Science Friday lesson plans are based on our popular Science Friday Videos and are created for us by the New York Hall of Science.
Jan. 03, 2012
Microorganisms on the Move
In this activity, students will learn how to prepare deep well slides for observing two types of microorganisms called Paramecium (a group of protozoa, or single-celled organisms, which move with cilia, so they are called “ciliates”) and Euglena (microorg...
Dec. 05, 2011
Cool Craniums
In this activity, students will observe three “mystery” mammal skulls and compare and contrast the features of each skull. Students will learn the anatomical terms for skull features such as orbits, nasal passages, and foramen magnum. Students will learn...
Nov. 07, 2011
Keeping a Betta
In this activity, students will research general information about bettas and use that information to determine suitable habitat requirements and maintenance. Students will work collaboratively to perform weekly maintenance duties to keep their betta aliv...
Oct. 24, 2011
Mineral Madness
Minerals are naturally occurring, non-living compounds of elements. They are the building blocks of rocks. Geologists are greatly interested in minerals because they can reveal an enormous amount about the history of the geologic environment in which they...
Sep. 12, 2011
Termite Symbiosis
In this activity, students will sort and classify interactions between pairs of organisms under the appropriate symbiotic relationship of commensalism, parasitism, and mutualism. Then students will observe mutualism in action, as they perform a termite di...
Aug. 25, 2011
Wind Power
In this activity, students will discuss the differences between the Bear Creek Wind Park and Bergey Windpower turbines. Students will learn the basic parts of a wind turbine and then build their own model wind turbine out of recyclable materials. Students...
Aug. 10, 2011
Colorful Chromosomes
In this activity, students review how human physical traits, such as eye color, are determined by specific segments of genes. Students will use basic crafts materials to build a simplified model of a pair of chromosomes that represents some of their own p...
Jun. 23, 2011
Brine Shrimp: Getting to Know a Salt Water Arthropod
In this activity, students will assemble a small saltwater aquarium to raise and observe brine shrimp. Then students will observe and record the growth of brine shrimp through various stages of their life cycle, and examine their various anatomical featur...
Jun. 13, 2011
Pinhole Viewer
In this activity, student will discuss and understand how cameras, telescopes, and their own eyes use light in similar ways. By building their own pinhole viewers, students will begin to make observations about the principles of light, and how design affe...
Jun. 03, 2011
Fossil Detectives
In this activity, students will learn about the two main types of fossils, body and trace fossils. Students will observe and examine a set of fossils to classify them as body fossils and trace fossils. Students also will act as paleontologists and try to ...
May. 23, 2011
Smelly Chemistry
In this activity, students will use household materials to investigate and explore their ability to smell an odor. Students will compare and contrast results to determine if some individuals have a better sense of smell than others. Students also will ob...
May. 06, 2011
Make a Speaker
In this activity, students will learn how an electromagnet works by making a simple one. Using this knowledge, students will design a diagram to make a working speaker using household materials. Then students will follow instructions on one method of ma...
Apr. 18, 2011
Glowing in the Dark
In this activity, students will learn about phosphorescence and how certain materials can absorb and store energy from a light source. Students will use critical thinking skills to hypothesize which type of light -- incandescent, ultraviolet, infrared or...
Apr. 06, 2011
How to Cultivate Moss
In this activity, to learn about the biological needs of mosses, students will grow and maintain their own moss terrarium. Through daily maintenance and observation, students will identify those factors necessary for the successful cultivation of moss.
Mar. 09, 2011
Building A Solar House
Buildings that are called “green” or “environmentally sustainable” are designed to use energy as efficiently as possible. In Missouri, Washington University’s Tyson Living Learning Center achieves sustainability by incorporating green technologies in diff...
Feb. 07, 2011
Explosive Science
In this activity, students will use household materials to investigate and explore how the release of carbon dioxide gas from a chemical reaction can cause a small-scale explosion. Students then will experiment with variables to determine which factors la...
Feb. 02, 2011
Grabbing a Bite to Eat
In this activity, students will perform an experiment that replicates the dilemma that birds face in acquiring food from a confined area. Students will be given a variety of objects to use as “tools,” and will explore various ways of extracting the food ...
Dec. 29, 2010
Fun With Optics
In this activity, students will perform several experiments, using simple materials to explore the properties of reflection and refraction and how they work in telescopes.
Dec. 20, 2010
Stream Table
In this activity, students will use a stream table to investigate river formations in two different landscape scenarios. Students will compare and contrast how the formation of the river differs if the topography of the land is changed from a flat plain t...
Dec. 16, 2010
Ugh, a Bug!
In this activity, students will familiarize themselves with the distinguishing physical characteristics of an insect. Students will observe and maintain live crickets to learn the function of various body parts of a cricket. Further, students will have t...
Nov. 16, 2010
Blood Typing
In this activity, students will learn about another form of forensics: blood typing. Students conduct experiments with simulated blood to determine the blood type of each sample. Using the results of the experiment, students will determine if a blood sam...
Nov. 11, 2010
Decaying Science
In this activity, students will discuss the difference between organic and inorganic material, and how this distinction affects decomposition. The lesson will culminate with students building a composting column of soil and shredded organic material so th...
Oct. 18, 2010
Flower Anatomy
In this activity, students will discuss the various methods by which pollination can occur in flowers or plants. Students will dissect and identify the different parts of a flower, hypothesize the function of each part, and discuss the importance or rele...
Oct. 13, 2010
The Color of Flowers
In this activity, students will perform an experiment to find out where flower colors come from. Students will extract petal juice, use acid and base indicators, and observe chemical reactions to investigate how the amount of acid or base influences the ...
