Moving Electrons
This unit gives students the chance to move electrons and explore the relationship between electricity and magnetism by making a simple electromagnet and building the world’s simplest electric motor.
Stem Discipline:
Physics, Material Sciences
Grade Level:
Grades 6-8, Grades 9-10, Grades 11-12
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Puzzling Polarizers
Model how a polarizing filter is able to produce light oscillating in one plane and investigate materials with polarized light.
Stem Discipline:
Material Sciences, Physics
Grade Level:
Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-10, Grades 11-12
Read more about Puzzling Polarizers
Constructing Crystal Models
Students use straws to build a four-sided pyramid and a cube to model the strength of diamond and graphite.
Stem Discipline:
Material Sciences, Chemistry
Grade Level:
Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-10, Grades 11-12
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Selenium: A Window on Wetlands
In the early 1980s, waterfowl in marshy areas of California's San Joaquin Valley started appearing with birth deformities. Scientists traced the cause of this disaster to the element selenium. Follow clues to learn how selenium got there and what can we do to protect wildlife from contamination.
Stem Discipline:
Biology, Environmental Science
Grade Level:
Grades 9-10, Grades 11-12
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From Mosquito to Microscope
Follow a high school student as she joins a group of scientists from Berkeley Lab who are studying the parasite that causes malaria using an X-ray microscope.
Stem Discipline:
Physics, Biology
Grade Level:
Grades 9-10, Grades 11-12
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The Advanced Light Source
Information about the use of Advanced Light Source and X-ray technology and how they are used to learn about structures of atoms and molecules.
Stem Discipline:
Material Sciences, Physics
Grade Level:
Grades 9-10, Grades 11-12
Read more about The Advanced Light Source
Cloud Chamber
A video of a cloud chamber with a Pb208 source undergoing alpha decay.
Stem Discipline:
Physics
Grade Level:
Grades 9-10, Grades 11-12
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Nuclear Science Wall Chart
A web version of the Nuclear Science Wall Chart with extensive information about nuclear science. “You don’t need to be a nuclear physicist to understand nuclear science!”
Stem Discipline:
Physics
Grade Level:
Grades 9-10, Grades 11-12
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Marshmallow Nuclei
Students create models of atomic nuclei and isotopes using marshmallows.
Stem Discipline:
Physics
Grade Level:
Grades 9-10, Grades 11-12
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Cosmic Connection
Create a simple cosmic ray detector to measure the rate, energy and direction of cosmic rays.
Stem Discipline:
Physics
Grade Level:
Grades 11-12
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ABC's of Nuclear Science
A thorough resource providing an overview of nuclear science.
Stem Discipline:
Physics
Grade Level:
Grades 9-10, Grades 11-12
Read more about ABC's of Nuclear Science
