Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Does Your Garden Grow?

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Students create a design for a school garden. In this garden design lesson, students analyze what plants grow best in their school's climate and work in teams to design a garden. Students measure the existing space, determine the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Do Airplanes Stay off the Ground?

For Teachers 5th - 9th
Students use balloons and string to duplicate Bernoulli's Principle of wing shape and its affect on liftoff.
Handout
US Geological Survey

Usgs: Earth's Water Surface Water

For Students 3rd - 8th
This site has everything you might want to know about surface water and things you probably didn't even imagine! Click Home to access the site in Spanish.
Handout
US Geological Survey

Usgs: Water Science for Schools Water Science Storytime!

For Students 3rd - 8th
This U.S. Geological Survey website features a fictious town, Dryville, and uses it to illustrate every aspect of water management that you might encounter. Click Home to access the site in Spanish.
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Build a Motorboat Powered by Surface Tension

For Students 3rd - 8th
If you look carefully, you could find dozens of similar interesting phenomena that are all linked to the surface tension of water. Here is a project that will help you understand and measure the properties of water surface tension.
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Measuring Surface Tension of Water With a Penny

For Students 6th - 8th
Have you ever wondered what makes water 'bead' up on a freshly waxed car? In this project you'll investigate the chemistry of surface tension by measuring how many drops of water a penny can hold.
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: The Swimming Secrets of Duck Feet

For Students 3rd - 8th
By comparing the feet of different water birds you can discover how they propel the birds through the water. This Science Buddies project show you how to modify swim fins to simulate ducks' feet, greebes' feet, and the feet of...
Handout
US Geological Survey

Usgs: How Much Water Is There on (And In) the Earth?

For Students 3rd - 8th
The USGS gives an overview of the amount of water on Earth and where it is located. It gives a few interesting facts about the Earth's supply of water. Click Home to access the site in Spanish.
Handout
US Geological Survey

Earth's Water: Rivers and Streams

For Students 3rd - 8th
The USGS explains the definition of a river and how a river is supplied with water. Included is a cross section of a river. Click Home to access the site in Spanish.
eBook
Other

Earth Science: Earth's Surface and Heat [Pdf]

For Students 6th - 8th
This textbook chapter looks at the role of temperature in sustaining life on Earth and on weather and climate. It discusses the Earth's movements and the seasons, the circulation of the oceans, wind and weather, and the water cycle....
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Buoyancy of Floating Cylinders

For Students 6th - 8th
This project presents an interesting puzzle. A disk of wood will float face-up, that is, with its circular cross-section parallel to the surface of the water. A long log of wood, however, floats with the circular cross-section...
Handout
Center for Educational Technologies

Earth Science Explorer: The Water Cycle

For Students 4th - 9th
This is a very brief overview of the water cycle, but it does have a nice graphical representation.
Activity
Science Bob Pflugfelder

Science Bob: Build a Soap Powered Model Boat

For Students 5th - 8th
Science Bob presents instructions for a science demonstration of how to build a soap-powered model boat using common supplies with information on how it works.
Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Earth Science: Water Pollution

For Students 6th - 8th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Describes the sources of water pollution.
Activity
Middle School Science

Middle School Science: "Sinkin' Lincoln" Lab (Lesson Plan)

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
In this lesson plan site, students will "Define surface tension, determine what factors affect surface tension, and collect data on how many drops of water a penny can hold."
Unit Plan
Scholastic

Scholastic: Study Jams! Science: Weather and Climate: Tides

For Students 2nd - 8th
Is it time for high tide? Make studying the tides fun with this video. Understand the impact of gravity on the water surfaces of the earth. Take the test to see how well the information is understood.
Activity
Science Bob Pflugfelder

Science Bob: Make a Paperclip Float!

For Students 3rd - 7th
Presents a procedure for getting a paper clip to float in water. Following the procedure, the site gives a brief explanation and discussion of surface tension.
Activity
Science Bob Pflugfelder

Science Bob: Make a Paper Clip Float [Pdf]

For Students 3rd - 8th
Science activity demonstrates how surface tension is used to suspend a paperclip on the surface of water.
Activity
TOPS Learning Systems

Tops Learning Systems: Top Science: Slow Drips [Pdf]

For Students 6th - 8th
Investigate density by floating an ice cube on the surface of cooking oil and observe what happens as it melts.
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Investigating Stream Char and Discharge: Interdisciplinary Approach

For Teachers 6th - 8th
In this Interdisciplinary Field Investigation students will combine science, math, geography, creative writing and art. The setting will be a local stream (site yet to be determined, Minnehaha or Vermillion) where 150 students will...
Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

For Teachers 7th - 9th
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) is an interesting and somewhat publicized environmental problem. A swirling soup of trash up to 10 meters deep and just below the water surface is composed mainly of non-degradable plastics. These...