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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cells and Chemical Changes

For Teachers 4th - 6th
The billions of cells that make up all living things are the focus of this resource. Understanding the differences between the cells that make up plants and animals is an important distinction; it is covered here quite-well. Some...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Invisible Life

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
By setting up an aquarium in the classroom, learners are able to describe some macroscopic and microscopic organisms that are found inside. This well-designed, and educationally rich lesson requires pupils to use microscopes to view...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cell Study

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students (females) are introduced to the cell. They discuss what a cell is, and students define what a cell is. Students comprehend that all living things are made up of cells. They comprehend that life is defined as something that...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cell Structure and Function

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students discuss scientific advances brought about by the Mars Surveyor Space Program which impact on daily life, identify laboratory apparatus like microscopes, slides and coverslips, and use the microscopes to view cells and organisms.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Wonderful World of Slugs

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Examine a slug? Of course, what else would a 2nd grader do with it? Pupils use clues and go on a slug hunt, read a slug story, or make a cooperative group mural of a slug's habitat. While older learners catalog slugs, go on a slug hunt,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

WHAT IS A CELL?

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students explore the function and structures of cells, including plant and animal cells. They explore cell parts including cell wall, ribosomes, chromosomes, nucleoid, plasmids, flagella, pilli, and plasma membrane, cel
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What is Life?

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students investigate the characteristics of living things. In this life science instructional activity, students examine several living and non-living specimens. Students determine which things are living and non-living.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pump It Up!

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students design a pumping device that will effectively pump fluid through a model "cardiovascular system." They explore the effects of too much and too little pressure on a circulatory system.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cells Are Us

For Teachers K - 3rd
Students explore cells. In this science lesson plan, students investigate how the cell is the basic unit of life, that cells divide slowly to become mass of cells, and that there is a gradual loss of cells throughout life.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cells in the Making

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students examine and research the parts of a cell, their functions, and life processes. They simulate how cells receive nutrients using coffee filters, water, and coffee, and construct cells using pudding, cookie dough, and candy.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cells, Building Blocks of Life

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders, in groups, explore cells, the basic unit of all living things.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cell Pizza

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students identify parts and functions of microscope. Students watch video, Cells and Life about cell parts with actual pictures and actual cells. Students discuss video and identify parts of the cells that animals and plants have in...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Field Trip - Marine Science Institute

For Teachers 2nd - 6th
Students discover the ocean life of the San Francisco Bay. In this ocean lesson, students take a Discovery Voyage of the Bay ecosystem through the Marine Science Institute. Also available are inland voyages, ocean labs, and tidepool...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ice Cream

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Students create ice cream in a bag and snow ice cream to study the effects of freezing on foods.  In this ice cream lesson, students understand the effects of freezing on cells.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pond 2: Life in a Drop of Pond Water

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students observe organisms found in pond water with a microscope. In groups, they discuss how single-celled organisms satisfy their needs for food, water and air. They compare and contrast the needs of macroscopic and microscopic...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

It's Alive! Or is it?

For Teachers 1st - 6th
Students differentiate the characteristics of living and nonliving things. In this life science lesson plan, students compare and contrast robots and living things. Given an object, they decide whether it's is living or not and defend...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pond Life

For Teachers K - 3rd
Students explore pond ecosystems. In this living environment lesson, students observe the local pond and identify the living things they find by drawing pictures. Students observe organisms that were found in the pond by using a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Plankton in the Air

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Here is a lab activity adequate for use with any full lesson on environmental factors that shape animal adaptations or marine animal characteristics. Pupils will discuss the role plankton plays in the environment and filter-feeding...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Photosynthesis

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students are introduced to the process of photosynthesis. In groups, they test the effects of the lack of sunlight on plant leaves and compare the results with their hypothesis. They note the characteristics that plants and animals share...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What is a Living Thing, and How Does a Living Thing Respond to Its Environment?

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students investigate how living things interact with their environment. In this living things lesson plan, students complete lessons for science investigations on what living things have in common. Students study cells, complete...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Onion Skins

For Teachers 2nd - 6th
Students explore the structure of a plant cell. They carefully peel a single layer of onion skin from a slice of onion and stain it with methylene blue to observe the structures inside. They use a Digiscope connected to a computer to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Filter-Feeding in Reef Sponges

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students make observations and describe the filter-feeding in sponges as it relates to the ecological role of sponges on coral reefs. For this filter-feeding in reef sponges lesson, students are introduced to the feeding methods of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Effects of the Sun on Our Planet (Grades 2-4)

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students observe how the sun's rays can cause evaporation and discuss its role in the weather cycle. They discover what the sun's energy brings to plants. They examine how different types of technology can enhance the amount of solar...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Way a Tree Works

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Learners explore nature by conducting botany experiments. In this plant life lesson, students define the necessary resources for a plant to thrive on our planet while defining scientific vocabulary terms. Learners utilize different plant...