This correlation lists the recommended Gizmos for this state's curriculum standards. Click any Gizmo title below for more information.
3-ESS: : Earth and Space Sciences
3-ESS2: : Earth’s Systems
3-ESS2-1: : Use graphs and tables of local weather data to describe and predict typical weather during a particular season in an area.
Comparing Climates (Customary)
Compare average temperatures, precipitation, humidity, and wind speed for a variety of locations across the globe. Explore the influence of latitude, proximity to oceans, elevation, and other factors on climate. Observe how animals and plants are adapted to climate and their environment. This lesson uses U.S. customary units.
5 Minute Preview
Compare average temperatures, precipitation, humidity, and wind speed for a variety of locations across the globe. Explore the influence of latitude, proximity to oceans, elevation, and other factors on climate. Observe how animals and plants are adapted to climate and their environment. This lesson uses metric units.
5 Minute Preview
How do scientists measure and describe the weather? In this introductory lesson, students will practice using a thermometer, anemometer, rain gauge, and hygrometer to record weather conditions in a variety of locations and dates. This lesson uses U.S. customary units.
5 Minute Preview
How do scientists measure and describe the weather? In this introductory lesson, students will practice using a thermometer, anemometer, rain gauge, and hygrometer to record weather conditions in a variety of locations and dates. This lesson uses metric units.
5 Minute Preview
3-ESS2-2: : Obtain and summarize information about the climate of different regions of the world to illustrate that typical weather conditions over a year vary by region.
Comparing Climates (Customary)
Compare average temperatures, precipitation, humidity, and wind speed for a variety of locations across the globe. Explore the influence of latitude, proximity to oceans, elevation, and other factors on climate. Observe how animals and plants are adapted to climate and their environment. This lesson uses U.S. customary units.
5 Minute Preview
Compare average temperatures, precipitation, humidity, and wind speed for a variety of locations across the globe. Explore the influence of latitude, proximity to oceans, elevation, and other factors on climate. Observe how animals and plants are adapted to climate and their environment. This lesson uses metric units.
5 Minute Preview
How do scientists measure and describe the weather? In this introductory lesson, students will practice using a thermometer, anemometer, rain gauge, and hygrometer to record weather conditions in a variety of locations and dates. This lesson uses U.S. customary units.
5 Minute Preview
How do scientists measure and describe the weather? In this introductory lesson, students will practice using a thermometer, anemometer, rain gauge, and hygrometer to record weather conditions in a variety of locations and dates. This lesson uses metric units.
5 Minute Preview
3-LS1: : From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
3-LS1-1: : Use simple graphical representations to show that different types of organisms have unique and diverse life cycles. Describe that all organisms have birth, growth, reproduction, and death in common but there are a variety of ways in which these happen.
Flower Pollination
Observe the steps of pollination and fertilization in flowering plants. Help with many parts of the process by dragging pollen grains to the stigma, dragging sperm to the ovules, and removing petals as the fruit begins to grow. Quiz yourself when you are done by dragging vocabulary words to the correct plant structure.
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Explore life in the hive by meeting workers, drones, and the queen bee herself! Visit flower patches to determine the best sources of food, and then perform a waggle dance to let the other bees know where to go. Can you help the bees find enough food to save the hive?
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3-LS3: : Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
3-LS3-1: : Provide evidence, including through the analysis of data, that plants and animals have traits inherited from parents and that variation of these traits exist in a group of similar organisms.
Inheritance
Create aliens with different traits and breed them to produce offspring. Determine which traits are passed down from parents to offspring and which traits are acquired. Offspring can be stored for future experiments or released.
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3-LS3-2: : Distinguish between inherited characteristics and those characteristics that result from a direct interaction with the environment. Give examples of characteristics of living organisms that are influenced by both inheritance and the environment.
Effect of Environment on New Life Form
Using the scientific method, control the environmental conditions for a fictional alien organism in order to learn how the organism responds to changes in conditions. Sunlight, water, and temperature can be varied to determine their effects on the shape of the aliens.
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Investigate the growth of three common garden plants: tomatoes, beans, and turnips. You can change the amount of light each plant gets, the amount of water added each day, and the type of soil the seed is planted in. Observe the effect of each variable on plant height, plant mass, leaf color and leaf size. Determine what conditions produce the tallest and healthiest plants. Height and mass data are displayed on tables and graphs.
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Create aliens with different traits and breed them to produce offspring. Determine which traits are passed down from parents to offspring and which traits are acquired. Offspring can be stored for future experiments or released.
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Measure the height, diameter, and circumference of trees in a forest. Count growth rings to determine the age of each tree. Grow the trees for several years and investigate how growth is affected by precipitation.
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3-LS4: : Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
3-LS4-1: : Use fossils to describe types of organisms and their environments that existed long ago and compare those to living organisms and their environments. Recognize that most kinds of plants and animals that once lived on Earth are no longer found anywhere.
