Ask a Biologist
It’s a Plankton Eat Plankton World
For as small as they are, plankton sure play an enormous role in maintaining marine ecosystems. Dive into an investigation of these tiny organisms with a hands-on life science activity in which children cut out pictures of sea animals...
Curated OER
Let it Grow!
Learners explain the relationship of plants and animals in the environment. They name the basic requirements for plant growth and define the terms photosynthesis, stomata, chlorophyll and xylem.
Curated OER
Carbon Creating Activity
In this carbon worksheet, students follow directions and use marshmallows and toothpicks to made carbon dioxide and glucose molecules. Students do this to see how carbon changes as a result of photosynthesis.
Curated OER
This Life Stinks
Students study how organisms that live in cold seep communities get energy from methane. In this organism lesson students write a brief report and identify oxidation reduction reactions and explain if these are dependent of...
Polar Trec
Can Carbon Dioxide Act Like a Greenhouse Gas?
Ninety-seven percent of scientists who study climate agree that human activity is warming the planet. Learners explore carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas, a gas causing this warming, through a hands-on experiment. Once complete, they...
Curated OER
Water Quality
In this water worksheet, students determine the factors that effect the solubility of gases, calculate the percent concentration of solutions, and give the balanced chemical equation for photosynthesis. This worksheet has 18 short answer...
Curated OER
Tic Tac Know: organelles
Tic-Tac-Toe is a game most students will be familiar with. This fun activity prompts students to answer questions about cells organelles in order to place a mark on the grid. There are some non-essential humorous sound effects and...
Curated OER
Historical Harbor Habitats
Tenth graders create food web displays in the classroom. In this ecology instructional activity, 10th graders identify the different pollutants in the environment and their effect on organisms. They collect samples of sediments from the...
Curated OER
The Unknown Secrets of the Rain Forest
Students explore the rain forest and where they are located. Students examine why the rain forests are important and what is happening to them. They investigate the water cycle and life cycle of a frog. Students build a rain forest in...
Curated OER
The Unknown Secrets of the Rain Forest
Students listen to the story "The Great Kapok" then discuss characteristics of the rain forest. They make several different types of rain forest animals from paper plates (ex. sloth, tigers, monkeys etc) and design costumes for a...
Curated OER
Our Space Station Earth
Students discover ways to preserve the Earth's resources. In this natural resources lesson, students investigate how many gallons of water the average American uses per day and then total their estimated usage. Students discuss the...
Curated OER
Build Your Own Cell
In this building your own cell worksheet, students identify cell vocabulary and facts, and create posters of a labeled plant cell and an animal cell. In this fill-n-the-blank and posters worksheet, students provide twenty-three answers.
Curated OER
Sinking Races
Young scholars build plankton models and compete to see which sinks most slowly. They write, or orally present ,the adaptations they incorporated to slow the sinking rate of their organisms. Race results can be grounds for some prizes!
Teach Engineering
Corn for Fuel?!
Can corn power the world? Young scientists learn about how corn and other plants can provide renewable biofuels in the second of nine lessons. They set up an experiment to investigate how different variables affect plant growth. All of...
Teach Engineering
Algae: Tiny Plants with Big Energy Potential
My, what big energy potential you have! Scholars learn about the energy potential of using algae as a biofuel. A PowerPoint presentation first describes the structure of algae and then how researchers use algae as biofuel to produce energy.
Curated OER
Amounts of Dissolved Oxygen in Various Bodies of Water
Students test water to determine the dissolved oxygen content while displaying the proper use of testing instruments while visiting water testing sites. They determine if the amount of dissolved oxygen is appropriate for the tested...
Curated OER
What is Air?
Young scholars investigate air by participating in a class experiment. In this matter measurement lesson plan, students identify air as a gas which consists of mass. Young scholars utilize a windsock or balloon to measure oxygen and...
Curated OER
Life in the Crystal Palace
Marine biologists research sea ice communities. Assign some groups to construct paper models of sea ice communities in winter, and some to construct models of them in summer. The instructional activity is simplistic, but the Internet...
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Lego Atoms and Molecules: Chemical Reactions
Show young chemists what a chemical reaction looks like with two parts of a hands-on experiment. First, learners conduct a wet lab where they observe the reactants (baking soda and calcium chloride, with phenolsulfonphthalein) before,...
Normal Community High School
Chemical Equations
Viewers learn how to identify the substances in a chemical reaction, how to balance it, and the different types of chemical reactions by watching a presentation that also includes a review of monomers and polymers. The presentation ends...
Curated OER
Ecology: Trees
Fourth graders research and identify the different layers of the forest. As a class, they observe real-life trees or analyze a poster, and discuss the characteristics of each forest layer. Students then draw a forest and label the...
Curated OER
Academic Raceway: Plants Grade 5
This plants PowerPoint provides plant part vocabulary words and the related definitions. The Academic Raceway interactive questions are not included.
Curated OER
This Life Stinks
Chemosynthetic communities of cold seep areas are considered in this lesson plan. Working in collaborative groups, marine biology or oceanography learners research and prepare a report about oxidation-reduction reactions involved with...
Curated OER
Entering The Twilight Zone
In this lesson sixth grade students get into groups and research a given ocean habitat. The major features of cold-seep communities are the objective but plenty information is given about other habitats which could be assigned to...