UScore Academy · Science projects

Science performance projects

Investigate, model, explain and improve a design.

64 performance projects to extend the science lessons

These projects address previously unmapped NGSS references: 14 elementary, 15 middle-school and 35 high-school expectations. Each includes an idea explanation, evidence or model inputs, a task, reasoning checks and a teacher rubric. Three include interactive models.

Project availability is not evidence that every student has mastered the expectation or that the complete curriculum is covered. Other mapped expectations still require review of full instruction and assessment. State-specific crosswalks remain incomplete.

64 projects

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K-PS2-2Two 20-minute sessions

Can a ramp guide a ball to its target?

Which guide helps a rolling ball reach a marked target?

Analyzing and interpreting data · Related lesson: Kindergarten, Push and Pull Forces

K-PS3-2Two 20-minute sessions on a suitable day

Build shade for a sunny spot

Which small shade structure reduces sunlight warming?

Designing solutions · Related lesson: Kindergarten, Sunlight and Warmth

K-ESS3-2One 30-minute session plus a local follow-up

Questions that help us prepare for weather

How can a weather forecast help adults plan for a storm?

Asking questions and obtaining information · Related lesson: Kindergarten, Weather Patterns

2-PS1-2Two 30-minute sessions

Choose a material for a spill mat

Which material best keeps a small water spill off the desk?

Analyzing and interpreting data · Related lesson: 2nd grade, States of Matter

2-PS1-3One 35-minute session

The same pieces, a different object

Can a bridge become a tower without gaining or losing pieces?

Constructing an explanation from observations · Related lesson: 2nd grade, Changes in Matter

2-LS2-1Setup 35 minutes; observations across 10–14 days

Test what seedlings need

How can we test light and water one factor at a time?

Planning and carrying out investigations · Related lesson: 2nd grade, Plant and Animal Habitats

2-ESS1-1Two 30-minute sessions

Earth changes quickly and slowly

What evidence helps us compare a sudden event with a gradual change?

Obtaining and communicating information · Related lesson: 2nd grade, Rocks, Soil, and Earth Materials

3-LS2-1Two 30-minute sessions

When a group helps animals survive

How can working together help an animal meet a survival need?

Argument from evidence · Related lesson: 3rd grade, Ecosystems and Food Chains

3-LS4-4Two 35-minute sessions

Choose a habitat repair after one change

Which repair best helps a pond community after its shallow edge is removed?

Argument from evidence about a solution · Related lesson: 3rd grade, Engineering Design Process

4-PS4-3Two 35-minute sessions

Send a picture using a pattern

Which code sends a small picture most reliably?

Generating and comparing design solutions · Related lesson: 4th grade, Waves: Light and Sound

5-PS2-1One 45-minute session

What does down mean around a round Earth?

How can people on different sides of Earth all have objects fall down?

Argument from evidence · Related lesson: 5th grade, Stars and the Solar System

MS-PS1-3Two 45-minute sessions

Trace a plastic back to natural resources

How does a natural resource become a useful synthetic material?

Obtaining, evaluating and communicating information · Related lesson: 7th grade, Chemical Reactions

MS-PS1-4Two 45-minute sessions

Model particles while a substance warms

Why can added energy change either temperature or state?

Developing and using models · Related lesson: 6th grade, Thermal Energy Transfer

MS-PS1-6Three 45-minute sessions

Improve a cooling reaction device

Can a safe open-container design meet a cooling target?

Constructing explanations and designing solutions · Related lesson: 7th grade, Chemical Reactions

MS-PS2-4Two 45-minute sessions

Make a case for gravitational attraction

How do mass and separation affect a gravitational interaction?

Argument from evidence · Related lesson: 8th grade, Motion and Forces

MS-PS2-5Two 45-minute sessions

Find evidence of a noncontact field

Can an object change motion without being touched?

Planning and carrying out investigations · Related lesson: 8th grade, Electromagnetic Spectrum

MS-PS3-5Two 45-minute sessions

Track energy when a moving object slows

Where can energy go when kinetic energy decreases?

Argument from evidence · Related lesson: 8th grade, Kinetic and Potential Energy

MS-LS1-4Three 45-minute sessions

Connect reproduction to behavior and structure

How can animal behavior and flower structures improve reproductive success?

