Physical Science
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Chemistry
Making carbon connections
These discussion prompts cover the basics of radioactive decay and carbon-14 dating, as well as concepts related to climate change.
- Plants
Uniting past and present
Students will search the Science News archive for stories related to frozen mosses, radioactive carbon-14 dating and global warming.
- Plants
Mosses exposed and analyzed
Students will answer questions about how scientists measure the age of newly thawed mosses in the Arctic, and the implications of those scientists' findings.
- Physics
The pressure to be a star
To better understand the life cycle of stars, students will estimate the conditions involved in stars and element formation.
- Space
Star light, star bright
These discussion prompts cover the principles of spectroscopy, stellar evolution and fusion reactions.
- Space
Crash from the past
Students will search the Science News archive for other stories on neutron star collisions and gravitational waves.
- Physics
Spotting a neutron star collision
Students will answer questions related to the Science News article "Neutron star crash seen for the first time."
- Physics
Solo for solenoid
Students will construct their own simple solenoids and conduct experiments to measure the solenoids' properties.
- Chemistry
Going beyond the robot
These discussion prompts cover topics related to materials science, magnetism, and biological adaptation and self-assembly.
- Tech
That’s a wrap
Students will answer questions about how a cubic metallic robot wraps itself in different exoskeletons to perform different functions.
- Plants
Behold the power of light
These discussion prompts cover chloropasts, chlorophyll, photosynthesis and related reactions, and solar cells.
- Plants
Peering back at plants
Students will search the Science News archive for stories about photosynthesis and plant roots.
