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Hot Equator, Cold Poles
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In this activity, learners use multiple thermometers, placed at different angles, and a lamp to investigate why some places on Earth's surface are much hotter than others.
Exploring Materials: Liquid Crystals
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In this activity, learners discover that the way a material behaves on the macroscale is affected by its structure on the nanoscale.
Jam Jar Jet
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In this activity, learners create a "Jam Jar Jet" based on Francois Reynst's discovery of a pulsejet engine, which uses one opening for both air intake and exhaust.
Make Your Own Slushies
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In this activity, learners will make their own slushies and learn some of the science behind how the process works.
Nano Ice Cream
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In this activity/demo, learners discover how liquid nitrogen cools a creamy mixture at such a rapid rate that it precipitates super fine grained (nano) ice cream.
Inkjet Printer
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In this activity, learners investigate how inkjet printers produce tiny, precise drops of ink.
Jem's Pykrete Challenge
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In this activity, learners make pykrete by freezing a mixture of water and a material like cotton wool, grass, hair, shredded paper, wood chips, or sawdust.
Cool Hot Rod
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If you have access to a copper metal tube, this activity does a great job demonstrating what happens to matter when it's heated or cooled. This activity requires some lab equipment.
Rubber Band Thermodynamics
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In this demonstration, learners explore the thermal properties of rubber. Learners investigate whether a rubber band contracts or expands when heated.
What Smart Metal!
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In this activity (pages 3-4), learners investigate the properties of smart materials, which are materials that respond to things that happen around them.
Lava Lamps
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Learners observe working lava lamps to understand how they work (included in PDF link).
Ice Balloons
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In this activity, learners will explore globes of frozen water to learn how to ask and then answer 'investigable' questions. The activity web page includes a short video demonstration.
Finding the Right Crater
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This quick demonstration (on page 11 of PDF) allows learners to understand why scientists think water ice could remain frozen in always-dark craters at the poles of the Moon.
LEGO® Chemical Reactions
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This activity uses LEGO® bricks to represent atoms bonding into molecules and crystals. The lesson plan is for a 2.5 hour workshop (or four 45-minute classes).
Light on Other Planets
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In this math-based activity, learners model the intensity of light at various distances from a light source, and understand how astronomers measure the amount of sunlight that hits our planet and othe
Aerogel
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This activity/demo introduces learners to aerogel, a glass nanofoam. Learners discover how aerogel is made and how well it insulates as well as learn about aerogel's other unique properties.
Hot and Cold
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In this activity, learners explore temperature changes from chemical reactions by mixing urea with water in one flask and mixing calcium chloride with water in another flask.
Save a Snowman
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In this activity, learners explore the concept of insulation by trying to keep Olaf the Snowman from melting. This activity encourages critical thinking and problem solving.
Instant Ice Cream with a Dry Ice Bath
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In this chemistry meets cooking activity, learners make carbonated, vanilla ice cream using dry ice and denatured ethanol, which are both inexpensive and accessible.
Shrinking Polymers
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In this activity, learners discover that some plastics will shrink when you get them hot. Learners bake polystyrene in a regular oven and discover what happens.