Open-and-go lessons that inspire kids to love science.

Science curriculum for K—5th grades.

90 sec
  • Hands-on — lead students in the doing of science and engineering.
  • Standards-aligned science lessons — Cover core standards in 1-2 hours of science per week.
  • Less prep, more learning — prep in minutes not hours. Captivate your students with short videos and discussion questions.

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Open-and-go lessons that inspire kids to love science.

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5
Watch carefully. This looks like the shadow of a bunny, but it’s really the shadow of someone’s hands! Think about it. How can you use your hands to make a shadow deer or a creepy shadow spider?
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5
One hand can be a deer’s antlers. The other hand is its head! To give it a try, you need a flashlight and a white wall. Then think about how your fingers could move like spider legs. Very creepy!
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4
If you want to be a basketball player, it helps to be tall. Being tall makes it easier to reach the basket! What other physical traits could help you be a better basketball player? Any ideas?
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Many of the best basketball players have really big hands! Some players’ hands are over 11 inches (28 cm) from thumb to pinkie! Measure your hands to see how you compare.
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4
Watch this! You don’t need big hands to do this trick. The muscles used to squeeze and crush this frying pan are in the person’s arm. Big muscles on the fingers would get in the way!
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3
To play a song, a piano player has to move hundreds of muscles at
just the right time in just the right way. Amazing! Can you think of a
way to make this amazing task even more difficult? Any ideas?
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3
Every piano player has to play different notes with different hands.
But only a few talented people try to play different notes with
different hands on different pianos. Wow!
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This is a toy you twist and twist until the colors on the sides match up. This person’s brain and fingers solved the puzzle in 6 seconds! It’s a world record! How could you make this task even harder?
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This person is twisting it using just one hand—in 10 seconds! That definitely makes the task harder. But on the next slide, we’ll show you one more person who makes the task WAY, WAY harder.
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This person is juggling three puzzles at once, twisting the cubes using just one hand! He solves them all in 5 minutes! Imagine hula-hooping while solving some, or riding a scooter, or skydiving!
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When people think of fingerpainting, most people think of something like this. How could you make a painting that looks almost like a photograph—using only your fingers?
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These artists have figured out a way. Look at the different ways they move their fingers to put on the paint!
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We pulled three questions from our jar. Which question do you want to explore?

  • Why is grass green?

    -Maya, 1st Grade

  • What is a heat wave?

    -Veronica, 2nd Grade

  • How do solar panels work?

    -Jett, 4th Grade

How are pencils made?

Watch the video to discover the answer and don't forget to vote for next week's question. There are mysteries all around us. Have fun and stay curious!