S.4.16: Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and…

Build It, Launch It Grades K–5

Egg drops, paper planes and balloon rockets, done properly at home. Three engineering challenges where kids build, test, fix and explain the pushes and pulls behind what happened.

• Can you drop an egg without breaking it? 60 min

  Kids design an egg protector on a materials budget, test it from a low height first and work up, and fix what fails. They finish able to explain why a soft, slow stop saves the egg.

• What makes a paper plane fly farthest? 45 min

  Kids fold two different paper planes and run a fair test, changing one thing at a time: first the design, then the throw. They measure three throws each and explain the flight using lift, drag, thrust and gravity.

Evidence Lab Grade 4

How do you know something is true? Students test a claim with their own measurements, find out why one result is never enough, and learn to tell strong evidence from weak.

• Why do scientists repeat their tests? 45–60 min

  Students build two paper helicopters, one with long wings and one with short wings, and time each one falling five times. They find that the same drop never gives exactly the same time, and use their repeated trials to decide whether the wing change really made a difference.

How Your Body Works Grades 3–5 · partly supports this outcome

Why your heart races when you run, what happens to your lunch, how your arm bends and where germs hide. Students take their own pulse, build a model gut and a card elbow, and run a handwashing fair test with glitter 'germs'. Everyday materials, no winter, works in any country.

• Where do germs hide? 45–60 min

  Students put glitter gel 'germs' on one hand, shake hands down a line and count how far the glitter travels. Then they run a fair test of handwashing (water only, soap for 5 seconds, soap for 20 seconds) and score each hand by counting the glitter that is left, to find what really gets germs off.

Keep It Cool: Ice, Insulation and Staying Comfortable Grades 3–5 · partly supports this outcome

Why salt makes ice melt faster, which wrap keeps a drink coldest, how a seal and a fennec fox each keep their body temperature steady, and how to build a cool box that beats the heat. Four hands-on lessons that start from a freezer and work in any climate.

• Which wrap keeps a drink coldest? 50–60 min

  Teams wrap jars of chilled water in wool, cotton, foil or nothing, and read a thermometer every 5 minutes to see which lets heat in slowest. Then they explain what a wrap really does, and why 'cold' doesn't leak in or out.

• Can you build a cool box that beats the heat? 75–90 min, or build in one session and test in the next

  Teams design and build a cool box from recycled materials, test it against a plain tub with the same ice, and measure the meltwater after 40 minutes. They find the weak spots, explain how insulation slows heat, and plan one improvement.

Winter Science: Ice, Snow and Staying Warm Grades 3–5 · partly supports this outcome

Why roads get salted, which mitten really works, how a seal stays warm in icy water, and why a mouse is cosier under the snow than on top of it. Four hands-on lessons on ice, heat and insulation.

• Which mitten keeps a hand warmest? 50–60 min

  Teams wrap jars of warm water in wool, cotton, foil or nothing, and read a thermometer every 5 minutes to see which loses heat slowest. Then they explain what a mitten really does, and why it doesn't make any heat of its own.

• Can snow keep things warm? 60–75 min, including about 40 min outdoors

  Teams build a 'den' for a jar of warm water, leave one on top of the snow and bury one underneath, and compare temperatures after 30 minutes. They also probe the snow with thermometers, then explain why voles, grouse and bears spend winter under the snow. A no-snow version uses a freezer and a snow stand-in.

Think Like a Scientist: The Scientific Method Grades 3–6 · partly supports this outcome

The steps of the scientific method, taught as a cycle rather than a recipe. Students sort testable questions, inspect unfair tests and plan a fair one, turn a page of practice data into a mean, a bar graph and a claim, and then walk the whole cycle with a real case: Ignaz Semmelweis and handwashing in 1840s Vienna. Nothing to buy: every lesson runs on printed sheets.

• What is a fair test? 45–60 min

  Teams tour eight case cards of real-sounding kid experiments, find what was changed, what was measured and what was not kept the same, and fix each unfair test. Then they plan their own fair test on a printed planner using three kid words for the variables: change, measure, keep the same.

• How do scientists turn results into answers? 45–60 min

  Teams get a page of practice data from a class's bouncing-ball test, find the trial that went wrong, work out the mean of each set of repeats, draw a bar graph and write a claim with evidence and reasoning. A claim court lets another team judge whether the evidence holds up.

Test the Claim: Science Facts, Myths and AI Answers Grades 5–7 · partly supports this outcome

Sayings, ads, forum posts and AI chatbot answers all sound sure of themselves. Students put popular claims to a real hands-on test, grade the answers, and learn how to decide which sources deserve their trust.

