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Cleaning with Dirt
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Learners build a filter from old soda bottles and dirt. They create polluted water, and pour it through their filter to clean it.
Fizzy Nano Challenge
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This lesson focuses on how materials behave differently as their surface area increases.
Acid (and Base) Rainbows
Learners use red cabbage juice and pH indicator paper to test the acidity and basicity of household materials. The activity links this concept of acids and bases to acid rain and other pollutants.
Trading Places: Redox Reactions
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Visitors add drops of copper sulfate solution onto a steel nail. They observe the nail change color from silver to brown as the copper plates onto the nail.
Forwards and Backwards: pH and Indicators
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Visitors prepare six solutions combining vinegar and ammonia that range incrementally from acid (all vinegar) to base (all ammonia).
Landing the Rover
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In this team design challenge (page 19-24 of PDF), learners "land" a model Lunar Rover in a model Landing Pod (both previously built in activities #3 and #4 in PDF).
Good News: We're on the Rise!
Learners build a simple aneroid barometer to learn about changes in barometric pressure and weather forecasting. They observe their barometer and record data over a period of days.
Acid Rain Effects
Learners conduct a simple experiment to model and explore the harmful effects of acid rain (vinegar) on living (green leaf and eggshell) and non-living (paper clip) objects.
Be a Scanning Probe Microscope
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In this activity, learners investigate Scanning Probe Microscopes (SPM) and then work in teams using a pencil to explore and identify the shape of objects they cannot see, just as SPMs do at the nano
Composite Materials
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This is an activity (located on page 3 of PDF under Hockey Sticks Activity) about composites, materials made of 2 or more different components.
Going for a Spin: Making a Model Steam Turbine
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In this activity, learners explore how various energy sources can be used to cause a turbine to rotate.
Spaghetti Bridge
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In this engineering activity, learners investigate the differences between the strength of bridges made from flat and round building materials.
How Big is Small
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In this classic hands-on activity, learners estimate the length of a molecule by floating a fatty acid (oleic acid) on water.
Measure the Pressure: The "Wet" Barometer
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In this activity, learners use simple items to construct a device for indicating air pressure changes.
Design a Lunar Rover!
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In this team design challenge (page 2-10 of PDF), learners design and build a model of a Lunar Transport Rover that will carry equipment and people on the surface of the Moon.
Design a Landing Pod!
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In this team design challenge (page 11-18 of PDF), learners design and build a Landing Pod for a model Lunar Rover (previously built in activity on page 1-10 of PDF).
Bubble Trouble
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In this activity on page 15 of the PDF, learners measure the amount of bubbles that they make using a detergent.
Yeast Balloons
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Visitors observe a bottle with a balloon attached around the mouth. The bottle contains a solution of yeast, sugar, and water.
Rooftop Gardens
How does a green roof, or roof covered by plants, affect the temperature of the inside and outside of a building? Learners design and build houses to find out the answer.
Make a Terrarium
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In this activity, learners make a miniature greenhouse or "terrarium" to explore the greenhouse effect.