Make your classroom electrifying with activities and information spanning chemistry and physics content. Everything from equilibrium to electricity and reactions to rocketry at your fingertips.
It’s all about the interactions among land, water, living organisms, the atmosphere, and beyond. Mine activities, information, and helpful hints for ESS.
Teach a class like forensic science where you have to apply physics, chemistry, and biology content? We have interdisciplinary activities and tips to help.
Brush up on the latest instructional strategies and pedagogy with information from our teaching partners, instructional designers, and academic consultants.
Protein Necklace: Harnessing the Glow of JellyfishThis workshop explores a simple, 3-dimensional classroom activity to isolate the green fluorescent protein found in jellyfish. Show students that protein science can be tangible and engaging but not overwhelming with this beginner’s activity.
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Come to Your Senses: Physiology in ActionDon’t think you have the nerves for physiology? This workshop offers 4 easy, hands-on activities, suitable for all grade levels, to explore homeostasis, reflexes and reactions, and response to stimuli.
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AUTOPSY: Forensic Dissection Featuring Carolina’s Perfect Solution® PigsAre you ready for a forensic dissection activity that is on the cutting edge? Engage students and revitalize your instruction of mammalian structure and function with a “real” classroom autopsy! Participants dissect a Carolina’s Perfect Solution® pig by modeling the protocols of a forensic pathologist.
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Strawberry Milkshakes: DNA and Lactose IntoleranceIn this workshop, learn how to introduce students to molecular biology through age-appropriate, hands-on activities designed to make challenging abstract concepts (including DNA, genes, and enzymes) more concrete—and to make biology fun.
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Smithsonian 3D Learning and 3D AssessmentHow can you be sure you’re providing 3-D learning and 3-D assessment? Experience investigations from Smithsonian Science for the Classroom as both learner and teacher.
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How Can We Provide Freshwater to Those in Need?This Smithsonian Science for the Classroom module asks students to investigate where to find water, explore ways to move water, and determine how to provide freshwater to those in need.
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Pregnant Rat DissectionThis dissection activity allows students to develop their dissection and observation skills, identify major features of the pregnant rat, and understand form and function. Includes a materials list and step-by-step instructions.
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Wisconsin Fast Plants® Fast, Fun, and Easy PlantingThis activity will help you understand how easy it is to plant and care for Wisconsin Fast Plants®. As quickly as your plants grow, you will develop multiple ideas for using Fast Plants® with your students to discover and investigate many aspects of plant growth and development.
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See(d) the Difference: Seed Germination with the Discovery Lens KitStudents of all ages can learn from observing the germination of seeds. In this activity, seeds germinate on black agar plates, making the developmental stages easy to observe and identify. Includes a materials list and step-by-step instructions.
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Balancing Chemical EquationsThis activity focuses on using models to help balance chemical equations and understand the law of conservation of mass. Includes a materials list and step-by-step instructions.
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Assessing Water Quality with Aquatic MacroinvertebratesUse this introductory activity to familiarize students with the types of macroinvertebrates they may collect in a local stream or as a review activity on biotic water quality calculations. Includes a materials list and step-by-step instructions.
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The Composition and Age of StarsDo your students think stars burn? Can they tell the age of a star like our sun? Ignite interest in astrophysics with this easy demonstration. Includes a materials list and step-by-step instructions.
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Build a Bot with Cubelets®, Robot BlocksGive your students an engineering design challenge with Cubelets®, Robot Blocks. Develop a series of tasks that a robot can perform, then let students engineer and test the robots.
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Modeling Energy in a SystemYou experience energy, force, and motion every second of your day. In this activity, modified from the STCMS™ unit Energy, Forces, and Motion, you create a model to explain how energy is involved in moving a pendulum. Includes a materials list and step-by-step instructions.
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Force AwakensMagnetism is an example of a non-contact force that occurs when objects are not touching. In this activity, students investigate how magnets create a force field that can attract and repel objects. Includes a materials list and step-by-step instructions.
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Cutaneous SensationYou have probably noticed that cutaneous receptors are not equally distributed throughout the skin. Some places on your body are more sensitive than others. This activity explores the density of mechanoreceptors in the skin on the hand.
