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    • Home
    • About Us 
      • About ACERT
      • Leadership
      • Core Researchers
      • Staff
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      • Technologies
      • Instrument and Facilities
      • Software
      • Research Highlights
      • Past Technology Achievements of
    • Outreach 
      • Educational Materials
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Contact Us
  • Home
  • About Us 
    • About ACERT
    • Leadership
    • Core Researchers
    • Staff
  • Resources 
    • Technologies
    • Instrument and Facilities
    • Software
    • Research Highlights
    • Past Technology Achievements of
  • Outreach 
    • Educational Materials
  • Service Request
  • …  
    • Home
    • About Us 
      • About ACERT
      • Leadership
      • Core Researchers
      • Staff
    • Resources 
      • Technologies
      • Instrument and Facilities
      • Software
      • Research Highlights
      • Past Technology Achievements of
    • Outreach 
      • Educational Materials
    • Service Request
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  • Home STEM Activities

    Below are links to activities that have been developed and tested by Cornell scientists. They use common materials that students can find in their homes.

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    Air Pressure: Bernoulli's Principle

    Students will learn about the principles of fluid dynamics to understand everyday phenomena such as how airplanes fly. (suitable for grades 3-8)

    Lesson Plan

    Activity Sheet

    Presentation

    Concentration

    Students will learn about what affects the concentration of a solution by detecting the amount of vanilla dissolved in water. (suitable for grades 3-9)

    Lesson Plan

    Activity Sheet

    Reading

    Crystal Growing: Homemade Rock Candy

    Students will learn about how a solution changes through the crystallization of sugar and understand how temperature affects the ability of water to dissolve sugar (solubility). (suitable for grades 3-8)

    Activity Sheet

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    Density Column

    Students will explore density by creating a density column using different household liquids. They will add some simple materials to their column to estimate their densities.(suitable for grades 4-6)

    Lesson Plan

    Activity Sheet

    Reading

    Density of Coins

    Students will use a ruler and a simple, home-built balance scale, to measure the mass and volume of coins and use this information to calculate the density. (suitable for grades 7-12)

    Lesson Plan

    Activity Sheet

    Diffusion

    Students will learn about diffusion and what factors can affect it with a few simple demonstrations. (suitable for grades 3-8)

    Lesson Plan

    Activity Sheet

    Reading

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    Exploring Light

    Students will use the light sensor in their phones, using a free app (Science Journal), to explore the properties of light with different materials. They will also learn how to use light to measure
    concentration and estimate the concentration of juice in a mixture. (suitable for grades 6-12)

    Measuring Absorption Lesson Plan

    Measuring Absorption Activity Sheet

    Concentration of Juice Lesson Plan

    Concentration of Juice Activity Sheet

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    Exploring Magnetism

    Students will use the magnometer sensor in their phones, using a free app (Science Journal), to explore magnetism and to look at the relationship between magnetic force and distance. (suitable for grades 6-12)

    Lesson Plan

    Activity 1: Magnometer Sensor

    Activity 2: What Materials are Magnetic?

    Activity 3: Measuring Magnetism over Distance

    Magnets and Magnetometer Reading

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    Exploring Newton's Laws of Motion

    Students will use the accelerometer sensor in their phones, using a free app (Science Journal), to explore Newton’s Laws of Motion by measuring the acceleration of objects and
    calculating the amount of force used to cause the motion. (suitable for grades 6-12)

    Lesson Plan

    Activity 1: Accelerometer Intro

    Activity 2: Newton's 2nd Law

    Activity 3: Feel the Force

    Activity 4: Toilet Paper Test

    Newton's Laws of Motion Reading

    Presentation

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    Exploring Sound

    Students will learn about the principles of sound, by constructing a speaker to amplify the sound and then to find a solution to reduce the perceived sound volume. (suitable for grades 5-9)

    Lesson Plan

    Activity 1: Sound Safari

    Activity 2: Decibel Scale

    Activity 3: Sound Effects

    Newton's Laws of Motion Reading

    Presentation

    Extracting DNA

    Students will gain an understanding of the significance of DNA and will have the opportunity to observe it by extracting DNA from strawberries. (suitable for grades 5-12)

    Lesson Plan

    Activity Sheet

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    Glued into Science

    Students will create different polymers through the process of cross-linking. They will then observe and test for the properties of these and other household plastics. (suitable for grades 5-12)

    Lesson Plan

    Activity Sheet(4-8)

    Activity Sheet(9-12)

    Reading

    Presentation

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    Nanomaterials: How to Stretch a 2-D Material

    Students will learn about thin 2-D materials, like graphene, and make a stretchable in-plane spring out of a sheet of paper. They will then test how the number of cuts affects the stretchiness of the paper.(suitable for grades 4-12)

    Activity Sheet

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    Non-Newtonian Fluids

    Students will about the difference between Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids. They will then observe the properties of a non-Newtonian fluid using cornstarch and water. (suitable for grades K-5)

    Activity Sheet

    Paper Bridges

    Students will learn about the forces that act on a bridge and experiment to build the strongest bridge using a single sheet of paper. (suitable for grades K-8)

    Activity Sheet

    Physics of Bubbles

    Students will gain an understanding of the significance of DNA and will have the opportunity to observe it by extracting DNA from strawberries. (suitable for grades 5-12)

    Activity Sheet

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    Physics of Flight

    Students can apply Bernoulli’s Principle by making paper helicopters and/or paper airplanes. They will learn about the forces that act on flight and experiment to test how a variable
    affects flight. (suitable for grades 3-8)

    Paper Airplane Lesson Plan Paper Helicopter Lesson Plan

    Paper Airplane Activity Sheet Paper Helicopter Activity Sheet

    Reading: What Makes Paper Airplanes Fly?

    Presentation

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    Red Cabbage Chemistry

    Students will learn about acids and bases by making an indicator solution with red cabbage and testing different household liquids to find out their pH. (suitable for grades 2-8)

    Lesson Plan

    Red Cabbage Indicator Activity Sheet

    Tumeric Litmus Paper Activity Sheet

    "What is pH?" Reading

    Presentation

    Speed of Light

    Students will gain an understanding of the significance of DNA and will have the opportunity to observe it by extracting DNA from strawberries. (suitable for grades 5-12)

    Activity Sheet

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    Surface Tension

    Students will investigate the a property of water called surface tension. They will build a simple boat that uses surface tension to propel itself. (suitable for grades K-8)

    Lesson Plan

    Activity Sheet

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    Static Sticky Tape

    Students will use scotch tape to observe some of the properties of static
    electricity. Older students can also explore how a variable might affectthe electrostatic force of the tape. (suitable for grades 3-12)

    Lesson Plan

    Activity Sheet

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