Curated OER
Games on Echolocation
Get a little batty with life science! This fun simulation game replicates how bats use echolocation to hunt moths in their native Hawaiian habitat. After creating blind folds and discussing some basic principles of echolocation, students...
Curated OER
Cycles and Starting Mealworms
Here is a fascinating lesson about the life cycles of plants and animals, and other cycles found in nature. Learners explore the cycle of the moon, the tides, and other sequences of events in every day life. The big activity is the...
Curated OER
Ecuadorian Rainforest
Have your class talk about the importance of the rainforest and the products that come from it. Learners watch a video showing the path of chocolate from the rainforest to the supermarket. They discuss how the rainforest and chocolate...
Space Awareness
The Intertropical Convergence Zone
Young scientists know it is hotter along the equator, but why is it also rainier? Through the process of completing two experiments and a worksheet, scholars discover the answer is the intertropical convergence zone. First, they...
Science Matters
Basic Needs
Scholars take part in a grand conversation about the basic needs of living things. Working collaboratively, pupils brainstorm and identify similarities to come to the conclusion that the environment meets the needs of all living things.
Curated OER
Marine & Aquatic Habitats Activities - Aquatic Animals
Learners explore importance of marine or aquatic habitats, and investigate habitat characteristics and conditions required by various organisms to ensure survival. They then select an animal to study and design an artificial habitat...
Curated OER
Animal Life Cycle
Students conduct hands-on experiments. In this life cycle activity, students are able to observe a variety of animals as they travel through their life cycle (brine shrimp, mealworms, frog eggs and chicken eggs). Students respond to...
Curated OER
The Life Cycle of the Mealworm
Fourth graders provide a habitat for live mealworms and observe their life cycle. In this animal life cycle and scientific inquiry lesson, 4th graders create a habitat for a live mealworm and observe and record related data as it grows....
Consortium for Ocean Science Exploration and Engagement (COSEE)
Fish Morphology
Life comes in all different shapes and sizes, and fish are no exception. Here, young scientists create fish prints as they learn how specific characteristics allow different species to survive in their particular habitats.
Space Awareness
Let's Map the Earth
Before maps went mobile, people actually had to learn how to read maps. Pupils look at map elements in order to understand how to read them and locate specific locations. Finally, young cartographers discover how to make aerial maps.
Curated OER
Sound for Sight
Young scholars study echolocation and understand how dolphins use it to locate prey, escape predators, and navigate their environment. They view a video, "In the Wild-Dolphins with Robin Williams" and see first hand how dolphins...
Curated OER
Who Am I? the Web of Life ... With a Twist!
Students are assigned a secret species identity. They identify with the help of the other players. Once all identities have been deciphered, players form a circle and, by passing a ball of yarn from "species to species", they form...
Sea World
Seaworld Science Activity
A fun collection of activities about marine life would be a great addition to your elementary science unit. From cute penguins to scary sharks, the unit features crafts, experiments, and basic research projects that will teach your...
Science Matters
Energy Flow
Budding scientists work collaboratively to reenact energy flow in a food chain. Scholars take on roles such as producer and consumer and perform tasks that symbolize energy flow in order to provide evidence of how much energy passes...
Curated OER
Insects A-Z!
Alphabet insects! Who has ever heard of such a thing? Get ready because your class is going to research insects that start with a specific letter of the alphabet. In small groups, they'll use the Internet and reference texts to locate...
Curated OER
Wetlands Are Wonderful
Students study the characteristics of wetlands. They are introduced to terms and different examples of wetlands. The hands-on activity reinforces the different parts of the wetlands, and provides a working model of a wetland.
Science Matters
Lotusland
It's time for a field trip! Scholars take their new-found knowledge of adaptations and seed dispersal on a field trip to a local botanical garden. They gain an up-close look at how ecological interdependence works in a distinct...
Curated OER
Introducing Biodiversity
Students identify the basic components necessary for biodiversity, the critical and countless benefits of habitats, as well as the serious present and future threats to their ongoing existence.
Curated OER
Taste Buds
Students investigate taste buds. In this taste buds lesson plan, students identify the four basic taste buds and their locations on our tongue. Students participate in an experiment to investigate how our taste buds work.
Curated OER
What Plants Need in Order to Survive and Grow: Light
Students conduct an experiment to evaluate whether plants need light to survive and grow. They observe and gather data about plant responses to different growth regimes, analyze the data, and make conclusions about basic plant needs.
Curated OER
Happy in My Habitat
Fourth graders create animal habitats and explain the biomes they live in. In this habitat lesson, 4th graders recognize the basic needs of animals, characteristics of animals differences and places where they live. Students complete...
Curated OER
Fishing
Students explore the techniques and basic needs of the fisherman. In this fishing lesson, students view a demonstration of the use of fishing equipment. Students research Iowa farm ponds and design a class mural from their information. ...
Curated OER
Polymerization Experiments
Students study the concepts of polymerization and the function of crosslinkage. In this polymer lesson students complete a lab activity and write down their observations.
Curated OER
Equadorian Rainforest: The Tropical Supermarket
Young scholars study the concept of sustainable agricultural practices through cocoa farming and the lives of the people who are the producers. Students watch a slide show and read a story which helps them understand the origins of...