Argument from evidence · Related lesson: 7th grade, Natural Selection and Adaptation

MS-LS1-8Two 45-minute sessions

Trace a sensory response and a memory

How can information from a sense lead to an action or memory?

Obtaining, evaluating and communicating information · Related lesson: 6th grade, Body Systems

MS-ESS1-3Two 45-minute sessions

Build a solar-system scale comparison

Can one drawing show both planet sizes and orbital distances accurately?

Analyzing and interpreting data · Related lesson: 8th grade, Earth's Place in the Universe

HS-PS1-3Three 45-minute sessions

Infer particle attractions from bulk properties

What can a controlled evaporation investigation suggest about particle attractions?

Planning and carrying out investigations · Related lesson: 9th grade, Chemical Bonding

HS-PS1-6Two 45-minute sessions

Refine a reversible-reaction process

How can a process increase product yield after equilibrium is reached?

Constructing explanations and designing solutions · Related lesson: 10th grade, Chemical Reactions and Stoichiometry

HS-PS2-3Three 45-minute sessions

Design a cushion that lowers collision force

How can a package reduce average force while stopping the same object?

Constructing explanations and designing solutions · Related lesson: 11th grade, Forces and Momentum

HS-PS2-4Two 45-minute sessions

Compare gravitational and electric force laws

What is shared by two inverse-square interactions?

Using mathematics and computational thinking · Related lesson: 11th grade, Electricity and Magnetism

HS-PS3-3Three 45-minute sessions

Build and refine a small energy converter

Can a hand-powered device lift a load within a material limit?

Constructing explanations and designing solutions · Related lesson: 11th grade, Energy Conservation

HS-PS4-2Two 45-minute sessions

Test a claim about digital information

When does a digital message resist noise, and when does it fail?

Asking questions and evaluating claims · Related lesson: 11th grade, Waves and Optics

HS-ESS1-3Two 45-minute sessions

Explain how stars make and disperse elements

Why do stars of different masses make different contributions to elements?

Obtaining, evaluating and communicating information · Related lesson: 11th grade, Astronomy: Stars and Galaxies

HS-ESS1-4Two 45-minute sessions

Predict a two-body orbit mathematically

How does orbital size relate to period in a simplified solar system?

Using mathematics and computational thinking · Related lesson: 11th grade, Astronomy: Stars and Galaxies

HS-ESS1-6Two 45-minute sessions

Reconstruct early Earth from surviving evidence

How can scientists study formation when most early Earth rocks are gone?

Constructing explanations · Related lesson: 11th grade, Plate Tectonics and Earth History

HS-ESS2-5Three 45-minute sessions

Investigate water’s mechanical and chemical roles

How can moving water and dissolved substances change Earth materials differently?

Planning and carrying out investigations · Related lesson: 11th grade, Plate Tectonics and Earth History

HS-ESS2-6Two 45-minute sessions

Balance a four-reservoir carbon model

How does a new transfer change carbon stored in each Earth system?

Developing and using models · Related lesson: 10th grade, Climate and Earth Systems

HS-ESS2-7Two 45-minute sessions

Explain a feedback between life and Earth

How can organisms change the environment that later shapes life?

Argument from evidence · Related lesson: 10th grade, Climate and Earth Systems

HS-ESS3-1Two 45-minute sessions

Explain how Earth conditions influence a settlement

How can resources, hazards and climate shape human choices without determining them?

Constructing explanations · Related lesson: 12th grade, Environmental Science and Policy

HS-ESS3-2Two 45-minute sessions

Compare mineral-resource management choices

Which resource plan best balances cost, supply and environmental effects?

Argument from evidence · Related lesson: 12th grade, Environmental Science and Policy

HS-ESS3-3Three 45-minute sessions

Explore resource use, people and habitat together

What happens when resource demand grows faster than renewal?

Using mathematics and computational thinking · Related lesson: 12th grade, Environmental Science and Policy

HS-ETS1-4Three 45-minute sessions

Simulate a constrained school water plan

Which water-system design meets demand, reserve and cost constraints under uncertain supply?

Using mathematics and computational thinking · Related lesson: 12th grade, Senior Research Project