Curated OER
The Garbage Patch: Two Earth day Lessons
Students view a seven minute video called Gorilla in the Greenhouse. In this Earth day lesson, students review the history of Earth day. Students work in groups to describe the life cycle of a plastic bag. Students understand that...
Curated OER
Earth Day - Grow A Seed Garden
Young scholars discover how things grow and how they can take better care of the environment in this Earth Day lesson for the elementary classroom. The activity can be accomplished in one day and left in the sun until the "beans" begin...
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
Weather Watch Activity Guide: Groundhog Day
Exactly what do groundhogs know about weather? Not as much as your science students will after completing these lessons and activities that cover everything from the earth's rotation and the creation of shadows, to cloud...
Curated OER
Connect the Spheres: Earth Systems Interactions
Is everything really connected? Take your class on a walk outside, where they will make observations and write them down on a worksheet. Once they are back in the classroom, learners will work to determine if and how things like birds,...
Curated OER
Our Intriguing Star, the Sun!
Explore the sun in a lesson plan about space. The lesson spans ten weeks, with students performing activities to answer weekly questions about the Sun and Earth.
Space Awareness
History of the Universe
Your pupils may believe that you and their parents are the oldest things in the universe, but surprise! There are elements of the universe that are even older. Elementary scientists create a class timeline to demonstrate the...
Berkshire Museum
Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle: Sorting Through Personal Choices
Raise children's awareness about the importance of conservation with this hands-on science activity. Start by breaking the class into groups and having them collect trash from around the school or local park. Learners then use the...
Curated OER
Rocks and Minerals
Take young geologists on an exploration of the collection of rocks and minerals that we call Earth with an upper-elementary science lesson. Through a series of class discussion and hands-on investigations, students learn about the...
Curated OER
Harvesting Energy from Food: How do Plants Help Humans?
Beginning botanists view slides of plant vascular tissue. They watch Magic School Bus Gets Planted, which you can find online, and then write a summary of what they have learned about plants. This lesson plan could be used with upper...
Curated OER
Become an Expert
Students practice their researching techniques by preparing a presentation with little notice. In this information research lesson, students utilize the Internet to research one of several subtopics concerning panthers....
NASA
Cleaning Water
From their sweat to the water vapor in their breath, astronauts recycle every possible drop of water while in space. After watching a short video describing the different ways materials are recycled and reused in space...
Curated OER
The Moon
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.
Curated OER
Why Do We Have Night?
Students engage in a fun, creative way to discover how the Earth moves. This lesson helps students explain why there is day and night. It can also create curiosity to further study the solar system and eclipses!
Curated OER
Can Worms See?
Second graders discuss the previously created worm compost and the importance of living creatures to the Environment. In this worm lesson, 2nd graders observe worms and record their sensitivity to light. Students design a petri...
Curated OER
The Shadow Knows - Creating Shadows
Young learners recognize a shadow and witness how shadows occur when light is blocked. They access streamed video, standard video, and websites in order to engage in their study of how light is naturally blocked to create shadows. An...
Curated OER
The Sun Does What?
Students examine why the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. In this sun lesson plan, students explore the sunset and shadows. Students prove that the sun's position changes during the day. Students investigate what causes a...
Curated OER
Sunspots
Students examine what a sunspot is and how it is produced. In this sun instructional activity students locate and measure sunspots then view them through a camera.
Curated OER
Sunlight and Warm Air
Young scholars examine the different ways heat can be felt. In this radiation and conduction instructional activity, students recognize that the sun radiates heat. Young scholars conduct three experiments to find how the sun warms...
Curated OER
How Plants Help Us Breathe
Third graders discuss how humans breathe and how plants help us to stay alive. In groups, they identify and label the different parts of plants and describe their functions. They compare and contrast the ways plants and animals breathe...
Curated OER
Me And My Shadow
Students investigate the concept of a shadow. They design a tool to create shadows for an experiment. They make observations and record the size and shape of shadows. The instructional activity contains background information for the...
Curated OER
Techno Hero
First graders explore digital communication by creating a slide-show presentation. In this PowerPoint presentation lesson plan, 1st graders research a famous hero using search engines and other Internet tools. Students create a...
Curated OER
Water Pollution
Students explore the causes of water pollution. In this environmental lesson, students conduct experiments with natural filtration systems.
Curated OER
Am I Hot or Am I Cold?
Students practice using a thermometer to determine how the air around the earth gets heated and cooled by the sun. Students chart the daily inside and outside temperature for two weeks.
Curated OER
Exploring Marine Objects
Students identify the sources of water on Earth. In this life science lesson, students list the different plants and animals that live in the ocean. They explore marine objects in the lab and draw them.