Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Soil Investigations

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students examine the basics about soil.  In this soil lesson students describe the physical properties of soil and explain what soil profile is. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Carbon Cycle Capers

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students examine the carbon dioxide cycle in the atmosphere. In this element lesson, students discuss the relationship between carbon dioxide on Earth and the plants that store it. Students play a game to ensure their understanding. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Investigating Properties of Water: Temperature

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Investigate how temperature affects the density of water and stratification that occurs in bodies of water when temperatures vary. Water of differing temperatures is given different colors to see the layers that form. The lesson is meant...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Edible Coal Mining

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners explore the concept of bituminous coal and the role it plays within our world.  In this economic and earth science lesson, students discover and model the extraction methods with hands-on activities.  Learners also...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Water Cycle and Watershed

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students summarize the steps in the water cycle. For this earth science lesson, students create a skit, song or poem showing the various components of the cycle. They identify the different watersheds in their area.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Moon

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students design and build an ideal lunar settlement. In this astronomy lesson, students identify the key features of the moon. They compare its environmental condition with the Earth's.
Lesson Plan
Space Awareness

The Fibre Optic Cable Class

For Teachers 5th - 9th Standards
Many people know that fiber optics are used in delivering the Internet, but are surprised to learn they are also used in astronomy. Scholars explore light, reflection, and fiber optics through hands-on activities. They discuss...
Lesson Plan
Messenger Education

Exploring Exploring

For Students 5th - 8th Standards
The reason people first began trading was because of their desires for objects other societies possessed. In the activity, classes discuss why exploration has been a common thread in all societies and where these desires have taken...
Lesson Plan
LABScI

Kinematics: The Gravity Lab

For Teachers 4th - 12th Standards
Falling objects can be brutal if you don't protect your noodle! Scholars explore the motion of falling objects through measuring short intervals to determine if the distance traveled varies with time. Building off of this, scholars...
Activity
University of Florida

Protecting Our Water Resources

For Teachers K - 9th
Teach young environmentalists to protect their planet's resources with a set of interactive experiments. Kindergartners and other youngsters learn about watersheds and the water cycle, while older elementary learners focus on fertilizer...
Lesson Plan
Space Awareness

Star in a Box

For Teachers 5th - Higher Ed Standards
What happens to stars as they get older? A simulation takes pupils through the life cycle of stars based on their masses. The resource introduces the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram and the common relationships and life cycle patterns observed.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Not So Lost in Space

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students investigate how engineers navigate satellites in orbit around the Earth and on their way to other planets in the solar system. They study vocabulary words and participate in studying a satellite by learning about times and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fishing

For Teachers K - Higher Ed
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Weather Forecasting

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners study how to forecast the weather. For this weather forecasting lesson students read different meters and understand basic cloud formations in their relationship to weather.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Weather and Wind

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Students study wind and its effect on weather.  In this investigative activity students write a report on wind and weather and create a movement sequence. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Circle the Earth - Explore Surface Types on a Journey around Earth

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Students use CERES percent coverage surface data with a world map in locating landmasses and bodies of water at Earth's Equator.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Solar Cycle

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explore the solar cycle through a series of experiments. In this space science lesson, students construct and evaluate solar cycle graphs. They explain how this phenomenon affects the Earth.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Meteorites

For Teachers 1st - 11th
Students model how meteors fall to the surface of planets. In this space science lesson, students identify different types of meteorites using an interactive online website. They investigate the relationship between a meteorite's size...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Get into the Flow with an Interactive Volcano

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students research the structural elements of a volcano. They make a PowerPoint slide that contains five facts which will be added to a whole class slideshow. They add an interactive table of contents using action buttons.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Volcanic Activity in the U.S.

For Teachers 2nd - 6th
Young scholars locate and map ten volcanoes in United States, create chart comparing volcanoes by last eruption, type of volcano, location, and interesting fact, and create Powerpoint slide show describing basic information about...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Plate Tectonic Cycle

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students explore the Earth's movements by completing worksheets. For this plate tectonics lesson, students define such natural disasters as volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis and mudslides and discuss their connections to plate tectonics....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Reasons for Seasons

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Young scholars model the tilt of the Earth as it orbits the Sun. They explain the meaning and characteristics of solstices and equinoxes. They explain that sunlight hits the Earth at different angles at different locations over the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Water

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Students conduct a series of investigations on the unique properties of water. In this general science activity, students explain what causes water's surface tension. They explain the different stages in the water cycle.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

'Round and 'Round it Goes!

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students discuss and interpret background knowledge on poster copy given on the water cycle. Students complete the included activity sheets using the poster as a reference in small groups. Students identify and name where water can be...