Summer is the perfect time to take science outdoors! Your middle schoolers don’t need expensive lab materials to spark curiosity and learn a little science.

Here are 7 activities your middle schoolers can do this summer to broaden and enrich their understanding of science.

Baking Soda Balloon Inflation

What you need:

• empty plastic bottle
• balloon
• baking soda
• vinegar

What to do:

1. Put a teaspoon or so of baking soda into the balloon (a funnel can help).
2. Put a few tablespoons of vinegar in the plastic bottle.
3. Secure the opening of the balloon over the plastic bottle without letting the baking soda fall in.
4. Count down and then pull up the balloon so that the baking soda falls in.

What happens:

The baking soda and vinegar react in a chemical reaction and produce carbon dioxide which will fill the balloon.

Things to try:

What happens if you use more baking soda or more vinegar? If you tie off the balloon, will it sink or float?

Walking Water Rainbow

What you need:

• clear cups
• water
• paper towels
• food coloring

What to do:

1. Fill one cup with water. Add food coloring.
2. Fill a second cup with water.
3. Twist the paper towel to form an arch. Place each end of the arch into one of the cups and watch what happens.

What happens:

The colored water will travel, via capillary action between the cups.

Things to try:

What happens if you put food coloring in the second cup? Can you do this with multiple cups and multiple arches of paper towels?

Solar Oven S’mores

What you need:

• pizza box
• aluminum foil
• plastic wrap
• graham crackers
• chocolate
• marshmallows

What to do:

1. Line the pizza box with aluminum foil.
2. Place a marshmallow in the box. Cover with plastic wrap to keep it safe from insects.
3. Place your pizza box in a sunny location.
4. After a few minutes, check your marshmallow to see if it melted.
5. Make a s’more by placing your marshmallow on your graham cracker and covering it with chocolate.

What happens:

The aluminum foil collects heat and transfers it to the marshmallow causing it to melt.

Things to try:

Try different positions of the pizza box – is open better than closed? If you angle the top toward the sun, can you get the marshmallow to melt faster?

Bubble Geometry

What you need:

• 1/3 cup liquid dish detergent
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• Shallow pan
• pipe cleaners

What to do:

1. Mix the ingredients together in the shallow pan.
2. Bend the pipe cleaners into various shapes – try squares, circles, triangles.
3. Dip the pipe cleaners into the soap solution and try to make a square bubble!

What happens:

Bubbles always make spheres because a sphere has the lowest surface tension.

Things to try:

Try using more or less dish detergent to see what combination of ingredients makes the biggest bubbles.

pH Detective

What you need:

• red cabbage
• water
• pot
• lemon juice
• baking soda
• clear cups

What to do:

1. Indoors – cut up the red cabbage and boil it in water for 10 minutes. Drain the cabbage and save the water.
2. Let the water cool.
3. The cabbage water is a pH indicator. Pour a little into clear cups and see what color it changes in lemon juice (an acid) and baking soda (a base).

What happens:

Red cabbage contains pigments called anthocyanins. These pigments change color in acids and bases.

Things to try:

Line up several cups of cabbage water and see what colors you can create.

DIY Water Filter Challenge

What you need:

• plastic cups
• gravel
• sand
• cotton balls
• coffee filter
• dirty water (try adding vegetable oil or soil to water)

What to do:

1. Using the various materials as filters, try to devise a way to “clean” the water. Caution: Even if the water looks clean, it is NOT safe to drink!

What happens:

Gravel, sand, cotton balls and coffee filters will act as filters. Gravel will filter out large objects, sand will filter out smaller objects, and cotton balls and coffee filters will filter out the smallest objects. These filters will NOT filter out bacteria!

Things to try:

See if you can get dirty water completely clear.

Ice Cube Race

What you need:

• ice cubes
• aluminum foil
• plastic wrap
• assorted containers – egg cartons, styrofoam cups, ziploc baggies, paper towels

What to do:

1. Create a container using whatever materials you want to try to insulate an ice cube and prevent it from melting.
2. Wrap your ice cube in your container and place it in the sun. See how long you can keep the ice cube from melting!

What happens:

Some substances act as insulators and some act as conductors of heat.

