Simple Machines are Simply Everywhere


Educational Innovations Blog

By Jared Hottenstein

The science of simple machines is simply everywhere—in our homes, on the playground, at school, in our doctor’s office, and countless other places.  We live with simple machines, often without even knowing it.

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Alien Fluids – An Online Activity


Alien Fluids Online Activity - Educational Innovations Blog

By Melanie Pearlman

It’s a scene you don’t often see in a science class: 13- and 14-year-olds flailing their arms about wildly like crazy aliens.  It’s only Day One of the activity and they’re hooked by the goofiness allowed.  That’s just one of the reasons why I look forward to my Alien Fluids unit every year.  It also really sharpens students’ investigative skills and calls on them to think critically and logically. 

But how was I to conduct this days-long experimentation activity remotely this year?

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Hydropower Ideas for the Classroom… and the World


Roy Bentley, Educational Innovations

By Captain Roy Bentley

Renewable energy is a hot topic around the world.  What IS renewable energy?  As you probably already know, it is energy sourced by a power that is not depleted when used.  As nations strive to reduce the impact of CO2 and other pollutants on the Earth, there’s a global push toward zero emission energy sources.  In other words, renewable energy.

Examples of renewable energy are Wind, Solar, Tidal, Geothermal, and Hydropower.  

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