Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sucking Students into an Understanding of Air Pressure and Vacuums

For Teachers 5th - 10th
Students develop and test their ideas about air pressure and vacuums by conducting several investigations into the movement of fluids in tubes.
Lesson Plan
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The Life Cycle of a Star

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Learners investigate the life cycle of a star through research. Once research is complete, students prepare posters and present findings to class. Flash animation is included to help learners visualize life cycle of star researching.
Lesson Plan
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What Is Electricity?

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Learners investigate vocabulary words associated with electricity.  In this electrical lesson plan, students utilize the Internet to research what electricity is and how it works.  Learners create an actual circuit in class...
Lesson Plan
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Pushes and Pulls

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students recognize different types of movement and causes that my affect the movement. They know that pushes and pulls are types of forces.
Lesson Plan
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Interdependence and Adaptation

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students construct a food web to identify producer, consumer, herbivore, carnivore and predator. They complete an online activity collecting plants and animals and arranging them in the web. They describe the interdependence between...
Lesson Plan
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Interdependence and adaptation

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students use keys to identify animals and plants in local habitats. Students are asked if they remember what the word habitat means. Students make a list of three different local habitats and brainstorm animals and plants they might...
Lesson Plan
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Changing circuits

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Young scholars identify that there are conventional symbols to represent the components in circuits. Students use these symbols to draw diagrams of circuits. They are reminded that electric circuits can be drawn in diagrams using...
Lesson Plan
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Forces in Action

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students investigate different forces and draw arrows to signify specific directions of force. Students are then shown a brick and they are asked to draw a diagram which will include labels for the forces that are acting on the brick....
Lesson Plan
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Reversible and irreversible changes

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students define the words "reversible" and "irreversible." They complete a worksheet that shows a number of changes. Students must decide which are reversible and which are irreversible.
Lesson Plan
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How Does a Satellite Stay in Orbit?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore placing a satellite into orbit, then about forces needed to keep an object in orbit. They examine how satellites orbit in elliptical paths and about properties of ellipses. They learn Kepler's 3rd Law of Planetary Motion
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Scavenger Hunt

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students summarize the "Tri-County Project" section of the nebraskastudies.org web site using a scavenger hunt.
Lesson Plan
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Let the North Star Tell You Where You Are

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students create an astrolabe and locate the North Star in the night sky. They determine the latitude of the North Star, and calculate an average latitude based on class results.
Lesson Plan
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Let the North Star Tell You Where You Are

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Young scholars participate in activities in which they find the Big Dipper and locate the North Star in the night sky, examine the relationship between the angle to Polaris and latitude, and determine latitude by using an astrolabe.
Lesson Plan
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Clay Planets

For Teachers 4th - 10th
Pupils create scale models of the planets out of clay and compare them to the real planets.
Lesson Plan
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Comets

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Young scholars explore the nature and composition of a comet. They research comet facts, legends, and myths. They identify different types of comets and describe what happens to a comet as it travels closer to the Sun.
Lesson Plan
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Extensions - Astronomy Review Unit

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students participate in a review unit in Astronomy using the Layered Curriculum. This allows them to take charge of the type of assessment that is given. The method also allows better differentiation of instruction to occur.
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Space Travel Brochure

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Students discover information about the planets and the solar system. They work together to research a specific planet. They develop a brochure for the planet and share with the class.
Lesson Plan
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Human Needs

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers investigate human needs and how they have adapted to different environments. They complete an experiment to discover the effect of stress on muscles. They use the food pyramid to create a plan for healthy eating.
Lesson Plan
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Inner Planets

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students research characteristics of the planets and record their findings on Planet Web worksheet. They create fold paper to create a foldable booklet to display the information they discover about the planets.
Lesson Plan
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Watershed Management

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students investigate the concept of a watershed. They conduct research into the concept using a variety of resources. Students take a field trip to a local watershed to make observations. The outcome is a report concerning the outside...
Lesson Plan
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How Much Do You Really Weigh?

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders check to see how their weights differ if they weighed themselves on different planets. They record their findings on a data sheet.
Lesson Plan
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Micro-organisms

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students examine how micro-organisms are living organisms that are often too small to be seen. They explain that micro-organisms may be beneficial or harmful.
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Forces in Action

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students ask questions that can be investigated scientifically. They determine how to plan a fair test by changing one factor while keeping other factors the same, to use measurements to draw conclusions and use scientific knowledge to...
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"Tri-County" Project--Ground Water

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students explore data on some of the landforms in Nebraska to distinguish between porous and nonpremeable soils. The state's groundwater is investigated.