Purdue University HS/MS Learning Experiences
These are a collection of virtual labs and resources created in collaboration with Purdue University K-12 Outreach.
Virtual Lab: Introduction to Radioactivity
In this lesson, students will investigate the nature of radioactivity and the effect of both distance and shielding materials on different radioactive sources using a Geiger-Muller tube with a counter.
Resources: Science Demonstrations
This page is a collection of science demonstrations to use in your instruction as you see fit. We hold no responsibility for injuries due to someone attempting to do one of the demonstrations themselves. Please use all typical lab safety and special precautions for individual demos if you attempt to perform a demo. We have many demonstrations that we are working to add to this page. Check back or let us know which demos you would like to see if it is not there yet.
Virtual Lab: Understanding, Making, and Using Buffers
This is a four-part lab series all about buffers. Each lab in this series has been designed to stand alone as its own learning activity. However, all four labs can be used together for a complete unit on buffers. *NOTE* We are currently working on finishing Part IV: Measuring Buffer Capacity and hope to release it by January 2025.
Virtual Lab: Wavelengths of Visible Light
This lesson is based on our old Demystification of a Spectrometer lab. We have included a virtual option that students can complete if you do not have access to a visible spectrometer.
Virtual Lab: What is Half-Life?
In this lesson, students will simulate the randomness of decay in radioactive atoms and visualize the half-life of a sample of radioactive material.
Virtual Lab: Classifying Matter
This virtual lab details how to sort different examples of matter into the categories of pure substances and mixtures. Additionally, students will experience sorting matter into the categories of elements, compounds, solutions, colloids, and suspensions.
Virtual Lab: Groundwater Contamination
This lab page links to two labs virtual labs for the Groundwater model. Lab 1 is the Qualitative Lab designed for environmental science classes. Lab 2 is a Quantitative Lab designed for APES classes.
Virtual Lab: Introduction to Air Pollution
This lesson will provide students with an overview of the primary influencers that determine air quality. By completing the following activities, students will 1) develop an understanding of how to find and use data to determine the air quality of a location, and 2) analyze factors that influence a location’s air quality.
Virtual Lab: Changes in States of Matter
In this lab, students will use a foldable to complete notes on the three primary states of matter. Students will watch a video showing ice melting from a solid to a liquid, and water boiling from a liquid to a gas. Students will graph a heating curve for water. Students will answer questions about the experiment they observed and the ideal heating curve for water.
Virtual Lab: Photosynthesis: The Cycling of Matter Into and Out of Organisms
This virtual lab investigates indicators of chemical reactions found in the processes of both respiration and photosynthesis using Elodea, snails, and a pH indicator.
Virtual Lab: An Investigation in Earth Systems
This unit is an investigation of the Earth Systems that includes waves, seasons, Albedo, convection currents, and the greenhouse effect.
Virtual Lab: Remote Sensing
Remote sensing is a way of gathering information about objects or places without physically touching them. The activities in this lesson help simulate the use of special tools and technologies to collect data from a distance.
Virtual Lab: From Microbes to Medicines
In this virtual laboratory, you will get to explore the bacteria that live in your own backyard. You will gather soil, isolate the bacteria that live in your soil, and determine whether your bacteria can kill your lab partner’s bacteria! If you are lucky, you might even discover bacteria that make novel antibiotics!
Virtual Lab: Determination of Available Fe in Fresh Water Sample
In this virtual laboratory, students will determine the total concentration of free iron in freshwater and/or municipal drinking water via visible absorption spectrophotometry.
Virtual Lab: Separation and Spectroscopic Characterization of Caffeine from Coffee Samples
In this laboratory, students will see how to isolate caffeine from a cup of coffee and use spectroscopy to measure the amount of caffeine present.
Virtual Lab: Ecology All Around Us
Biodiversity isn't just something that exists far away - like all living things, you exist within a particular environment that shapes you even as you shape it. In this lab, we'll look at the biological diversity of plants and animals in our own backyards, see how that compares to different kinds of habitats, and look into the historical ecology of our hometowns: the long-term impacts that human societies have on their local surroundings. This lab will involve collecting lists of different species and creating maps of our own histories.
Virtual Lab: How Much Caffeine is in Your Beverage?
This lab will utilize High-Pressure Liquid Chromatography to determine the amount of caffeine in a soft drink.
Virtual Lab: The Phosphate Assay
Looking for our old lab page?
We have a lot of resources still there!
Hands-on lab experiences for middle and high school classes
Looking for an on-campus lab experience for Middle School and High School non-AP classes? Purdue University College of Science K-12 Outreach is excited to offer programs that allow teachers to bring classes to the Purdue University, West Lafayette campus for labs led by K-12 Outreach Coordinators.