Hands-On Physical Science Authentic Learning Experiences That Engage Students in STEM (Grades 6-8)

Introduction 1 Chapter 1: Using This Book Activity 1.1: The Candle Lab Part 1: Physics Chapter 2: Simple Machines Activity 2.1: Mousetrap Car Student Design Project Activity 2.2: Mousetrap Car Show and Races Activity 2.3: Simple Machine Categorization Activity 2.4: Simple Machines’ Impact on History Activity 2.5: Catastrophic Catapult Student Design Experience Chapter 3: Waves, Light, and Sound Activity 3.1: Building a Musical Instrument Design Project Activity 3.2: Student-Designed Musical Instrument Presentation and Evaluation Activity 3.3: Demonstrating Waves Student Design Experience Activity 3.4: Properties of Waves Student Design Experience Activity 3.5: Exploring Sound Rotational Experience Activity 3.6: Exploring Light and Color Rotational Experience Chapter 4: Electricity and Magnetism Activity 4.1: Energy Conservation Experimental Project (ECEP) Activity 4.2: ECEP Part 1: Researching Electricity Use at Home Activity 4.3: ECEP Part 2: Developing an Energy Conservation Plan Activity 4.4: ECEP Part 3: The Contract Activity 4.5: ECEP Part 4: Recording the Data Activity 4.6: Creating a Closed Circuit Student Design Experience Activity 4.7: Electric Conductors and Insulators Student Design Experience Activity 4.8: Cooperative Human Circuit Diagrams Activity 4.9: Cooperative Magnetism Web Cards Activity 4.10: Electromagnet Student Design Experience Activity 4.11: Magnetic Conductors and Insulators Student Design Experience Chapter 5: Energy and Heat Activity 5.1: Famous Scientist Research Product Activity 5.2: Famous Scientist Research Presentation Activity 5.3: Collaborative Heat and Energy Anticipation Guide Activity 5.4: Collaborative Energy Sources Poster Foldable Activity 5.5: Rollercoaster Student Design Experience Activity 5.6: Human Power Student Design Experience Activity 5.7: Student-Assisted Heat Demonstrations Activity 5.8: Cooperative Calorimeter Experience Activity 5.9: Cooperative Radioactive Half-Life Experience Chapter 6: Force and Motion in Newton’s Laws Activity 6.1: Balloon Racer Student Design Experience Activity 6.2: Cooperative Newton’s Three Laws of Motion Activity 6.3: Exploring Newton’s Laws Rotational Experience Part 2: Chemistry Chapter 7: States of Matter and Fluid Laws Activity 7.1: Cooperative Ice Cream-Making Experience Activity 7.2: Cooperative Dry Ice Experience Activity 7.3: Exploring Fluid Laws Rotations Chapter 8: Atomic Structure, History, and the Periodic Table Activity 8.1: Periodic Table Square Design Project Activity 8.2: Periodic Table Challenge Activity 8.3: Collaborative Atomic History Timeline Activity 8.4: Cooperative Human Atomic Models Activity 8.5: Hands-On Ion and Isotope Identification Experience Chapter 9: Physical and Chemical Changes, and Acids, Bases, and Solutions Activity 9.1: Demonstrate a Chemical Change Project Activity 9.2: Demonstrate a Chemical Change Presentation Activity 9.3: Hands-On Physical Changes Experience Activity 9.4: Cooperative Understanding Mixtures Experience Activity 9.5: Cooperative Identifying Acids and Bases Experience Activity 9.6: Investigating Dilution as a Disposal Solution Experience About the Author Next Generation Science Standards Alignment

Biography

After teaching science for more than 15 years, both overseas and in the U.S., Laurie E. Westphal now works as an independent gifted education and science consultant. She enjoys developing and presenting staff development on differentiation for various districts and conferences, working with teachers to assist them in planning and developing lessons to meet the needs of their advanced students.

In this work, the author sets up and produced eight complete lesson plans. Each plan contains all the necessary hand outs and cards and all related resources for the educator. These lessons also give educators the ideas to create their own lessons by using ideas gather from what is given in this work.,Lewie Dunn,Georgia Military College, 6/30/19
In my opinion any middle grades physical science teacher would benefit from the engaging, hands-on opportunities presented in this book. The author takes abstract physical science concepts and makes them more concrete by allowing students to experience hands-on examples. There is a nice balance between standard “cookbook” directions and students guiding their own inquiry based experience. Individual, small group and large group experiences are all included.,Tracy Albers,MiddleWeb, 7/23/20