Elementary School Science Experiments
Student in grades 4 and higher can be actively involved in collecting experimental data and analyzing the results to explore the behavior of the world around them. Activities investigate the topics of temperature, motion, force, magnetism, light, electricity, and pressure. Also included are lots of teacher tips, black-line masters, and clear illustrations to facilitate student understanding. The LCCC SIM program has the necessary supplies and equipment to help teachers and students perform hands-on all of the following experiments.
Vernier Experiments: Click on the”Experiment Title” link to the lab that you wish to preview. The webpage provides a description of the experiment with correlations to state and national science standards. After you submit a SIM request to borrow equipment or obtain the services of the Mobile Educator, then you will be emailed both the student and teacher versions of the complete experiment in Word format. You may edit the lab to meet your specific needs and make copies for use with your classes.
Elementary Science with Vernier Lab Manual Experiments
| 1 | Learning to Use a Temperature Probe | Go Direct® Temperature Probe |
| 2 | How Do Mittens Keep You Warm? | Go Direct® Temperature Probe |
| 3 | Baggie Mittens | Go Direct® Temperature Probe |
| 4 | The Sole Purpose | Go Direct® Temperature Probe |
| 5 | Cool Reaction! | Go Direct® Temperature Probe |
| 6 | Cold as Ice | Go Direct® Temperature Probe |
| 7 | Are We Cool or What? | Go Direct® Temperature Probe |
| 8 | Why Do We Need Thermometers? | Go Direct® Temperature Probe |
| 9 | Celsius or Fahrenheit. What’s the Difference? | Go Direct® Temperature Probe |
| 10 | Getting it Just Right! | Go Direct® Temperature Probe |
| 11 | The Temperature Probe Spends the Night | Go Direct® Temperature Probe |
| 12 | Hold Everything! Comparing Insulators | Go Direct® Temperature Probe |
| 13 | Keepin’ it Cool! Design Your Own Thermos | Go Direct® Temperature Probe |
| 14 | I’m Melting! Water Changes States | Go Direct® Temperature Probe |
| 15 | Solid, Liquid, Gas: Water Can Do it All! | Go Direct® Temperature Probe |
| 16 | Learning to Use the Pressure Sensor | Go Direct® Gas Pressure Sensor |
| 17 | Get a Grip! | Go Direct® Gas Pressure Sensor |
| 18 | Under Pressure | Go Direct® Gas Pressure Sensor |
| 19 | Bubbles in Your Bread | Go Direct® Gas Pressure Sensor |
| 20 | Learning to Use a Motion Detector | Go Direct® Motion Detector |
| 21 | e-Motion | Go Direct® Motion Detector |
| 22 | Batty About Science | Go Direct® Motion Detector |
| 23 | Spring into Action! | Go Direct® Motion Detector |
| 24 | Air Ball! | Go Direct® Motion Detector, Go Direct® Gas Pressure Sensor |
| 25 | Driving with Energy | Go Direct® Motion Detector |
| 26 | Weigh Station – All Trucks Stop! | Go Direct® Motion Detector |
| 27 | Learning to Use the Force Sensor | Go Direct® Force and Acceleration Sensor |
| 28 | Lift the Load | Go Direct® Force and Acceleration Sensor |
| 29 | What a Drag! | Go Direct® Force and Acceleration Sensor |
| 30 | Oh! My Aching Back! How Ramps Make Lifting Easier | Go Direct® Force and Acceleration Sensor |
| 31 | Learning to Use the Light Probe | Go Direct® Light and Color Sensor |
| 32 | Distance From the Sun | Go Direct® Light and Color Sensor |
| 33 | Summer and Winter | Go Direct® Light and Color Sensor |
| 34 | Sunshine on My Shoulders | Go Direct® Light and Color Sensor |
| 35 | Reflectivity of Light | Go Direct® Light and Color Sensor |
| 36 | Learning to Use the Magnetic Field Sensor | Go Direct® 3-Axis Magnetic Field Sensor |
| 37 | Exploring the Poles | Go Direct® 3-Axis Magnetic Field Sensor |
| 38 | Making Magnets | Go Direct® 3-Axis Magnetic Field Sensor |
| 39 | Electromagnets | Go Direct® 3-Axis Magnetic Field Sensor |
| 40 | Learning to Use the Voltage Probe | Go Direct® Voltage Probe |
| 41 | Are All Batteries the Same? | Go Direct® Voltage Probe, Go Direct® Light and Color Sensor |
| 42 | Stacked Batteries | Go Direct® Voltage Probe |
| 43 | All Worn Out! | Go Direct® Voltage Probe |
| P1 | Weather Stations | Wireless Weather Stations |
Investigating Solar Energy
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1 |
Solar Energy Exploration Kit |
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2 |
Solar Energy Exploration Kit |
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3 |
Solar Energy Exploration Kit, Vernier Resistor Board, Go Direct® Energy Sensor |
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4 |
Solar Energy Exploration Kit, Vernier Resistor Board, Go Direct® Energy Sensor |
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5 |
Solar Energy Exploration Kit, Vernier Resistor Board, Go Direct® Energy Sensor |
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6 |
Solar Energy Exploration Kit, Vernier Resistor Board, Go Direct® Energy Sensor |
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7 |
Solar Energy Exploration Kit, Vernier Resistor Board, Go Direct® Energy Sensor |
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8 |
Solar Energy Exploration Kit, Vernier Resistor Board, Go Direct® Energy Sensor |
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9 |
Go Direct® Surface Temperature Sensor |
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| 10 | Project: Solar Homes | Solar Energy Exploration Kit, Go Direct® Surface Temperature Sensor |
