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Student groups find information about the areas of research that provide evidence for the big bang theory (e.g., cosmic background radiation, red shift). Students report their findings using poster and PowerPoint presentations.

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Give students materials to make models of compounds. Students should be able to see that it is not possible to join “atoms” in any configuration without having some space between them.

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Bring in toys that move. Ask students whether or not the toys are alive. Emphasize that just because something moves doesn’t mean that it is alive. Challenge students to think of other objects that move that are not alive.

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Make sure that students understand the purpose and function of models in science. Discuss different models, and have students identify strengths and weaknesses of each model.

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With this fundamental law of physics in mind, have students release a ball on a ramp. Allow the ball to roll until it comes to rest on its own. Then discuss why the ball eventually stopped.

As a follow-up, discuss how planets in our solar system keep moving at essentially the same speed, but in a curved pathway. What is the force that causes the pathway to be curved (orbital)? The curved pathway is a result of the force of gravity (mainly from the sun).

Teacher Tips:

Have students drop a flat sheet of paper from a height of about 3 meters. It will flutter and float as it falls (accelerating due to gravity), taking perhaps a second or two to reach the floor. Next take that same sheet of paper, but wad it up into a tight ball as much as possible. (Don’t add any tape or other material). Now drop that wadded sheet of paper (the same mass and the same acceleration due to gravity g), and notice how it falls. It will reach the floor in perhaps less than a second. Why did it fall faster when wadded than when flat if mass and g didn’t change? Discuss air resistance with the students to help them understand this principle.

Extend this exploration by having students drop the wadded paper ball alongside a heavier, similar-shaped object. Or put a piece of flat paper on top of a book and drop them together. Have students observe that, in both scenarios, the objects fall at the same rate.

Drop 2 or 3 spheres of equal diameter but different mass simultaneously and from the same height. A 2.5-cm glass marble, steel ball, and wood ball work well.

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One simple demonstration is to have a student push against a wall. The wall does not accelerate.

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Use a car on a freeway as an example. The car can move at a constant velocity only if a force is applied.

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Have students place a small cork in a tub of water. Then have them disturb the water by quickly dipping a ruler or pencil tip in and out to create a wave pattern. Students should see that the cork just bobs up and down as the energy of the wave travels through the water as ripples.

Another activity could be to have two students hold the ends of a rope as one of the students moves his or her hands up and down to create a wave pattern through the rope. The rope remains strung between the two students—it doesn’t go anywhere—but the particles of the rope move up and down in a vibration-like motion. The energy is transferred through the rope from one person to the other.

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Have students use Slinky toys to disprove this misconception.

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Students plot magnetic reversal patterns along selected segments of the mid-ocean ridge. Through color-coding, students visualize centers of seafloor spreading.

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Woring in groups, students do research on the relationships among the Earth’s spheres. Students report their findings using poster presentations.

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Students participate in an experiment with Elodea in water.

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Review with students the differences between chemical and physical properties. Have students predict whether melting point, boiling point, and density are chemical or physical properties. If students label any of these as chemical properties, ask students what happens when water melts or boils or when something floats or sinks (or demonstrate each). Ask students to identify where the substance has been changed chemically during the observation process.

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Have students perform an array of equilibrium reactions. This is also a good time to review the phase-change curve of water, discussing what is happening at each inflection point on the curve.

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Have students plant seeds in two different cups and change the amount of light each plant receives. Plant and water each set of seeds equally. Have students make observations about the health of each plant over the course of a couple of weeks. Review with students the chemical reactions taking place within a plant&em;photosynthesis and respiration&em;and have students identify how the environment is affecting these chemical reactions. The activity could also be done by changing the amount of carbon dioxide each receives.

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Have students perform a laboratory activity that involves mixing baking soda and vinegar. Have students perform the reaction in an open system and then in a closed system (a large baggie). Have students compare masses before and after the reaction occurs.

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Have students work with many kinds of devices or research the topic of energy within systems to learn about the ever-present form of thermal energy caused by friction.

Or have students investigate the use of fuels as energy resources. Another strategy is to have students discuss energy transformations within electrical generating and distribution systems, energy levels within food webs, and the human body’s natural cooling process. Ask what happens to energy during processes and within systems.