In this lesson, students observe changes in matter and develop models of chemical equations in order to develop a definition for chemical reactions, identify patterns of change that indicate that a chemical reaction has taken place, and explain the relationship between reactants and products at a molecular level. The lesson plan includes an 8-day lesson plan, Google Slides presentation, student reading, and lab/workshop instructions.

A Google Drive folder with 8.1.1, 8.1.3, and 8.1.5 phenomenon-based, 5E lessons that align to the SEEd standards. Lesson folders include lesson plans, a slideshow, and supporting materials for teaching the lesson to your students. Students observe changes in matter and develop models of chemical equations in order to develop a definition for chemical reactions, identify patterns of change that indicate that a chemical reaction has taken place, and explain the relationship between reactants and products at a molecular level.

Oh, no! I’ve dropped my phone! Most of us have experienced the panic of watching our phones slip out of our hands and fall to the floor. We’ve experienced the relief of picking up an undamaged phone and the frustration of the shattered screen. This common experience anchors learning in the Contact Forces unit as students explore a variety of phenomena to figure out, “Why do things sometimes get damaged when they hit each other?”

Student questions about the factors that result in a shattered cell phone screen lead them to investigate what is really happening to any object during a collision. They make their thinking visible with free-body diagrams, mathematical models, and system models to explain the effects of relative forces, mass, speed, and energy in collisions. Students then use what they have learned about collisions to engineer something that will protect a fragile object from damage in a collision. They investigate which materials to use, gather design input from stakeholders to refine the criteria and constraints, develop micro and macro models of how their solution is working, and optimize their solution based on data from investigations. Finally, students apply what they have learned from the investigation and design to a related design problem.

Lesson Description: Students will obtain information and engage in arguments about how the properties of plastics provide structure and function. Students also investigate how chemical reactions create polymers that result in plastics and what natural resources are used in making synthetic materials. This lesson includes a lesson plan, activity/lab instructions, readings, and presentations.

A Google Drive folder with 8.1.2, 8.1.4 phenomenon-based, 5E lessons that align to the SEEd standards. Lesson folders include lesson plans, a slideshow, and supporting materials for teaching the lesson to your students. Students will obtain information and engage in argument about how properties of plastics provide structure and function. Students also investigate how chemical reactions create polymers that result in plastics and what natural resources are used in making synthetic materials.

This is an eighth-grade student science experience tied to SEEd standard 8.2.4. In this experience students investigate and use models to explain why when objects of different masses are dropped into a container of water the waves change.
These experiences were designed to support students in engaging in science investigations with siblings and/or parents at home and then report back about what was discovered. They were created in a way that is easily adaptable for both online and printed formats. They are formatted to help students wonder about and investigate the science phenomena happening in the world around them. These experiences do not describe how students should write up and return work to their teacher. It is up to each teacher to adapt them to best meet student needs. When individualized by the teacher, a student could be asked to engage in one or more of these experiences a week and report back. This format aligns closely to the vision and expectation of the SEEd standards.

In this lesson, students explore energy transfer in kinetic and potential energy. The lesson includes a lesson plan, concept charts, presentation, and article.

A Google Drive folder with 8.2.1, 8.2.2, 8.2.3 phenomenon-based, 5E lessons that align to the SEEd standards. Lesson folders include lesson plans, a slideshow, and supporting materials for teaching the lesson to your students. Students explore energy transfer in kinetic and potential energy.

Unit Summary
In this unit, students develop ideas related to how sounds are produced, how they travel through media, and how they affect objects at a distance. Their investigations are motivated by trying to account for a perplexing anchoring phenomenon — a truck is playing loud music in a parking lot and the windows of a building across the parking lot visibly shake in response to the music.
They make observations of sound sources to revisit the K–5 idea that objects vibrate when they make sounds. They figure out that patterns of differences in those vibrations are tied to differences in characteristics of the sounds being made. They gather data on how objects vibrate when making different sounds to characterize how a vibrating object’s motion is tied to the loudness and pitch of the sounds they make. Students also conduct experiments to support the idea that sound needs matter to travel through, and they will use models and simulations to explain how sound travels through matter at the particle level.
This unit builds toward the following NGSS Performance Expectations (PEs) as described in the OpenSciEd Scope & Sequence: MS-PS4-1, MS-PS4-2. The OpenSciEd units are designed for hands-on learning and therefore materials are necessary to teach the unit. These materials can be purchased as science kits or assembled using the kit material list.