Things to try:

Create several containers and test them to see which keeps the ice cube frozen the longest.

Tips for Success

• Adult supervision is recommended for younger children.
• Perform experiments outdoors on an easy to clean surface.
• Protect plants from spills.
• Encourage your students to record their observations in a notebook or journal.

In conclusion

Backyard science doesn’t require a laboratory—just curiosity and a few everyday supplies. These simple experiments can inspire questions, build observation skills, and help students see that science is happening all around them.

Earthquakes. Volcanoes. Moving continents.
If there’s one unit that naturally grabs students’ attention, it’s the plate tectonics unit.

The good news? You don’t need a complicated prep schedule to make a plate tectonics unit meaningful and engaging. With the right sequence of activities, your students can build real understanding while staying curious the whole way through.

Here’s a refreshed look at how to teach plate tectonics in a way that’s simple, effective, and aligned with NGSS.

When Should You Teach Plate Tectonics?

Plate tectonics shows up multiple times across grade levels, but in middle school, expectations go deeper.

Students are expected to:

• Analyze fossils, rocks, and continental shapes
• Use seafloor data as evidence of movement
• Connect patterns to past plate motion

A plate tectonics unit fits best after relative and absolute dating, so students already understand geologic time and can interpret evidence more effectively.

A Simple, Effective Scope & Sequence

Strong NGSS instruction revolves around phenomena, inquiry, and discovery—and this unit is perfect for all three.

1. Start with a Phenomenon (Map Exploration)

Give students a world map and have them plot:

• Earthquakes
• Volcanoes

Let them notice patterns and ask:
“Why are these events clustered in certain areas?”

This question becomes the anchor for your entire plate tectonics unit.

2. Introduce Pangaea (and Let Them Play With It)

Bring in Alfred Wegener and his idea of continental drift.

Have students:

• Cut out continents
• Reassemble Pangaea
• Compare their map to earthquake/volcano data

This hands-on moment helps students see patterns before they fully understand them—which is exactly what you want.

3. Let Students Wrestle With the Doubt

Here’s where things get interesting.

Explain that Wegener’s idea wasn’t accepted at first. Scientists questioned:

• How continents could move
• Alternative explanations (like land bridges)

Let students think through this problem.
Ask: “How would you prove this?”

This builds critical thinking—not just content knowledge.

4. Introduce New Evidence (The Game Changer)

Now bring in the breakthrough:

• Mid-ocean ridges
• Seafloor spreading
• Rock age patterns

These discoveries made plate tectonics undeniable

At this point, students are ready to revise their thinking—just like real scientists.

5. Model Plate Movement (Convection Lab)

Time to make the invisible visible.

A simple convection current lab works beautifully to make the entire plate tectonics unit real for students:

• Heat water unevenly
• Float sponge “plates” on top
• Watch them move

This models how the lithosphere moves on the asthenosphere and gives students a concrete understanding of abstract processes.

6. Explore Plate Boundaries (Food = Engagement)

This hands on activity modeling plate boundaries is always a student favorite.

Use:

• Rice Krispy treats
• Frosting

Students model:

• Convergent boundaries
• Divergent boundaries
• Transform boundaries

Swap in a graham cracker to represent oceanic crust and demonstrate subduction.

Messy? Yes.
Memorable? Absolutely.

7. Return to the Original Phenomenon

Bring students back to their original map.

Now ask:

• What patterns do you see now?
• How do plate boundaries explain these locations?

This step is critical—students connect everything they’ve learned back to the driving question. I like to add in a scavenger hunt to put important vocabulary into context.

8. Reinforce with Practice & Review

Wrap up the unit with:

• Vocabulary practice – Here are the worksheets I use.
• Self-checking activities – try this magic picture worksheet.
• Digital tools like Boom Cards (Try our plate tectonics Boom cards free by clicking here!)

These help solidify understanding without adding heavy grading to your workload.

Final Thoughts

Plate tectonics doesn’t need to feel overwhelming—or repetitive for students.

When you:

• Start with a compelling phenomenon
• Let students explore before explaining
• Use simple, hands-on models

…you turn a traditionally “taught over and over” topic into something students actually understand.

And maybe even enjoy.

