Curated OER
You Light Up My Life: Developing a Scientific Theory for What Fuels a Candle's Flame!
Students examine how candles work and how scientific theories are developed and tested. Students propose hypotheses about what is burning in a candle then perform tests in order to develop their scientific theory. After a teacher...
Curated OER
Jade: Scientific Inquiry Through Chinese Art
Students discover the uses of Jade in Chinese art and society through in-class discussions, group projects, and internet research. Additional enrichment activities are included.
Curated OER
Activity 4: Alvin Dive, A Mysterious Encounter and Change Over Time
Students receive copies of the Time Series Observations to use for note-taking. They work in small groups to discuss what they see when the outside lights of Alvin are turned on, and off, where the bacteria may have come from. They view...
Curated OER
Insect Classification
Students compare and contrast the visible structures of three insects based on photographs. They differentiate characteristics of crane flies, ants, and wasps then create a simple classification system.
Curated OER
How Does it Affect Plants?
Middle schoolers examine the effects of acid rain on plants. They observe the growth of seeds and the health of different plants for a month. They share their findings with the community.
Curated OER
Photos from the Past-Grades 5-8
Pupils examine and interpret historic photographs of water use in New Mexico. They match captions to the pictures as to what they think the picture depicts. They research a topic represented by their photograph and write an extended...
Curated OER
People Interacting with the Environment
Students explore an arctic, temperate, and tropical environment and then decide what people need in each environment to help them live comfortably and what their lives would be like.
Curated OER
Best of the Solar System
Students visit a site which provides images to be analyzed. Notes are taken and planets are named based on observed features and observations. Using peer review, they try to determine the identity of the planets. They are free to browse...
Curated OER
In Your Own Backyard
Students observe organisms in their habitat and record their observations. They then draw conclusions about the organism's habitat needs and food sources.
Curated OER
Inner Space Cavern Cave Field Activity: Drip Rate Analysis
Students compare drip rates at several different locations throughout a cave. They observe, first hand, the heterogeneity in flow paths present in karst aquifers such as the Edwards aquifer.
Curated OER
A Tale of Two Cranes How Do Wild and Costume-raised Whoopers Compare?
Students explore what young cranes need to do to survive.
Curated OER
Waste Management
Learners set up a recycling program in their school. They first estimate the kinds and amount of trash generated and brainstorm ways to reuse the recyclables and create flyers explaining how their program will work at the school.
Curated OER
Bell Live! The Great Lakes: A Superior Adventure
Students participate in a virtual field trip to Lake Superior. In groups, they perform experiments in which test the level of toxins and bacteria in the water. They also watch video segments life in the lake and discuss their observations.
Curated OER
Evaporation of Alcohol and Water
Students investigate the process that occurs when liquids evaporaate. They test water and alcohol to determine which substance evaporates more quickly and relate the rate to energy changes.
Curated OER
What Are Mixtures And Solutions?
Young scholars explore mixtures and solutions. In this chemistry lesson plan, students will add different ingredients to jars in order to classify them as mixtures or solutions. There is also a nail balancing activity that can be...
Noyce Foundation
Ducklings
The class gets their mean and median all in a row with an assessment task that uses a population of ducklings to work with data displays and measures of central tendency. Pupils create a frequency chart and calculate the mean and median....
Channel Islands Film
Once Upon a Time (Saxipak’a): Lesson Plan 4
How did the environment and natural resources found on the Channel islands influence the culture of the Chumash? Archaeology meets technology in an activity designed for middle schoolers. After viewing West of The West's documentary Once...
Curated OER
Collecting My School Family Data
Pupils are tasked with collecting data on their school. In groups, they collect data on various aspects of school life along with social and economic backgrounds and charactertics of their hair and eye color. They draw two pictures,...
Curated OER
Data Analysis
Young statisticians use and interpret measures of center and spread such as mean, median, and mode as well as range. They use box plots to represent their data and answer questions regarding the correspondence between data sets and the...
Biz Kids
Understanding Business Ethics
After screening an episode by BizKids, scholars show what they know about business vocabulary, then take part in grand conversations about role models and ethical dilemmas.
Curated OER
Class of Gold
How can you see a number in nature? Here, learners discover both Fibonacci numbers and the golden ratio by exploring a number of different resources. Note: Some of the resources are older and may be missing some of the links, but...
Curated OER
Colorado Animals Newsletter and Directed Web Page
Students select a Colorado animal, develop a Directed Web page, and research their animal. Each member of the group combine their research and develop a Newsletter.
Curated OER
A Package of Pringle
Here is a problem-solving lesson that has learners take the role of a packaging expert to design an inexpensive means of packaging a potato chip. It could benefit from having more specific detail about the lesson itself, but it does make...
Curated OER
Bearly Any Ice
Students participate in a prey-predator game. After reading background information, they discover the impact from the changes global warming presents to the polar bears and ringed seals. They role play the role of either the seal or...