Curated OER
Water Pollution
Fifth graders study the impact of human activity on water quality and on the ecosystems of Earth. After a discussion on the various ways that water can be polluted, groups of youngsters get together to figure out the best way to clean a...
Curated OER
Get to The Root of It!
Students study a real plant to explore its parts. They discover the function of the plant parts which they diagram and label.
Curated OER
The Art of Flying: Insects
Students study insects. They examine how insect wings operate and make a model airplane that mimics the way insect wings operate as the insect is flying. They compare and contrast different kinds of insect wings and color a page of...
Curated OER
Do Medicines Grow on Trees and Plants?
Students study the importance of preserving rainforest. They investigate the uses of rainforest plants for medicinal uses by participating in rainforest immersion activities.
Curated OER
Plants Reproduce and Grow in Various Ways
Third graders take a walk around the outside of the school and examine their clothing to see if they picked up any seeds while on their walk. They discuss how seeds travel and how a new plant thus can form. They then observe root...
Curated OER
"You may now enter the Holodeck."
Students study and make a hologram. In this holography mini-unit, students study the science behind holography and in the culminating activity they create their own holograph. This mini-unit includes six lessons and a culminating activity.
Curated OER
Nutrition Plates
Students investigate healthy eating habits by studying the food pyramid. In this personal health lesson plan, students write a recipe for a healthy meal including one item from each section of the four food groups. Students utilize...
PBS
Blowin’ in the Wind
Wind energy is making a comeback recently, and classes will want to take part! A hands-on lesson asks groups to build their own windmill that will lift a cup with varying weight. They use their windmill designs to experiment with angles,...
Curated OER
Spicy Hot Colors
Second graders investigate the book Spicy Hot Colors. In this colors lesson plan, 2nd graders experiment mixing paint and creating different colors. Students make text to world connections and record their responses and draw pictures.
Curated OER
Signs of Autumn
Second graders study photosynthesis and explore how chlorophyll is important to leaves and why leaves change colors in the fall.
Curated OER
Trees: Recorders of Climate Change
Middle schoolers study cross sections of trees or tree "cookies" to discover how the rings on tree sections give clues to the climate during the time the ring was produced. They study simulated cross sections of trees to determine the...
Curated OER
Ecosystems: Biotic and Abiotic Factors
Seventh graders examine proper journaling techniques, and record observations about at tree after listening to a read aloud of "Four Worlds: The Dine Story of Creation." They study the difference between living and non-living things, and...
Curated OER
Chromosomes
Students study chromosomes and how molecular half life affects them. For this chromosome lesson students complete several lab activities on calculating half life, and cracking alkanes.
Curated OER
Insulators, Conductors, and Energy Transfer
Third graders conduct experiments to determine what types of material make good insulators. They prepare a graph of time vs. temperature for their sample. They choose a graph using each kind of material to display for class analysis and...
Curated OER
Natural Dyeing with Plants - Scientific Method
Pupils study the components of scientific investigation by planning and carrying out an experiment in natural dyeing, seeing if different kinds of metal dye pots affect the color one gets from the same plant material.
Curated OER
Water Prism
Students using a glass prism filled with water are able to see all of the visible colors found the sunlight.
Curated OER
Projecting Spectra
Students use two methods to show and study the colors in the visible spectrum.
Curated OER
Tomato Exploration
Create tomatoes in 15-20 minutes using this fun and interactive lesson plan! Learners listen to a book about tomatoes (recommendations listed), and focus on the vocabulary word tomato. They count the syllables and practice the plural....
Curated OER
Cleaning up an oil spill
Small groups complete a science project involving cleaning up an oil spill. In this experiment, pupils use 4 different sorbents to discover which one absorbs the most oil. Afterward, they make a data table.
Nuffield Foundation
Modelling the Human Ventilation System
Why is breathing so difficult for asthma sufferers? To find out, learners build their own lung models in the investigation (from a British website, hence the term ventilation system instead of respiratory system). Using different-sized...
Curated OER
Water Changes and Moves
Pupils explore the three forms of water and observe how it changes from a solid to a liquid to a gas. The concepts of condensation, evaporation and the introduction to the water cycle form the basis of this lesson plan.
Curated OER
Surface to Volume Ratios
Young scholars measure the rate of diffusion and to calculate the surface area to volume ratios of varying cell sizes. The lesson is very clearly organized with a useful student worksheet provided. They perform a lab experiment which is...
Curated OER
Flower Dissection
Students dissect three different flowers and compare and contrast them. In this flowers lesson plan, students learn about the flower anatomy and then dissect their own flowers.
Curated OER
Digging the Earth's Crust
Students investigate the Earth's crust. In this geology lesson, students identify the materials made up of the Earth's crust and investigate the different kinds of soil.