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This activity deals with pressure and condensation by crushing a soda can with only air and water. Students can experiment with different variables like temperature of water or type of can.

Using paper, string, and salt, students will create a cone out of the paper that will act as their pendulum.  They will swing the pendulum so it just touches the pile of salt and watch the designs it makes.  Students can change the pendulum's direction to see if that changes the design.

K.1.1. Use all senses as appropriate to observe, sort and describe objects according to their composition and physical properties, such as size, color and shape. Explain these choices to others and generate questions about the objects. Sticky Note: I choose a kindergarten standard for this because it could be easily manipulated to fit this standard. They could be grouping these based on how high they bounce. It could also be used with higher grade levels with math and doing measuring, graphs and data (range, mean, median, mode, etc).

Fun way to get students understanding water vapor and fog

In this activity, students will create a telephone using paper cups and string.  Students will use their telephones to observe how sound and vibrations travel through air.

In this activity, students will make predictions about how heat moves in a hot drink.  Students will make predictions about how cool a drink will get over time and what some factors are in changing the heat.  Then hot and cold water and milk, students will test these predictions.

state standard: 4.1.4 This activity specifically hits an state standard. This is a really good activity because it does not take a lot of time to set up and do, and the materials are real easy to come by. This activity has extensions to it that can be used for those who may need some enrichment.

In this activity students must use their senses to decide what they are tasting.  They must plug their nose and see how their senses are connected.

This is a classic, although I have also seen an onion used where you hold a piece of onion under a blindfolded person's nose and have him/her eat a potato or an apple, and the person thinks he/she is actually eating an onion.

Great 6th grade activity to experiment with matter

Core Standard: Provide evidence that heat and electricity are forms of energy. (4.1.1, 4.1.2) Core Standard: Design and assemble electric circuits that provide a means of transferring energy from one form or place to another. (4.1.3, 4.1.4, 4.1.5)

Awesome activity to shows students about sound. This site has video tutorials and 3 links that provide a concept map, instructions to perform activity in class or in after school activities, and websites that allow students or educator go deeper in their understanding of sound. You can essentially make your own assessment for the activity. 

Students use a bowl, plastic wrap, a rubber band, and sugar crystals to investigate sound. The plastic wrap is secured across the top of the bowl with the rubber band, and the sugar crystals are placed on top of the plastic wrap. Students get close to the bowl and say their name aloud. The sugar crystals move!

Adaptions: You can adapt this lesson for ELL or special needs students by pairing them in groups and assiging each person in the group a task...the ELL and Special Needs students could draw the pictures or record information while they learning about matter by other group members without pressure/anxiety. Extensions: You can extend this activity to younger greades by using something other than candles. For example, you can use an ice cube, watch it melt, and over time chart the level of water and have the students explain what happenes to the water and the state of matter it has turned into. 6.1.2 Explain the properties of solids, liquids and gases using drawings and models that represent matter as particles in motion whose state can be represented by the relative positions and movement of the particles. 6.1.3 Using a model in which matter is composed of particles in motion, investigate that when substances undergo a change in state, mass is conserved.

Students watch a candle burn underwater, due to the quality of absorbing heat energy in this fun activity! Be sure to very closely supervise students.

Good web-site that can give you an entire unit on Gravity. Allows students to discuss energy and what causes things to go through motion with different weight and mass.