Teaching a climate change unit in middle school can feel overwhelming. There’s so much content—greenhouse gases, human impact, data analysis, solutions—and somehow it all has to make sense to middle schoolers.

The good news? You don’t need to reinvent the wheel.

A strong climate change unit doesn’t depend on a rigid day-by-day plan. Instead, it’s built around key concepts, engaging activities, and meaningful connections that help students understand both the science and why it matters.

In this post, I’m sharing a complete, done-for-you climate change unit—organized by essential topics and activity types—so you can adapt it to your schedule, your students, and your teaching style.

🌡️ Understanding the Difference Between Weather and Climate

Before diving into climate change, a climate change unit in middle school needs a clear foundation.

Key focus:

• Weather vs. climate
• Long-term patterns vs. daily conditions

Activity ideas:

• Analyze weather vs. climate graphs
• Quick sorting activity (weather or climate?)
• Class discussion using local examples

This builds the background students need before tackling more complex ideas.

🌍 The Greenhouse Effect and How Earth Stays Warm

This is the core concept students must understand.

The atmosphere acts like a “blanket,” trapping heat and keeping Earth at a livable temperature .

Key focus:

• Greenhouse gases (CO₂, methane, water vapor)
• Energy from the sun and heat trapping

Activity ideas:

• Simple greenhouse effect lab (bottles + thermometers)
• Diagram labeling and modeling
• Simulation or short video analysis

Hands-on activities are especially powerful here—students remember what they see and test far more than what they read.

🏭 Causes of Climate Change: Natural vs. Human Factors

Once students understand the greenhouse effect, they’re ready to explore why it’s changing.

Key focus:

• Fossil fuels and carbon emissions
• Deforestation
• Natural vs. human causes

Burning fossil fuels releases excess carbon dioxide, increasing the greenhouse effect and driving climate change .

Activity ideas:

• Carbon footprint calculator
• Cause-and-effect sorting activity
• Short reading with CER (Claim-Evidence-Reasoning)

📊 Evidence of Climate Change

Students need to see that climate change is based on data, not opinion.

Key focus:

• Temperature trends
• Ice cores, tree rings, sea level rise
• Graph interpretation

Activity ideas:

• Graph analysis stations
• Interpreting real climate data
• “What does this data show?” discussions

This is where students start thinking like scientists.

🌊 Effects of Climate Change on Earth Systems

Now students connect cause → effect.

Key focus:

• Melting ice and sea level rise
• Extreme weather
• Ecosystem changes

Activity ideas:

• Case studies (I use a dice game to show this!)
• Reading + discussion
• Cause/effect mapping

These topics help students see the real-world impact of climate change.

🌱 Solutions and Human Impact

This is one of the most important (and empowering) parts of the unit.

Key focus:

• Renewable energy
• Reducing carbon footprint
• Individual vs. global solutions

Activity ideas:

• Design a sustainable city or solution
• Debate: best energy sources
• Create an action plan

Many climate lessons now emphasize solutions to build critical thinking and avoid student overwhelm.

🧪 Hands-On and Inquiry-Based Activities

Throughout the unit, incorporate a mix of:

• Labs
• Stations
• Simulations
• Group work

Hands-on STEM activities help students connect abstract ideas to real-world applications and deepen understanding.

📝 Assessment and Review Ideas

Instead of a single test, use a variety of assessments:

• CER writing responses
• Projects or models
• Review games
• Exit tickets

You can also include:

• A final project (design a solution, create a presentation, etc.)
• Ongoing formative checks

🎯 Why This Flexible Structure Works

Instead of locking yourself into a strict daily schedule, this approach allows you to:

• Spend more time where students struggle
• Shorten or extend activities as needed
• Swap in different resources without losing coherence

And most importantly—it keeps the focus on understanding, not pacing.

💡 Make It Even Easier (Done-for-You Option)

If you want to skip the planning and jump straight to teaching, using a done-for-you climate change unit can save hours while still giving students a rich, engaging experience.

I do a lot of shopping/lesson planning on TeachersPayTeachers, as do most teachers I know. Aside from being a time saver, there are also great ideas to get my classes engaged again! Did you know that TpT is offering 10% discounts to first time buyers and to followers?

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