Students participate in a hands-on lab in which glacier (ice) effects on the Earth’s surface is demonstrated.

Students will work in cooperative groups to create an accurate arrangement of mirrors that work together to relay a laser beam from a Mars space station to Earth’s Mission Control, which will model utilizing satellites in space for communication, an accommodation necessary for manned space exploration.

Students will categorize cells as prokaryotic or eukaryotic by identifying the presence or lack of a nucleus.

Students compare and contrast potential and kinetic energy by creating a real-world model through a movie.

Students will work in partners to investigate Newton’s second law by testing a series of experiments with varying conditions.

Students will work with partners to investigate how mass, potential energy, and kinetic energy act on objects dropped from varying heights.

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Students will work in groups to complete an escape room challenge that replicates the process of gene expression.

Students will participate in stations that reinforce their understanding of gravity, especially gravity in space.

Students will explore biodiversity concepts through several activities including a video, a card sort, think-pair-shares, food webs, and four corners.

Students will investigate various ecosystems to determine what producers and consumers are, as well as their needs within an ecosystem.

Students will explore abiotic and biotic factors in various ecosystems by working through stations. Students will be able to identify and describe abiotic and biotic factors within an ecosystem.

Students will explore sound energy by creating their own drums using a variety of materials. Then, students will listen for the loud and soft sounds that each of the drums creates.

Students will collaborate on a electronic slideshow presentation and observe, record, and describe the role of ecological succession including both primary and secondary succession.

Students will design and test models that will identify crustal features formed by convergent plate boundaries.

Students will use hover pucks to measure speed over a distance of six meters. Once speed has been calculated, students will determine velocity using the same data. Finally, students will be able to label all points of acceleration.

Students will model the effects of human activity on watersheds.

Students will design an experiment to test the outcome of friction in force and motion. The students will create an inclined plane demonstrating their knowledge of mechanical energy and the effects of gravity on an object. Students will use previous knowledge of friction to complete their task of stopping their object. Critical thinking skills will be the focus of the lesson as students will have to utilize their scientific problem-solving skills to make decisions regarding their experiment.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) Vertical Alignment

Click below to learn about the TEKS related to the unit and Research Lesson.  The highlighted student expectation(s) is the chosen focus for the Research Lesson.
 

Students model the path of digestion using household items.

Students will review the steps of the scientific method and conduct an investigation that involves sorting magnetic and nonmagnetic objects.