Bringing Every Student Into the Lab with New Virtual Investigations® for OpenSciEd High School
There's nothing quite like lab day. Students lean in, ask questions, and start making sense of the world through their own observations. But anyone who has taught high school science knows that lab days don't always go as planned. A student is out sick. A class period gets cut short. A rig that worked perfectly last year refuses to cooperate.
That's why we're excited to introduce nine new Activate Learning Virtual Investigations® for OpenSciEd High School. Now available in Biology B.2, Chemistry C.2, and Physics P.2, these interactive investigations let every student experience key labs, whether they're in the room for the hands-on version or not.
Designed to Support the Hands-On Work
Virtual Investigations® are designed to work alongside the hands-on labs your students already love. Use them as a high-fidelity support for in-class work, or lean on them when students are absent, need a make-up, or when a class period is just too short to fit everything in. These aren't videos or generic simulations. Virtual Investigations® are high-fidelity, interactive digital replications of the actual OpenSciEd High School investigations - the same phenomena, procedure, and data collection your students experience in the hands-on lab.
Each investigation lives inside the OpenSciEd unit on the Activate Learning Digital Platform. Students can investigate and record their reasoning on the same page, which keeps the work tied to the storyline your class is building.
Our Newest Investigations
Biology B.2: Fuel and Photosynthesis Investigations
In Lesson 2 of OpenSciEd Biology B.2, students investigate what fuels are made of and what happens when they burn. Two of the three new Biology Virtual Investigations® line up with Days 1 and 2.
On Day 1, students look at peat, leaves, grass, and a stick under a magnifying glass and then a microscope. Zooming in makes it easier to spot differences in structure that students might otherwise miss.
B.2 Lesson 2 Day 1 - Observation of Fuels
On Day 2, students weigh, measure, and burn peat and dried leaves under a glass cover, then compare them with an uncovered sample. There's no open flame in the room. Students still get precise mass and temperature readings, and they can skip ahead through the long burns instead of watching the clock.
B.2 Lesson 2 Day 2 - Burning Fuel Samples
The third Biology investigation comes later in the unit. In Lesson 5, Day 2, the Earth's Tilt Photosynthesis Investigation gives students an interactive way to explore how Earth's tilt connects to photosynthesis, right alongside the rest of the lesson.
B.2 Lesson 5 Day 2 - Earth’s Tilt Photosynthesis Investigation
Chemistry C.2: Water Dropper Investigations
If you've ever built a Kelvin water dropper with your class, you know the excitement when that first spark jumps, and the frustration when it doesn't. Five new Virtual Investigations® for OpenSciEd Chemistry C.2, Lesson 3, Day 1 give every student a dependable look at the phenomenon.
In the first investigation, students assemble the Kelvin water dropper rig step by step, then watch charge build until a spark jumps between the pennies. Since the charge builds the same way every time, students can pay attention to what's happening and why.
From there, four separate Virtual Investigations® turn the rig into detector stations. Students observe how a neon bulb, a sandwich bag, a balloon, and tinsel each react as charge builds, all in one place. They can also compare what happens at the induction ring and the collector bucket, giving them more evidence to bring back to class discussions.
Physics P.2: Friction Investigations
What really affects friction? Students get to test it themselves in a new Virtual Investigation® for OpenSciEd Physics P.2, Lesson 11, Day 2. At each of the three stations, a tumble buggy and spring scale tow a foam block.
At the first station, students weigh a book, then tow the block with one book and then two to see how mass changes friction. At the second, they compare white and black foam under the same book load to find out which grips more. At the third, they tow a large-face block and a small-face block to test whether contact area matters.
P.2 Lesson 11 Day 2 - Friction Investigation
Ready When Your Students Are
All nine new Virtual Investigations® are live now on the Activate Learning Digital Platform. Here's where to find them:
- Biology B.2, Lesson 2, Days 1 and 2, and Lesson 5, Day 2
- Chemistry C.2, Lesson 3, Day 1
- Physics P.2, Lesson 11, Day 2
Use them to back up a hands-on lab, help a student who missed class catch up, or fit an investigation into a short period. However you use them, we'd love to hear how they go in your classroom. Log in and try them with your class anytime.
Want to see them in action? Connect with an expert to request a demo or talk through what implementation looks like for your school or district.
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