This video will demonstrate how to rewrite expressions with roots and rational exponents. This video can be shown to the whole class or shared through a student learning platform, like Google Classroom. There are two practice quizzes available after the video.
Extraneous solutions are values that you may get when solving equations that aren't really solutions to the equation. This video will explain how and why you can arrive at extraneous solutions, by understanding the logic behind the process of solving equations. There is an additional video to explain this concept, as well as two question sets.
This set of videos will explain how exponential functions are graphed and will demonstrate identifying a graph that represents a given exponential function. There is a practice question set available after the videos.
This video introduces students to the concept of bivariate categorical data. There are self-checking practice problems related to two-way frequency tables available.
This is an online interactive about soundalike words (homophones) from Merriam-Webster. Words like their/there and to/too are “homophones” — they sound alike but have different meanings, so they often cause mistakes. Students can try playing this quiz of other tricky homophones and see how well they do/dew. Students may choose to set the timer or play without the timer.
This is a multiplayer game that tests students' knowledge of synonyms. The game can be set to the public allowing students to play against other students around the world. It can also be set to private allowing students to play on the computer. Students interact with the game by matching synonyms. This game can be played on a computer or on an iPad.
In this game from Arcademics, students interact as frogs to compete against the computer to match antonyms. The teacher can set the game for the public to play against players from around the world or set the game as private for students to play against the computer. This game can be played on a computer or an iPad.
This is a one-player game from Arcademics. Word Frog is a Language Arts game that provides practice in matching antonyms, synonyms, and homophones. The target word appears on the frog, with the word category underneath defining the relationship to be matched.
This teaching guide features discussion questions and writing activities for The Giving Tree; Don’t Bump the Glump!; A Giraffe and a Half; Lafcadio, the Lion Who Shot Back; Where the Sidewalk Ends; and Who Wants a Cheap Rhinoceros? Each story includes classroom discussion and suggested teaching activities.
In this lesson, students will develop an understanding that objects and materials have characteristics or properties. Students will be able to recognize similarities between the properties of certain objects and materials and will be able to group the objects based on these similarities.
Students are introduced to the idea that objects and materials have certain “properties” or “characteristics” that can be used to describe them. After working with a simulation to help students understand the meaning of properties and characteristics, students are given a variety of small common objects to sort based on observable properties. Working in groups, students sort objects and record their groupings on an activity sheet. Students are then guided to come up with different criteria for one more set of groupings. Students participate in a class discussion of the different properties used to make the groupings.
In this lesson, students will develop an understanding that objects and materials can be tested to learn about their properties. Students will help plan and conduct different tests on the materials. Students will be able to explain that when testing materials to learn about their properties, all the materials need to be tested in the same way.
Students test a piece of aluminum foil, plastic from a zip-closing plastic bag, and copier paper to learn about some of their properties. Students conduct tests on the materials and then help design a strength test. The point is stressed that for a good, fair test each material needs to be tested in the same way. A simulation is shown that emphasizes the point that the different properties of materials are good for different uses.
Students will plan and conduct an absorbency test on four different materials and be able to explain that when testing materials to learn about their properties, the materials need to be tested in the same way. Students will be able to explain that since the materials are made from different substances, they absorb different amounts of water.
Students will use what they know about the properties of paper, plastic, and aluminum foil to decide how the materials can be used for a specific purpose.
The teacher will demonstrate making a paper boat to guide students, who work in pairs, to make their own paper boat. The boat will be placed in water to demonstrate how many pennies the boat can hold before sinking. Students are then guided to think of ways to improve the boat by covering it with waterproof material. Students make the same paper boat and cover it with plastic and aluminum foil. Students test the boat to see if it holds more pennies than the original paper boat.
In this lesson, students will be able to plan and carry out an investigation to discover and compare the properties of liquids. Students will develop an understanding that liquids, like solids, have their own characteristic properties.
Students investigate three clear colorless liquids: water, mineral oil, and corn syrup. Students place drops of each liquid on the surface of a zip-closing plastic bag and see that the liquids look and act differently. Students tilt the bag and see that the liquids move down the plastic at different rates. Finally, students see a demonstration in which a drop of food coloring is placed in each liquid, and students make observations about the different ways the food coloring looks in each.
In this lesson, students will develop an understanding that whether and how much a substance dissolves (solubility) is a property of that substance. Students will be able to plan and carry out an investigation to compare the solubility of two substances.
Students develop a test to compare how the candy coating from an M&M and a Skittle dissolve in water. Students put an M&M and a Skittle in the same amount of water at the same temperature at the same time. Students will also see that the inside of the Skittles dissolves but the inside of the M&M does not. Students see an animation to help explain why the inside of the Skittles dissolves but the inside of the M&M does not.
