Provided basic circuitry materials, including a multimeter, students experiment through guided inquiry to gain hands-on experience with Ohm's Law and Equivalent Resistance.

This brochure is offered as a tool for science, technology, engineering and mathematics educators who are working with students with disabilities. Some activity descriptions are supplemented with case study examples addressing a particular disability.

This ThingLink provides links to several OERs curated from various repositories (oercommons.org, sharemylesson.com, curriki.org, app.partcipate.com) that all deal with teaching the states of matter to upper elementary students.  There is a full lesson plan from Ohio State University that deals with the water cycle, and specifically, with storage of fresh water in glaciers and snow.  There is a lot of information regarding student misconceptions and how to teach the content, as well as literacy resources and student engagement activities.  There is also a link to a full unit plan of labs and investigations, including PowerPoints and lab sheets for students.  Linked on this ThingLink, you'll also find an introduction video from PBS and a song about matter on YouTube.  Please feel free to add resources to remix!!

Grade 3 Science: Local alternative assessments, including performance assessments, are to be administered in place of the eliminated Standards of Learning test.  Appropriate testing conditions for the administration of local alternative assessments in Grade 3 Science are determined by the local school division. This resource is to support teachers in the use of the Scientific Investigation Common Rubric.

This activity introduces puts participants in the role of agricultural workers in a fresh produce operation that grows crops in a hydroponic system to sell at grocery stores. As they grow their crops over the course of several weeks, they are responsible for ensuring that the products are safe, delicious, and ready to sell to customers. This activity is part of the Agricultural Cyberbiosecurity Education Resource Collection that contains resources for formal and non-formal agricultural educators working with middle school aged youth. Published as Open Educational Resources, all resources are provided in durable (pdf) and customizable (MS Word) formats. They are hosted on  GoOpenVA in a unique resource collection, Ag Cybersecurity Virginia Tech, at https://goopenva.org/curated-collections/143 and on on Virginia Tech’s stable repository, VTechWorks at https://doi.org/10.21061/cyberbiosecurity

Students use the companion document as a standalone activity to develop a mathematical model for determining the wavelength of light using a diffraction grating.

Common science investigation rubric to be used when assessing grades 3-5 performance assessments.

Lesson length: 1-2 hoursGrade level: 6-8This is a three part lesson where students (1) explore elements (and their properties) that are used in materials to build and power a cell phone (any easily accessed, small, electronic machine could stand in for a cell phone), (2) approach activities though an engineering design thinking lens and participate in an active simulation of the movement of electricity (electrons) to power a device, and (3) participate in a Lego build where they experience set constraints to their building project. This can be related to the constraints engineers face as they build cell phones (or anything else).This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1657263. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Lesson length: 2-4 hoursGrade level: 6-8Students build models of four different biomes: forest, tundra, grasslands, and dessert. Student groups build a biome and then model climate and weather in the biome, as well as the impacts of human development and engineering mitigations in the biome.This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1657263. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Lesson Length: 1-2 hoursGrade Level: 6-8Students build a water filter with a variety of natural and commercially produced materials. First they test the materials and then choose which to layer together themselves based on material performance. Students learn about water resources and engineered supports for the earth’s water systems and the impacts on environmental and human health. Engineering connections are highlighted throughout the lesson. Special thanks to Giles County, VA STEM Coordinator, Christina Martin, whose unit on The Global Water Crisis was the inspiration for this lesson. Also thanks to the NASA Water Filtration Challenge (https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/teach/activity/water-filtration-challenge/) that helped guide Christina in the development of her lesson.This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1657263. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Lesson length: 1-2 hoursGrade level: 6-8Students use a recipe to create bouncy balls and then measure the bounce of their ball to test damping qualities of different materials. Students practice using the scientific method and think about how engineers might use it.This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1657263. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Teachers and students can learn how to put together a Microcontroller Kit with an environmental conditions sensor that measures temperature, humidity, pressure and altitude and could be used for multiple experiments and shared collectively amongst departments or schools.This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1657263. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Teachers and students can see an example of how to put together a Microcontroller Kit with a Temperature sensor that could be used for multiple experiments and shared collectively amongst departments or schools.This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1657263. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Lesson length: 1-2 hoursGrade level: 6-8Students practice using the scientific method as they engineer methods to fix damaged mountain roads. Using engineering design thinking, students assess the problem(s), develop strategies for addressing them, budget for repairs, and create and test prototype solutions.This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1657263. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Lesson Length: 1-2 hoursGrade Level: 6-8Students learn about potential and kinetic energy as it relates to mountain roads. The activities are grounded in engineering design thinking as it relates to engineered roads and road repair. Also included is a challenge activity with renewable energy Snap Circuit simulations.This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1657263. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Lesson Length: 1-2 hoursGrade Level: 6-8Students learn about relationships between earth and space including elements of our solar system, gravity, escape velocity, and space exploration though a breakout box experience. They solve clues about space and conditions needed to support life on a planet and perform tests related to space travel. Clues for opening locks on the breakout box are purposefully challenging to simulate the struggle engineers often grapple with when problem solving.This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1657263. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Lesson Length: 1-2 hoursGrade Level: 6-8Students will explore the carbon emission impacts of different lifestyle choices. The activity is grounded in engineering design thinking as it relates to a family's carbon footprint and options to shift that footprint to make change (trade offs). Students will understand carbon impacts, work in teams (families) to negotiate lifestyle adjustments, and brainstorm opportunities for engineered improvements to decrease carbon emissions.This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1657263. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Entomologist Dr. Art Evans and VPM radio producer Steve Clark co-host What’s Bugging You? Their engaging, wide-ranging, and humorous explorations into the world of insects and entomology are presented as an animated series. It leans into the crazy, fun, and hilarious aspects of the insect world. It asks the question of when is a bug a true bug. How do I find those insects hiding in plain sight? What in the world is a booger beetle and a fecal shield? All these answers and more are uncovered in the new videos through artfully illustrated and accurate depictions of insects and their surroundings.

Each video captures the look of a field notebook, with handwritten observations and illustrations. Inspired by entomologists' collections, animator David Vinson shares, “I wanted the labels to have typewritten and handwritten text like you would see in a case of pinned insect specimens with notes and scientific names. As for the insects themselves, I wanted them to have the illustrative quality of a field guide. Even though it was all created digitally, I still wanted it to look like the elements could have been made by hand.”

Whether you love insects or you just don’t know you love them yet, we think you’ll enjoy this series. Not only is it fun, gross, weird, and strange, but it’s also educational and entertaining. You’ll learn more about the insects that are all around us as you stop and wonder “what’s bugging you?”

This resource is a simple note catcher for students to record definitions and example of independent variable, dependent variable, constant, and control. This could be coupled with an experiment or demonstration.