• Does salt make water boil faster? 45–60 min

  Students test two kitchen claims at once: that a watched pot never boils, and an AI-style answer saying salt makes water boil faster. They time plain and salted water in a teacher-run kettle, then write a claim, evidence and reasoning about what really happened.

• Is that AI answer true? 50–60 min

  Students get three printed AI chatbot answers to science questions, write a test for each, and run the two that fit in one class: dropping a full and an empty bottle, and melting ice in fresh and salty water. They grade each answer and explain why a confident answer still has to be checked.

• Which source should we trust? 50–60 min

  Students compare four sources making the same claim about a paper towel: a study summary, an ad, a forum post and an AI chatbot answer. They rate the evidence behind each, then run a fair absorbency test to settle the question with their own data.

Steppe Science: Staying Warm on the Kazakh Steppe Grades 5–6

Science and English together, for English learners (CEFR A2–B1). How does a felt yurt keep a family warm when it's −30 °C outside? Students test insulators around jars of warm water, graph the results and design a winter wall, using the real science of the Kazakh kiiz üy.

• How does a felt yurt keep a family warm at −30 °C? 60 min, or two 35-minute periods

  Science and English together, for English learners at CEFR A2–B1. Teams wrap jars of warm water in felt, cotton, foil and paper, measure how fast each one cools, and graph the class results. Then they use the evidence to design a winter wall for a kiiz üy.

Living with Water: Salt, Rice and the Mekong Grades 4–5

Science and English together, for English learners (CEFR A2–B1). Three investigations from Vietnam: how salt farmers turn the sea into salt, how rice terraces stop a mountain washing away, and how a house in the Mekong Delta stays dry in the flood season.

• How do salt farmers turn the sea into salt? 60 min, plus a 10-minute check the next day

  Science and English together, for English learners at CEFR A2–B1. Teams paint salt water on dark paper to find the salt hiding in sea water, then set out wide and narrow dishes in sun and shade to see what makes water leave fastest. They use the evidence to advise a salt farm in Khánh Hòa.

• How do rice terraces stop a mountain washing away? 60 min, or two 35-minute periods

  Science and English together, for English learners at CEFR A2–B1. Teams make model hillsides from soil in trays: a bare slope, a terraced slope and a slope with plant cover. They pour the same storm of rain on each, measure the muddy water that runs off, and use the evidence to advise a mountain village in northern Vietnam.

• How can a house stay dry when the Mekong floods? 60 min, or two 35-minute periods

  Science and English together, for English learners at CEFR A2–B1. Teams design and build a model house on stilts or on a floating base, then test it as the teacher raises the water in a tub and makes waves. They use their results to advise a village in the Mekong Delta.

Monsoon Science: Rain, Sun and the Nón Lá Grades 3–4

Science and English together, for English learners (CEFR A2–B1). Why is the Vietnamese nón lá shaped like a cone? Students build paper hats, test them in 'monsoon rain' and 'midday sun', and find the best shape for a rice farmer.

• How does a nón lá keep a rice farmer dry? 60 min, or two 35-minute periods

  Science and English together, for English learners at CEFR A2–B1. Teams build paper cone hats of three shapes, test them under 'monsoon rain' and 'midday sun', and measure how far each one sends the water and how much shade it makes. Then they design the best hat for a rice farmer.

Printable practice for S.4.16

• Build It, Launch It workbook included with the unit

  3 practice pages, 1 word wall, 1 reading, 1 English-support page, 1 unit review, 1 unit test, with answer keys.

• Evidence Lab workbook included with the unit

  2 practice pages, 2 readings, 1 word wall, 1 English-support page, 1 unit review, 1 unit test, with answer keys.

• How Your Body Works workbook included with the unit

  1 English-support page, 1 practice page, 1 reading, 1 unit review, 1 unit test, with answer keys.

• Keep It Cool: Ice, Insulation and Staying Comfortable workbook included with the unit

  3 practice pages, 1 English-support page, 1 reading, 1 unit review, 1 unit test, with answer keys.

• Winter Science: Ice, Snow and Staying Warm workbook included with the unit

  3 practice pages, 2 English-support pages, 1 reading, 1 unit review, 1 unit test, with answer keys.

• Think Like a Scientist: The Scientific Method workbook included with the unit

  4 English-support pages, 4 practice pages, 4 readings, 1 word wall, 1 unit review, 1 unit test, with answer keys.

• Test the Claim: Science Facts, Myths and AI Answers workbook included with the unit

  3 English-support pages, 3 practice pages, 3 readings, 1 word wall, 1 unit review, 1 unit test, with answer keys.

• Steppe Science: Staying Warm on the Kazakh Steppe workbook included with the unit

  1 practice page, with answer keys.

• Monsoon Science: Rain, Sun and the Nón Lá workbook included with the unit

  1 practice page, 1 unit test, with answer keys.

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