In this lesson, students will be able to plan and carry out an investigation to compare the property of sinking and floating between different substances. Students will develop an understanding that whether a substance sinks or floats is a property of the substance. Students will look at several objects made from wax, wood, metal, and rubber and predict and test whether they sink or float.
In this lesson, students will be able to explain that cooling water can change it to ice and that heating ice can change it back to liquid water. Students will be able to explain that this process can also happen to other substances. Students will also be able to explain that heating a substance makes its molecules move faster and cooling a substance makes its molecules move slower. The lesson can also be used to lay a foundation for learning about changes in state and chemical changes which can be further developed in later grades.
In this lesson, students will be able to explain that when some substances are heated to a certain extent, they change in a way that cannot be changed back by cooling them.
Students see a time-lapse video of cookie dough being baked into cookies. Students participate in a class discussion about heat-causing changes that cannot be reversed when cooled. Students learn that heating baking powder in the cookie dough makes gas and causes little holes in the cookie. Students design and conduct an experiment to see if baking powder causes more bubbling when it is warm or cold.
In this lesson, students will be able to explain that the parts of an object can be rearranged to create a new object. Students will also get a sense of the number of different objects that can be created from a small number of parts and will apply this to modeling atoms and molecules.
Student groups are given four snap cubes and guided to use the four cubes to make eight different objects. Each student is given a picture of one of the possible 29 different objects that can be built from five snap cubes and students build their object. After students build their objects, all 29 are displayed for the class to see. Students do an anagram activity to see that letters can be rearranged to make different words, just like atoms can be rearranged to make different molecules.
In this lesson, students will be able to explain that snap cubes or other objects can be used as models of atoms. Students will also be able to explain that atoms can be rearranged to make different molecules.
Students see an animation showing that the things around them are made of atoms and molecules. Students are given white, red, blue, and black cubes that represent hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon atoms. Students are guided to take atoms apart, rearrange them, and put them together again in different ways to make six different molecules. Students also see a fun molecule-making game that they can try.
In this lesson, students will be able to explain that clouds are made up of tiny droplets of water. They will also be able to make a model to explain that these water droplets come together to form larger drops that fall from clouds as rain. Students watch a video of rain falling and have a class discussion about the importance of rain and how we use water in our daily lives. Students put tiny drops of water on a laminated picture to make a model of a cloud. Students stand the card up and the drops stay in the cloud but when they make the drops bigger, they fall as rain. Students see an animation showing that clouds are made of tiny water droplets and that these droplets come together to make bigger drops that fall as rain. Students model this process using clay or Play-Doh to represent tiny droplets in a cloud.
Students will be able to explain that puddles dry up because tiny particles of water (water molecules) break away from the puddle and go into the air. Students will be able to explain that the water from the puddle that went into the air can become part of a cloud and come back down as rain and make a new puddle. This process is known as the water cycle. Students watch a video of a puddle drying up and have a class discussion about where they think the water goes when it seems to disappear. Students investigate a one-drop “puddle” in the palm of their hand. Students see an animation of water evaporating from a puddle and forming water droplets in a cloud. Students then compare a water drop evaporating from the palm of their hand to one evaporating from the surface of a desk or table.
In this lesson, students will be able to explain that snowflakes form from ice crystals in clouds. They will make a model to show the common six-sided structure of a snowflake. Students will also recognize snow as a solid form of water. Students are shown a video of snow falling and discuss their experiences with snow. Students discuss where they think snow comes from and how snowflakes are formed. Students see an animation of ice crystals in a cloud and a snowflake forming. Students see videos of actual snowflakes forming and pictures of snowflakes with six similar branches or “arms.” Students then model the formation of a snowflake using cotton swabs.
In this lesson, students will be able to explain that wind is air that is moving and that air is made up of tiny particles called molecules. Students will also be able to explain that when the wind blows, it is the molecules hitting objects that make the objects move. The class has a short discussion about air and wind and is introduced to the idea that air is made of tiny particles that we cannot see and that wind is moving air. Students see an animation showing what causes wind and why wind makes objects move. Students do an activity showing that a heavy strong base can make things more stable in the wind.
In this lesson, students will design and build a structure that can block the sun to create a shaded area and will test to see if the shady spot is cooler. As a class, students go outside on a sunny day and go under a tree or in the shadow of the school building to get in the shade. Students should feel that it is cooler in the shade than in the sun. Students look at pictures of structures designed to block the sun to make shade. Students design and build a small structure to provide shade and then test whether their structure helps keep a surface cooler than the same surface exposed to the sun.
