Students study the migratory behavior of the monarch butterfly and to carefully develop a scientific method for answering one question concerning their behavior. They perform many meaningful tasks which help them explain the Monarch...

Students set up working models demonstrating lake turnover and the formation of deep water masses in the oceans.

Middle schoolers discuss what heat is and how it travels. They discover that one way to cool an object in the presence of a heat source is to increase the distance from it or change the angle at which it is faced.

Students, in cooperative groups, design and create a wildflower garden for the community. They write letters to property owners requesting use of their land and then write invitations to their parents and to local, state, and federal...

Young scholars use satellite data to see the correlation between sea temperature and sunlight in the Gulf of Maine.  In this phytoplankton lesson students use Excel to analyze data. 

Youngsters are assigned the task of interviewing a family member or a neighbor and asking them about any genetic disorders that are present in their family history. They pretend that they are about to have a baby that is carrying a...

Temperature rises and land disappears! Through a lab exploration, learners understand the effect of temperature increase on water similar to the effect of global warming on our oceans. As they heat the water in a flask, they measure the...

Students study DNA decoding and protein synthesis. They use the amino acid table to translate DNA, break DNA strands into three nucleotide codes, and translate nucleotides into amino acid protein codes. They research the importance of...

This project provides students the opportunity to investigate parasites as a possible cause of the observed frog deformities. It asks students to view web-based evidence and interpret whether it supports the parasite hypothesis. Students...

Why don't we just capture carbon dioxide in the air and store it somewhere else? A hands-on lesson allows scholars to explore a complex concept. First, they will create a carbonated beverage, and then they will determine...

More than 90 percent of the people in a building have come down with an illness, and it is your job to investigate. Teachers give scientists the data needed to decide what is important and how they can solve the mystery....

Things are about to heat up in your classroom! A kinesthetic lesson asks learners to play the part of the gases in the earth's atmosphere and interact with the sun's radiation. The focus is to learn the impact of the increasing...

Get your junior oceanographers to generate tidal prediction graphs on an interactive website. They will feel like experts in the field, or shall we say, experts in the ocean! This is a brief, but worthwhile activity that could be used to...

It's time to go to Mars. Using the provided cards and mat, groups design a mission to Mars. The cards contain information about the different components of the launch and warn about a few mishaps that might occur along the way.

The higher the number of letters in the final word for the National Spelling Bee, the higher the number of people killed by venomous spiders. Obviously, those two facts correlate, but no causation exists. Scholars view data based on...

Young surveyors look for patterns in water flow around campus. Using a map of the school (that you will need to create), they mark the direction of the path of water. They also perform calculations for the volume that becomes runoff. The...

If you feel like you're standing still, you're wrong! The Earth is constantly rotating and orbiting under our feet. Demonstrate the Earth's movement within the solar system with a collaborative activity. With a candle or lamp in the...

The Black Death epidemic is responsible for more than one million deaths in the United Kingdom. An inquiry-based activity has young scholars explore the rate of disease spread. They then analyze graphs showing data from epidemics such as...

Pack the lesson into your plans. Young mathematicians learn about packing and optimization with the context of circular paving stones. They use coins to model the paving stones, and then apply knowledge of circles and polygons to...

Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are collectively known as the terrestrial planets. Although part of the same group, each planet has its own set of characteristics. Scholars explore the characteristics that make the planets unique and...

Carve out some time to learn about space-time. Young scientists use a remote learning resource to read up on the relationship between space and time. They consider the idea of relativity, see how objects with a large mass can bend space...

Students discuss the reasons why humans fight and look for similiarties in animals. They make predictions on what they think will happen when they observe insect crowding. They make conclusions about their predictions to end the lesson.

Students construct a defined plot on school grounds and observed patterns in plant life. They count trees, shrubs, cacti and record on a data sheet. They compare data and generate a plant diversity overlook for their school.

Young scholars engage in a field study of birds and how they are in danger harm due to environmental factors. They list different possible causes in a prediction activity. The observations are done while writing up data and connecting it...