Overview The word “tsunami” is Japanese for “harbor wave.” A tsunami is a series of huge waves caused by events that bring about a displacement of water. One such event is an earthquake. On March 11, 2011, an underwater earthquake (magnitude 9.0 on the Richter scale) occurred off the coast of Japan. The maximum water
Overview In this guided inquiry lesson, students are invited to explore the effect of surface texture on ease of motion. Through their investigation, students will discover the concept of frictional force. They will use data gathered in an engaging experiment to answer the question, “What is the relationship between various shoe sole materials and ease
Overview Students will carry out a structured inquiry investigation of Faraday’s Law of Induction, a physical law that states that the bigger the change in the magnetic field, the greater the voltage produced in a conducting coil. Students will observe Faraday’s Law in action, by investigating the question: How does the speed of a magnetic
Overview This structured inquiry math lesson focuses on patterns and graphing. It can be used either in math or in a Science unit on the processes of science, including observation, questioning, classifying, timing, making predictions, formulating explanations, and communicating results. In this investigation, students observe dance clips and identify that a dance routine is a
Overview Critter Curators is a problem based learning (PBL) lesson that introduces fourth graders to the hands on study of living systems. In PBL, students act as scientists to solve a problem in a real world context. They do so by collecting and analyzing data, and by considering practical parameters or constraints, in order to
Overview In this problem based lesson, students are led through a series of hands on activities to observe and test six substances in order to gather information about their physical and chemical properties. The tests are constructed as a structured inquiry in which the question under investigation is: “What is the effect of combining each