// SCIENCE FIELD GUIDE · GRADES 2–12
Hands-on investigations organized by science topic and grade band. Start with a question, make a prediction, collect evidence and explain what the results support.
The current collection has 28 lab files, printable data sheets with answer keys, science skills and browser tools. Standalone topic worksheets and quizzes are not yet a complete library.
// FOUR NGSS SCIENCE DOMAINS
The NGSS organizes core science ideas into four domains and connects them with practices and crosscutting concepts. The cards below show what this site can serve today.
Study cells and organisms, heredity, body systems, plant processes and the interactions that keep living things alive. Published labs include osmosis, strawberry DNA, enzyme activity, plant growth and water transport.
8 related lab files
Explore matter and its properties, chemical reactions, forces, motion and energy. The site groups chemistry and physics here, as NGSS does, while each lab card still shows its specific subject.
20 related lab files
This domain covers Earth materials and systems, weather and climate, space systems and Earth’s place in the universe. Dedicated field files for these topics are not in the current library yet.
No published lab files yet
Engineering starts with a problem, criteria and constraints; learners plan a solution, test it, use evidence and improve the design. Current challenges include egg-drop, paper-helicopter and balloon-rocket builds.
3 related lab filesEnvironmental science is a cross-topic lens. Climate, ecosystems, resources and human impacts connect Earth systems with life and physical science. They are not a fifth NGSS domain, so the site will tag those topics across the relevant collections as dedicated lessons are added.
// FIELD FILE INDEX
Choose a science domain and grade band. A lab appears when its published grade range overlaps the band; check each procedure and safety notes before assigning it.
Try an egg osmosis experiment: soak a shell-less egg in water and corn syrup, measure mass change, and explain the direction water moves.
Run a gummy bear osmosis experiment with water, salt water and vinegar; compare mass and size while accounting for gelatin’s limits as a cell model.
Yeast breaks down 3% hydrogen peroxide into a fast column of oxygen foam — test how the amount of yeast changes it.
Change the string length, time ten swings, and graph T² against L to find the pattern behind a pendulum's rhythm.
Count how many drops of water a penny holds before the dome collapses, then test what soap does to that number.
Mash strawberries with a soap-and-salt buffer, filter, then float DNA out of solution with cold rubbing alcohol.
Build a layered liquid density column, predict where objects will settle, and compare the observations with density measurements.
Build a container that cushions a raw egg, then test it from rising heights to find where the padding stops working.
Cut paper helicopters with different rotor lengths, drop them from the same height, and time how long each one takes to land.
Arrange Skittles in a ring on a plate, add water at different temperatures, and time how fast the color spreads to the center.
Use paper towels to move colored water between cups, then investigate capillary action, timing, and how to make the test repeatable.
Test how Mentos change a carbonated-soda geyser, measure the plume safely, and learn why the foam is not a new chemical reaction.
Boil red cabbage to make a natural pH indicator, then test household liquids to see which colors show up for acids and bases.
Soak identical potato strips in different salt concentrations overnight, then measure the length and mass change caused by osmosis.
Drop hydrogen peroxide onto potato disks and time the bubbling to see how fast the enzyme catalase breaks it down.
Layer oil and colored water in a bottle, drop in effervescent tablets, and measure how long the bubbling lava effect lasts.
Add food coloring to milk, touch the surface with a soap-dipped cotton swab, and compare how milk fat content changes the swirl.
React different amounts of baking soda with vinegar inside a bottle and measure how big the gas produced inflates a balloon.
Mix cornstarch and water at different ratios and measure how fast a marble sinks into each mixture to find where it stops acting like a liquid.
Dissolve different amounts of salt into water and lower an egg into each cup to find how much salt it takes to make the egg float.
Compare seedlings under different light conditions, record growth over time, and consider why height alone may not show plant health.
Stand celery stalks in water at different temperatures and track how quickly the color travels up the stalk and into the leaves.
Mix yeast, sugar and water at different temperatures inside a bottle and measure how much gas the yeast produces as it feeds.
Drop different types of balls from the same height and measure what percent of the drop height each one bounces back.
Compare paper towel absorbency by measuring how much water each brand holds before dripping; repeat trials with a consistent drain time and data table.
Predict and test whether everyday objects sink or float in water, then compare the results to each object's density.
Send inflated balloons racing along a string and measure how the amount of air inside changes how far each one travels.
Write secret messages with different household liquids, let them dry invisible, then heat each one to see which reveals its message fastest.
// CHOOSE A STARTING LEVEL
A topic can be introduced with a simple observation, then revisited with stronger measurements and explanations. Use each field file’s grade range and safety notes to decide whether it fits the learner.
Start with visible changes, sorting, comparing and recording simple observations. A few existing investigations begin at Grade 2; there is not yet a full K–2 worksheet sequence.
Ask a focused question, change one factor, make repeated observations and describe a pattern with a simple table or graph.
Plan a fair test, identify variables, use measurements and explain how evidence supports or challenges a claim.
Use quantitative models, uncertainty, relationships between variables and more advanced explanations. Current upper-grade coverage is limited; AP course materials are not published yet.
// HOW TO USE A FIELD FILE
These are useful planning lenses for teachers and learners. They describe the NGSS framework; they do not certify a lab as standards-aligned by themselves.
Choose a phenomenon or system—such as a plant moving water, a liquid supporting an object, or a reaction making gas—and identify the science idea that can explain it.
Plan an investigation or design, measure or observe carefully, analyze data, build an explanation and communicate what the evidence shows.
Use cause and effect, systems, patterns, energy and matter, or stability and change to connect learning across biology, chemistry, physics and Earth science.
For formal standards planning, check the official NGSS standards and their three dimensions. Lab Dossier will add performance-expectation codes only when a resource has been checked against the full expectation.
// KEEP BUILDING THE INVESTIGATION
Pair a topic with the scientific method, a measurement skill or a classroom lab file. Every lab card links to its own procedure and printable data sheet.