In this lesson, students will be able to explain that wearing a coat helps keep you warm because it blocks your body’s heat from moving away from you to where it’s cold. The teacher discusses whether a thick or thin jacket helps students stay warmer in cold weather. Students see a demonstration in which a container with warm water is placed in cold water. The warm water cools down quickly. Students then design and test a “coat” for the container to keep the water warm longer. Students watch an animation explaining why a coat helps keep them warm in the cold.
In this lesson, students will develop a model to describe that matter is made up of tiny particles, too small to be seen. Students will use the model to describe the differences in attraction among the particles of a solid, liquid, and gas. Finally, students will use their models of solids, liquids, and gases to explain their observations in the lesson.
In this lesson, students explore the interaction of two substances and see that they can use what they know about the interaction of particles to explain their observations. Students place an M&M in water and see the colored sugar coating dissolve around the M&M. Students help develop a model to explain that the attraction of water molecules for sugar and color (dye) molecules is a good explanation for why the sugar coating dissolves. Students then test whether the coating dissolves as well in a sugar solution as it does in plain water. They put three or four different colored M&Ms together in water and watch the coatings dissolve. Students will see a distinct “line” where the colors meet. Students use molecular models to make an argument about why the dissolving M&Ms form a line.
In this lesson, students explore the particle nature of matter by first dissolving salt in water, then allowing the water to evaporate, and finally observing the solid salt left behind. After viewing a model of salt, students help develop models for the processes of salt dissolving, water evaporating to form a gas, and salt re-forming as a crystal. The focus is that matter, whether solid, liquid, or gas, is made up of particles; that dissolving and evaporation happen at the particle level; and that models can help explain these processes that we cannot see.
In this lesson, students will be able to develop and explain a particle-level model to describe evaporation and condensation in the context of the water cycle. Students use water, ice, and plastic wrap to model the ocean and cold upper atmosphere. Students use observations from their model to explain the processes of evaporation and condensation that drive the water cycle.
In this lesson, students will be able to plan and carry out an investigation to compare the solubility of different substances and develop and explain a particle-level model to describe the process of dissolving. Students will also be able to explain that substances dissolve in different amounts because of the molecules they are made from. Students are given labeled samples of salt and sugar. They are also given unknown samples marked A, B, and C. One is salt, one is sugar, and the other is alum, which looks like it could be either salt or sugar. Students first use a dissolving test to see how salt and sugar dissolve in water. Students then run the same dissolving test on substances A, B, and C; identify the salt and sugar; and conclude that the other substance must be something different. Students then see an animation to help explain that the substances are made of different atoms and molecules, so they dissolve differently.
In this lesson, students will be able to plan and carry out an investigation to identify a liquid based on how it interacts on different paper surfaces. Students will also be able to explain that since different liquids are made of different atoms and molecules, they act in their own characteristic way. Students will test four known liquids and an unknown liquid on two different paper surfaces. They will use their observations to identify an unknown liquid. Students will realize that by using a combination of results from two tests, they can successfully identify an unknown liquid. Students will also add water and saltwater to green food coloring on a coffee filter. They see a distinct difference in the way each liquid makes the colors in green food coloring separate.
In this lesson, students will be able to plan and carry out an investigation to identify a liquid based on how it interacts with water. Students will also be able to explain, on a molecular level, why different liquids act differently when mixed with water. Students will test the water, salt water, alcohol, and detergent solution. All the liquids tested are colored yellow. Students will mix these liquids with water that has been colored blue to see if the liquids have a characteristic way of mixing with water. Students will use their results to identify an unknown liquid that is the same as one of the known yellow liquids. The unknown in this lesson is saltwater.
In this lesson, students will be able to explain that the density of a substance has to do with how heavy it is compared to the size of the object. Students will also be able to explain that density is a characteristic property of a substance. Students are introduced to the concept of density and that density has to do with how heavy something is relative to its size. Students are also introduced to the idea that whether a substance sinks or floats in water is a characteristic property of that substance and does not depend on the amount of the substance. Students also learn that if an object is denser than water it will sink when placed in water, and if it is less dense than water it will float.
In this lesson, students will be able to plan and carry out an investigation to compare the amount of gas produced in reactions between baking soda and baking powder when vinegar is added. Students will be able to explain that mixing substances can cause a chemical reaction, which results in the formation of a new substance. Students will also be able to explain that substances react in characteristic ways and that the way a substance reacts can be used to identify the substance.
