Curated OER
KWL Chart and Background Article
Students discuss an ecosystem. In this coral reef lesson, students fill in their own KWL chart and contribute ideas to a whole class KWL chart. They read an article as a class to spark ideas for facts they can add to the "K" part of the...
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What's a Kid to Do?
Students participate in an environmental action letter-writing campaign. They conduct Internet research on the Global Response website, discuss various successful Global Response campaigns, select a campaign they are interested in, and...
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There's a World of Science to Read Today!
Learners read a current science article. They write a summary of the article, take notes, write and edit a summary, and print their work.
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Science Summaries are the Bomb!
Fifth graders read a dissection article and complete close reading activities for the text. For this reading skills lesson, 5th graders read an interactive frog dissection article in teams. Student teams complete a KWL chart and write a...
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Lesson Plan # 2: Forest Poems
Students read and write poetry. In this poetry writing lesson, students read and discuss several poems with a "forest" theme, and then write their own forest haiku. Possible publication in the Natural Inquirer is described.
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Lake Log: Diary of the Basin
Students log news articles about the changes in the Lake Pontchartrain Basin. In this wetlands and news lesson, students track articles about the wetlands area around Lake Pontchartrain, write brief summaries, include pictures, and put...
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Packaging Your Product!
Fifth graders discuss the functions, benefits and drawbacks of packaging. In this product package activity students design alternative packaging and write an essay to deal with the issues of packaging.
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The First Humans: Prehistory-3500 B.C. "Lucy"
Learners explore prehistoric times by completing web activities in class. In this human ancestry lesson plan, students identify the archaeological discovery of the "Lucy" skeleton and what it meant for science. Learners investigate the...
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Coral Reef Ecology
Students explore coral life cycles. In this coral ecosystems lesson, students view videos explaining the life cycle of coral, including examples of sexual and asexual reproduction. Students read a related article cooperatively in groups,...
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TE Activity: Tears in Rain
Young scholars examine photographs before writing captions for them. They develop visual literacy as they see how photographs are manipulated to show the effects of acid rain. They rewrite the photo captions after a class discussion.
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The Dust Bowl
Students discover the causes of droughts. In this Dust Bowl lesson, students follow the provided steps to complete a hands-on activity that demonstrates drought conditions. Students write summaries about the Dust Bowl.
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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...
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Background Reading and Coral Dramas
Students create a dramatic play. In this coral lesson, students explore the anatomy of coral. Working in groups, students research the form and function of coral and present a skit to represent their learning.
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Building Bridges
Students use glue, toothpicks, cardboard, marshmallows and more to build a structure. For this building lesson plan, students budget money to get their materials and make their building in teams.
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Mars Mission Logbooks
Young scholars design and create a logbook into which a variety of data is kept to document and assess their involvement in the Live From Mars module. Academic progress is tracked as materials are added to he portfolio.
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How Can You Detect the Invisible?
Learners participate in a lab activity in which they examine the characteristics of radon. They identify radon's link to cases of lung cancer. They complete a radon fact sheet and answer questions to end the instructional activity.