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Structure and Function K-5: What Is the Learning Progression?How can we help students understand structure and function? Can students learn better through a coherent learning progression? Can science be taught in 30-minute lessons? Experience a fun, inquiry-based workshop to answer these questions.
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Making Algae BeadsIn this activity students create spheres of green algae for use in experiments that explore the metabolic processes of plants. Includes a materials list and step-by-step instructions.
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Bouncing Off the PageCombine physics and biology concepts in one lesson that focuses on the art of creating two-dimensional images with the illusion of depth. Includes a materials list and step-by-step instructions.
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What's Your Type?Using Carolina® Synthetic Blood in your classroom offers students the opportunity to conduct realistic blood typing activities without the associated risks. This activity includes a materials list and step-by-step instructions.
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Cow Eye DissectionThis dissection activity introduces students to the anatomy of the mammalian eye. Includes a materials list and step-by-step instructions.
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Disorder DetectivesIn this activity, students take on the role of a cytogeneticist. They are given a case study and a set of patient chromosome decals that they arrange into a completed karyotype.
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Elephant ToothpasteDemonstrate the use of a catalyst in the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide with this activity. Includes a materials list and step-by-step instructions.
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Ice CreamerBy using table salt to lower the freezing temperature of water below 0° C, the ice and water mixture becomes cold enough to freeze a nondairy creamer solution into ice cream.
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Make a Choice!Gain an understanding of animal behavior, habitat, and other environmental and ecological concepts with interlocking choice chambers.
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Wisconsin Fast Plants® NecklaceThis activity allows you to observe and record root and shoot development and create a unique necklace from Wisconsin Fast Plants® seed.
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Pig DissectionIn this activity, students hone their dissection and observation skills, identify major features of a pig, understand form and function, and better understand vertebrate and mammalian anatomy. Includes a materials list and step-by-step instructions.
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Owl Pellet DissectionThis introductory dissection activity helps students understand predator-prey relationships, owl feeding habits, and food webs. Includes a materials list and step-by-step instructions.
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Squid DissectionExamine structural adaptations and observe the relationship between form and function with this dissection activity. Includes a materials list and step-by-step instructions.
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The Smithsonian Presents Energy in ActionHow does energy move and change? Answer this question and others while experiencing one of the new modules from the Smithsonian Science for the Classroom™ series.
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Strawberry DNA ExtractionIntroduce students to DNA with this activity. A discussion of how this DNA extraction procedure works might also touch on the plant cell wall, the cell membrane, and DNA's lack of solubility in ethanol. Includes materials list and step-by-step instructions.
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Sheep Brain Dissectionintroduce students to the anatomy of a mammalian brain. During this dissection activity, students identify major brain structures and better understand the nervous system. Includes a materials list and step-by-step instructions.
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Dry Ice ExplosionDemonstrate the physical states of carbon dioxide with the help of this video.
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Leave Your Print: Basic FingerprintingLet this basic fingerprinting activity introduce your students to a real-world application of science. Includes a materials list and step-by-step instructions.
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A "Taste" of Carolina® PhysiologyOur sense of taste is limited to a few basic responses. In this activity, students explore how the perception of flavor can be influenced by other factors. Includes a materials list and step-by-step instructions.
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Jump Right In-the Water’s Great!Discover how water quality testing can be part of your curriculum. Plus, gain experience working with different types of water testing materials.
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Collecting Cancer-Causing ChangesIn this activity, students simulate cell divisions and identify various mutation patterns that lead to increases in the rate of cell division.
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How Do Earth’s Processes Change the Landscape?Experience new lessons from Smithsonian Science for the Classroom that engage, inspire, and connect student to real science as they investigate the effects of an earthquake, a glacier, and wind.
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Talking Allowed! Using Science Discourse for Equity in Grades 6-8Why is middle school science discourse important? How does it impact the equity in the science classroom?
How do teachers implement this strategy? Learn the answers to these questions as you explore
engaging STC Middle School lessons from the Smithsonian. Leave with resource materials.
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