A Google Drive folder with 8.2.4, 8.2.5 phenomenon-based, 5E lessons that align to the SEEd standards. Lesson folders include lesson plans, a slideshow, and supporting materials for teaching the lesson to your students. By visiting stations and viewing simulations students will develop an understanding of the relationship between wave structure and energy. Students will take this understanding further as they compare how sound and light waves travel noting how they are similar and how they are different.

By visiting stations and viewing simulations students will develop an understanding of the relationship between wave structure and energy. Students will take this understanding further as they compare how sound and light waves travel noting how they are similar and how they are different. This lesson includes a lesson plan, presentation, and activity instruction cards.

This is an eighth-grade student science experience tied to SEEd standard 8.3.1. In this experience students use and build models to explain why a western tiger swallowtail caterpillar eats leaves and how energy and matter flow between organisms.
These experiences were designed to support students in engaging in science investigations with siblings and/or parents at home and then report back about what was discovered. They were created in a way that is easily adaptable for both online and printed formats. They are formatted to help students wonder about and investigate the science phenomena happening in the world around them. These experiences do not describe how students should write up and return work to their teacher. It is up to each teacher to adapt them to best meet student needs. When individualized by the teacher, a student could be asked to engage in one or more of these experiences a week and report back. This format aligns closely to the vision and expectation of the SEEd standards.

This unit launches with a slow-motion video of a speaker as it plays music. In the previous unit, students developed a model of sound. This unit allows students to investigate the cause of a speaker’s vibration in addition to the effect.

Students dissect speakers to explore the inner workings, and engineer homemade cup speakers to manipulate the parts of the speaker. They identify that most speakers have the same parts–a magnet, a coil of wire, and a membrane. Students investigate each of these parts to figure out how they work together in the speaker system. Along the way, students manipulate the components (e.g. changing the strength of the magnet, number of coils, direction of current) to see how this technology can be modified and applied to a variety of contexts, like MagLev trains, junkyard magnets, and electric motors.

A Google Drive folder with 8.3.1, 8.3.2, 8.3.3 phenomenon-based, 5E lessons that align to the SEEd standards. Lesson folders include lesson plans, a slideshow, and supporting materials for teaching the lesson to your students. Students will use investigations to explore why we need oxygen, learning about the process of cellular respiration and photosynthesis. Students will analyze what happens to an ecosystem when photosynthesis and respiration are not balanced.

In this lesson students will use investigations to explore why we need oxygen, learning about the process of cellular respiration and photosynthesis. Students will analyze what happens to an ecosystem when photosynthesis and respiration are not balanced. The lesson includes a lesson plan and presentation.

This is an eighth-grade student science experience tied to SEEd standard 8.4.5. In this experience students look for patterns in what causes different kinds of natural hazards to help identify if they can be predicted.
These experiences were designed to support students in engaging in science investigations with siblings and/or parents at home and then report back about what was discovered. They were created in a way that is easily adaptable for both online and printed formats. They are formatted to help students wonder about and investigate the science phenomena happening in the world around them. These experiences do not describe how students should write up and return work to their teacher. It is up to each teacher to adapt them to best meet student needs. When individualized by the teacher, a student could be asked to engage in one or more of these experiences a week and report back. This format aligns closely to the vision and expectation of the SEEd standards.

A Google Drive folder with 8.4.4 phenomenon-based, 5E lessons that align to the SEEd standards. Lesson folders include lesson plans, a slideshow, and supporting materials for teaching the lesson to your students. Students will analyze data and use models to understand how EarthÕs mean surface temperature is increasing, the causes for this increase, and the effect increasing temperatures have on EarthÕs systems.

In this lesson, students will analyze data and use models to understand how Earth’s mean surface temperature is increasing, the causes for this increase, and the effect increasing temperatures have on Earth’s systems. The lesson includes a lesson plan, data, graphs, articles, and presentations.

A Google Drive folder with 8.4.2, 8.4.3 phenomenon-based, 5E lessons that align to the SEEd standards. Lesson folders include lesson plans, a slideshow, and supporting materials for teaching the lesson to your students. Students use articles and datasets to evaluate water supply and demand in Utah. After building an understanding of water as a limited resource in a state with a growing population, students design a tool or process for conserving water.

In this lesson, students use articles and datasets to evaluate water supply and demand in Utah. After building an understanding of water as a limited resource in a state with a growing population, students design a tool or process for conserving water. This lesson includes a lesson plan, presentation, data set, graphs, and charts.