Building Pangaea
In 1915, Alfred Wegener proposed that all of Earth's continents were once joined in an ancient supercontinent he called Pangaea. Wegener's idea of moving continents led to the modern theory of plate tectonics. Create your own version of Pangaea by fitting Earth's landmasses together like puzzle pieces. Use evidence from fossils, rocks, and glaciers to refine your map.
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3-LS4-2: : Use evidence to construct an explanation for how the variations in characteristics among individuals within the same species may provide advantages to these individuals in their survival and reproduction.
Natural Selection
You are a bird hunting moths (both dark and light) that live on trees. As you capture the moths most easily visible against the tree surface, the moth populations change, illustrating the effects of natural selection.
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3-LS4-3: : Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular environment some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive.
Comparing Climates (Customary)
Compare average temperatures, precipitation, humidity, and wind speed for a variety of locations across the globe. Explore the influence of latitude, proximity to oceans, elevation, and other factors on climate. Observe how animals and plants are adapted to climate and their environment. This lesson uses U.S. customary units.
5 Minute Preview
Compare average temperatures, precipitation, humidity, and wind speed for a variety of locations across the globe. Explore the influence of latitude, proximity to oceans, elevation, and other factors on climate. Observe how animals and plants are adapted to climate and their environment. This lesson uses metric units.
5 Minute Preview
Measure the temperature and oxygen content of a pond over the course of a day. Then go fishing to see what types of fish live in the pond. Many different ponds can be investigated to determine the influence of time, temperature, and farms on oxygen levels.
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3-PS2: : Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
3-PS2-1: : Provide evidence to explain the effect of multiple forces, including friction, on an object. Include balanced forces that do not change the motion of the object and unbalanced forces that do change the motion of the object.
Charge Launcher
Launch a charged particle into a chamber. Charged particles can be added into the chamber to influence the path of the moving particle. The launch speed can be changed as well. Try to match a given path by manipulating the fixed particles in the chamber.
5 Minute Preview
3-PS2-3: : Conduct an investigation to determine the nature of the forces between two magnets based on their orientations and distance relative to each other.
Charge Launcher
Launch a charged particle into a chamber. Charged particles can be added into the chamber to influence the path of the moving particle. The launch speed can be changed as well. Try to match a given path by manipulating the fixed particles in the chamber.
5 Minute Preview
Drag bar magnets and a variety of other objects onto a piece of paper. Click Play to release the objects to see if they are attracted together, repelled apart, or unaffected. You can also sprinkle iron filings over the magnets and other objects to view the magnetic field lines that are produced.
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3.3-5-ETS1-1: : Define a simple design problem that reflects a need or a want. Include criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost that a potential solution must meet.
Digestive System
Digestion is a complex process, involving a wide variety of organs and chemicals that work together to break down food, absorb nutrients, and eliminate wastes. But have you ever wondered what would happen if some of those organs were eliminated, or if the sequence was changed? Can the digestive system be improved? Find out by designing your own digestive system with the Digestive System Gizmo.
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Design your own trebuchet to fling a projectile at a castle wall. All of the dimensions of the trebuchet can be adjusted, as well as the masses of the counterweight and payload. Select a target on the Launch tab, or just see how far your projectile will go.
5 Minute Preview
3.3-5-ETS1-2: : Generate several possible solutions to a given design problem. Compare each solution based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the design problem.
Digestive System
Digestion is a complex process, involving a wide variety of organs and chemicals that work together to break down food, absorb nutrients, and eliminate wastes. But have you ever wondered what would happen if some of those organs were eliminated, or if the sequence was changed? Can the digestive system be improved? Find out by designing your own digestive system with the Digestive System Gizmo.
5 Minute Preview
In this introduction to coding, program a rover to explore the surface of Mars. Start by using tiles to create simple programs involving moving forward or backward, turns, jumps, loops, and picking up rock samples. Then use text instructions to optimize your code. Use your skills to program the rover to complete six challenging missions on Mars.
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Design your own trebuchet to fling a projectile at a castle wall. All of the dimensions of the trebuchet can be adjusted, as well as the masses of the counterweight and payload. Select a target on the Launch tab, or just see how far your projectile will go.
5 Minute Preview
3.3-5-ETS1-4(MA): : Gather information using various informational resources on possible solutions to a design problem. Present different representations of a design solution.
Trebuchet
Design your own trebuchet to fling a projectile at a castle wall. All of the dimensions of the trebuchet can be adjusted, as well as the masses of the counterweight and payload. Select a target on the Launch tab, or just see how far your projectile will go.
5 Minute Preview
Students assume the role of a scientist trying to solve a real world problem. They use scientific practices to collect and analyze data, and form and test a hypothesis as they solve the problems.
