not lead to "answers".
Where in the World is Rubber? - NEW - For Grades 6-8
In this social studies lesson plan, students will learn about the various people and places associated with those areas that produce natural rubber. They will be able to define and identify specific regions using human and physical characteristics.
Where to Live? - For Grades 6-8
The use of computerized information is a growing part of everyday life. More and more people around the country and around the globe are plugging into geographic, social, economic, political, and environmental information to answer practical questions in their lives. The answers they find have relevance in their education, affect their business decisions, expand their understanding of the place they call home, and influence personal choices.
In this lesson, students will explore various aspects of their world using a Geographic Information System in order to make decisions.
Will It Stretch? - NEW - For Grades 6-8
Students will receive unexpected results when a rubber band is heated and cooled. From this activity they will learn about one of the unique physical properties of the polymer, rubber.
You Are What You Eat! - For Grades 6-8
Through hands-on activities and inquiry, students will construct a simple calorimeter. Through experimentation and simple calculation, students will determine the number of calories in a sample of food. Through the use of the Internet, students will plan a meal and calculate the number of calories the meal contains. From that calorie count, they will devise an exercise program to "burn off" the calories consumed.
Ziplock Chemistry - For Grades 5-8
Three substances are mixed in a sealed plastic bag. A reaction occurs that causes the bag to get warm and expand while the color of the contents of the bag changes.