Sep. 23, 2010
Illuminating Luminescence
In this activity, students will compare and contrast different forms of luminescence by observing how chemiluminescence, phosphorescence, and fluorescence produce or emit light. Students will also compare these forms of luminescence to bioluminescence.
Sep. 22, 2010
How Boulders Are Born
In this activity, students will review and discuss weathering, erosion and mass wasting, to gain a stronger understanding of how Hickory Run’s Boulder Field was formed after the Laurentide Continental Glacier receded. Using edible materials, students will...
Sep. 20, 2010
Make a Chemical Clock
In this activity, students will perform three experiments using household ingredients to observe and record color changes, indicators that a chemical reaction has taken place. Students also will observe a chemical clock reaction and explore how reaction t...
Sep. 17, 2010
Lilliputian Landscaping
In this activity, students will examine the different materials gardeners add to their soil, and discuss how these materials are important for plant growth. They will learn how to build a sustainable terrarium by adding a waterbed, mixing their own soil a...
Sep. 15, 2010
Lighting Up Celery Stalks
In this activity, students will conduct a series of hands-on experiments that will demonstrate how the working of these veins, known as capillary action, enables water to travel throughout the length of a plant. Students will learn how the forces of water...
Aug. 10, 2010
Cooking with Chemistry
Chef Wylie Dufresne, the owner of New York City restaurant wd~50, experiments with food, literally. He has lab notebooks detailing what certain chemicals do to certain dishes. One of his signature dishes is a spin on eggs Benedict: he found that creating ...
Aug. 10, 2010
Best Bubbles
Astronauts are allowed to bring special “crew preference” items when they go up in space. NASA astronaut Don Pettit chose candy corn for his five and a half month stint aboard the International Space Station. But these candy corn were more than a snack; P...
Jun. 11, 2010
Testing The Waters
Think oysters are good on the half shell? They may be even better whole. Oysters can restore marine habitats by cleaning water, creating homes for other sea life and preventing coastal erosion. But oyster populations around the world have declined, expert...
Jun. 11, 2010
Capturing Carbon Dioxide
Basalt formations off the East Coast of the U.S. could hold a billion of tons of carbon dioxide, according to a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Paul Olsen, of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, takes ...
Jun. 11, 2010
Sublime Sublimation
Looking for ways to jazz up your party? Patrick Buckley, co-author of The Hungry Scientist Handbook, demonstrates how to make carbonated fruit. Materials required: fruit (the firmer the better), a pressure cooker and a handful of dry ice cubes. Note: This...
Jan. 25, 2010
Cow’s Eye Dissection
The human eye may be only about the size of a ping-pong ball, but it is an amazingly complex sensory organ that requires all of its components to function properly in order for a person to have optimal vision. Each part of the eye works together with th...
Jan. 25, 2010
Delicious DNA
In 1953, Francis Crick and James Watson discovered the structure of the DNA molecule, the double helix. Their discovery led to many developments in the fields of forensic science and biotechnology and in the understanding of heredity and genetic diseases...
Jan. 25, 2010
Gassy Microbes
Some microbes produce different types of gases as a byproduct of their metabolic processes. The microbes in this Science Friday Video released an odorless and flammable gas called methane. The type of gas or gases released by a microbe depends on the spec...
Jan. 25, 2010
What is Nanotechnology?
Nanotechnology is the study of what happens when things get very, very small – only a few atoms in size. The word “nanometer” means one billionth of a meter, perhaps five or six atoms long. At the nanoscale, materials can have very different physical o...
Jan. 25, 2010
Let’s Grow Some Crystals!
A crystal is a natural solid made up of a repeated pattern of molecules connected together. Crystals can form through the slow cooling of molten material (gemstones), or when a warm gas such as oxygen cools down (snowflakes), or when a liquid that contain...
Jan. 25, 2010
Sound Science
Sound is all around us. Everything we hear in our day-to-day lives has a distinctive sound, from the jingling of keys to the tapping of footsteps in a hallway. Sound is created when objects vibrate. These vibrations cause the air around them to vibrate, s...
Jan. 22, 2010
Let’s Make Some Static!
Although scientists do not fully understand the mechanism behind lightning, they think it is created when particles collide with other particles, causing them to generate and build up large amounts of static charges. The same basic process that creates li...
Jan. 22, 2010
Cheesy Chemistry
There are hundreds of different kinds of cheeses that are produced in various countries around the world. Although each type of cheese has its own distinct taste, all cheese-making processes begin by separating the semi-solid portion of milk, called curd,...
Jan. 22, 2010
What’s On My Skin?
Bacteria are one-celled organisms that can only be seen under a microscope. There are thousands of kinds of bacteria, and they are found everywhere - in the air, in the depths of the ocean, in the human body and on human skin. Under favorable conditions...
Jan. 22, 2010
Basketball Physics
Many popular sports, including basketball, are based upon the use of a ball. Yet each type of ball is easily associated with a specific sport, because each ball is distinctly different. A ball’s performance is directly influenced by its characteristics o...
Jan. 22, 2010
Mushroom Prints
Mycology, the study of mushrooms and other fungi, has helped increase our awareness and understanding of fungi and how they affect our daily lives. Fungi play an important role as decomposers, breaking down organic matter and recycling nutrients. Fungi al...
Jan. 22, 2010
Gooey Gak
Complex fluids are special kinds of mixtures that have characteristics of more than one phase of matter. In this video, the combination of cornstarch and water resulted in a substance that exhibited the properties of a solid and a liquid depending on the ...
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