| 11 | Project: What’s Cookin’? | Go Direct® Surface Temperature Sensor |
Investigating Wind Energy
| 1 | Introduction to Wind Turbines | KidWind MINI Wind Turbine with Blade Design, KidWind Sound and Light Board |
| 2 | Exploring Wind Energy | KidWind MINI Wind Turbine with Blade Design, KidWind Sound and Light Board |
| 3 | Introduction to the Vernier Energy Sensor | Go Direct® Energy Sensor, KidWind MINI Wind Turbine with Blade Design, KidWind Sound and Light Board |
| 4 | Wind Turbine Output: The Effect of Load | Go Direct® Energy Sensor, KidWind MINI Wind Turbine with Blade Design, Vernier Resistor Board |
| 5 | Exploring Wind Turbine Blades | Go Direct® Energy Sensor, KidWind MINI Wind Turbine with Blade Design, Vernier Resistor Board |
| 6 | Blade Design: Pitch | Go Direct® Energy Sensor, KidWind MINI Wind Turbine with Blade Design, Vernier Resistor Board |
| 7 | Blade Design: Area | Go Direct® Energy Sensor, KidWind MINI Wind Turbine with Blade Design, Vernier Resistor Board |
| 8 | Blade Design: Quantity | Go Direct® Energy Sensor, KidWind MINI Wind Turbine with Blade Design, Vernier Resistor Board |
| 9 | Blade Design: Mass | Go Direct® Energy Sensor, KidWind MINI Wind Turbine with Blade Design, Vernier Resistor Board |
| 10 | Blade Design: Material | Go Direct® Energy Sensor, KidWind MINI Wind Turbine with Blade Design, Vernier Resistor Board |
| 11 | Project: Power Up! | Go Direct® Energy Sensor, KidWind MINI Wind Turbine with Blade Design, Vernier Resistor Board |
LEGO Simple and Powered Machines
The LEGO 9686 Brick Set has 396 elements, including a motor, and building instructions booklets for 14 activity models and for 37 principle models – all in full color. Some of the building instructions booklets are intended for use with other LEGO® Education curriculum packs. Included is a sorting tray and accompanying element overview showing all the different elements in the building set.
Building Instructions Booklets
For each of the LEGO activity models there are two building instructions, a booklet A and B. The building instructions are designed for two separate building processes, each building only half a model. By combining the two sub-assemblies, students work together to create a single, sophisticated and powerful model. Each model the students build has specific key learning focus areas, vocabulary, questions, and answers, and further ideas for investigations. The building instructions for each student pair to build the projects can be downloaded at https://education.lego.com/en-us/product-resources/machines-and-mechanisms/simple-and-powered-machines/building-instructions The teacher notes and student worksheets to record data, observations and conclusions can be downloaded at https://le-www-live-s.legocdn.com/downloads/MachinesAndMechanisms/MachinesAndMechanisms_Advancing-With-Simple-And-Powered-Machines_1.0_en-US.pdf
Snap Circuits® Jr. Model: SC100 | UPC: 756619002415
Snap Circuits® Jr. allows for hours of educational fun while learning about electronics. All parts are mounted on plastic modules and snap together with ease.
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Electrical components provide students ages 8+ with hands-on experience designing and building models of working electrical circuits.
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Snap-together parts require no tools and ensure correct connections
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Includes 30 parts, and instructions for over 100 projects
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Clear and concise illustrated manual included and available online
Go to the Snap Circuits website at https://shop.elenco.com/consumers/snap-circuits-jr-100-experiments.html to download the manual for all 100 activities that you can use with your students. Submit a SIM request form to borrow the Snap Circuit Kits or obtain the services of the Mobile Educator to help present the lessons you have selected. A sample set-up for one of these experiments (#83) to explore how changes to an integrated circuit effect alarms and motors is shown below.
A more advanced Snap Circuits Light set SCL175 as seen at https://shop.elenco.com/consumers/snap-circuits-light.html has almost twice as many projects to build as students explore circuits that can produce various light and colors with a range of luminosity. The users manual with instructions for building these projects can be downloaded at https://shop.elenco.com/consumers/snap-circuits-light.html
Turing Tumble Visual Computers https://www.turingtumble.com/
Turing Tumble is a revolutionary new game where players (ages 8 to adult) build mechanical computers powered by marbles to solve logic puzzles. It’s fun, addicting, and while you’re at it, you discover how computers work. Computers are full of ingenious logic and astonishing creativity. They’re everywhere, but most of us don’t understand how they work. With Turing Tumble, you can see for yourself how computers work: The logic isn’t hidden inside a computer chip, it’s right there in front of you. Have a blast learning to code in a language without words. Turing Tumble blurs the line between coding and building machinery. There’s no syntax to learn, no abstraction, and no electronics at all.
