PHET
Planet Designer: What’s Trending Hot?
Excite scholars to design their own planet in this first of five lessons. The lesson starts with a pre-activity assessment, a complete lesson plan that is easy to implement, and a post-activity assessment that would look great displayed...
PHET
Planet Designer: Kelvin Climb
It's time to get those creative juices flowing! This second instructional activity in a series of five continues allowing pupils to design their own planets. It the same format as the first, but, this time, allows high schoolers to alter...
Project WET Foundation
The Blue Planet
What a neat interactive that interacts with the amount of water on Earth's surface. It begins with a brief audio introduction of the Blue Planet and how it got its name. Then, users click on the activity to play a game that calculates...
Curated OER
Changing Planet: Infectious Diseases Classroom Activity
Here is a different approach: emerging epidemiologists first go home to interview family on the topic of infectious disease. Then they come to class and view a video and PowerPoint that explore how climate change may increase the...
Curated OER
Changing Planet: The Warming of Our Large Lakes - Reasons for Concern
Another A+ instructional activity on the impact of climate change comes to you from the National Earth Science Teachers Association. In this installment, learners model the stratification of water in lakes due to temperature differences....
Redefining Progress
Have and Have-Not
Is there a correlation between a country's wealth and the extent of its ecological footprint? What exactly constitutes an ecological footprint, and how does one country stack up against the rest? This is a unique lesson to incorporate...
Curated OER
Planets for Sale
Student develop their technology skills. In this solar system lesson plan, 3rd graders create a movie featuring planets that they research. Students use flip video cameras to film commercials to market their planets.
ESL Kid Stuff
Our World
There's a beautiful world all around us! Learn about the features of our planet with a series of activities designed for English learners. Kids sing, dance, and read about nature with fun lessons and interactive play.
Michigan Sea Grant
Water Quantity
It may be tricky for a young mind to conceptualize that less than 1% of all water on earth is useable for humans to drink. Simulating the amount of fresh water available on earth by removing measured amounts of water from a five-gallon...
K12 Reader
Taking Care of Earth
Provide a brief introduction to ecology and conservation with a reading passage. Learners can read the text, answer the five related questions that are included on the page, and discuss the reading.
Curated OER
The Discovery Of The Solar System
Students study the heliocentric theory of Copernicus, the ideas behind it and the explanations which it displaced. A discussion of retrograde motion of planets helps students explain the logic underlying the ideas of both Ptolemy and...
Curated OER
The Milky Way and Beyond
Students consider the scale of the Milky Way Galaxy. In this Milky Way lesson, students hypothesize the length of time necessary to cross the Milky Way.
Curated OER
The Water Cycle - Family Page
Students discuss the steps of the water cycle. They create their own model of the water cycle. They complete the Family Page at the end of the lesson.
Curated OER
Halloween Math Lesson Plans
Halloween math activities provide a perfect way to make this subject relevant and fun.
Curated OER
NASA Plans Moon Base
Learners react to statements about the moon, then read a news article about NASA's plans to build a permanent base on the moon. In this space science and current events lesson, the teacher introduces the article with a discussion and a...
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
Let's Save Water: Water Conservation
Did you know that cutting down your shower by one minute a day can save five gallons of water? Learn about water conservation with a science reading activity. After kids finish reading key terms and water-saving tips in a reading...
American Museum of Natural History
Going, Going...Gone?
Young environmentalists consider how scientists are attempting to save endangered species. They read about what causes extinction and steps to take to minimize the threats.
Curated OER
"101 Amazing Earth Facts" Game
Students read for comprehension, work cooperatively to learn "101 Amazing Earth Facts," and compete as teams in a Jeopardy-like game.
Curated OER
CO2 and You
Young scholars study the scientific evidence about carbon dioxide emissions. They learn to calculate the amount of energy used by different appliances. They complete a worksheet which analyzes the amount of energy that their home uses.
Curated OER
Sand Travels
Students examine how sand is formed by erosion and that it can be moved by streams, rivers, and ocean currents in this unit of lessons. They study waves and currents, and structures that change how sand moves by creating story charts,...
Green Learning
Build Your Own Solar Oven
This is not exactly a lesson plan, but rather a six-page document detailing how to build a solar oven. A bit of background information, materials list, diagrams and photos, and clearly-written procedures are all included. There are no...
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
Explore Saturn and Titan with Spectral Data
Titan is Saturn's largest moon and has its own atmosphere. An attention-grabbing tutorial allows learners to analyze the spectrum of Saturn and Titan to determine their elemental compositions. Scholars compare a known element's spectrum...
Curated OER
I Have a Metaphor
Learners locate the literary devices used in Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. In this figurative language lesson plan, students first distinguish between similes, metaphors, analogies, personification, etc. Learners...
Curated OER
How Fire Affects Wildllife
In this ecology lesson, students select an animal to study and read about how this animal adapts to ecological disaster. They complete 5 short answer questions after reading.