Curated OER
On The Farm
Students study a dairy farm and also the crops that grow on farms. They research how we depend on farms to get the food we eat. They transform their findings and describe one the farms or make up their own. They turn the information...
Curated OER
Costa Rican Sea Turtles
Students read "One Tiny Turtle" by Nicola Davies. Using the internet, they research the characteristics of turtles off of the Costa Rica coast. In groups, they complete a worksheet and define vocabulary words they are unfamiliar with. ...
Curated OER
Marine Life, Oceans, Lakes and Rivers
Students examine the types of organisms found in oceans. In groups, they read articles about the research done at certain sites. They work together to research their own water ecosystems and report the findings to the class. To end...
Curated OER
Archaeology and Storytelling
Middle schoolers identify and interpret both individual families and whole cultures learn about their pasts by collecting and analyzing stories and artifacts. Then they identify that not all archaeological finds readily reveal their...
Curated OER
Sports Participation
Students research statistics about sports participation in references such as the Statistical Abstract of the United States. They make and analyze a list of the 10 sports that the highest number of Americans participated in on an amateur...
Curated OER
Surviving Extremes
Students examine the potential health dangers of mountain climbing in high altitudes and deep-sea diving. They write a health and safety column for a fictional magazine about extreme outdoor sports that explains the risks involved in...
Curated OER
Landfills and Contamination
Students discover the dangers of landfills to our environment by investigating leachate. In this environmental lesson, students create a model landfill experiment in which they observe the effect of rain on a landfill over the course of...
Curated OER
Energy Transfer in Musical Instruments
Students create unique sounds using different instruments. In this energy lesson, students read and define several vocabulary terms such as heat, energy transfer and thermal equilibrium. Students utilize several household objects to...
Curated OER
MRI Safety Challenge
Learners write journal entries where they analyze potential safety dangers of an MRI machine. In this MRI lesson plan, students pretend that they are safety engineers, and produce a pamphlet of all of their findings.
Curated OER
Space Telescope Debate
Students investigate the Hubble and Webb telescopes. In this space telescope lesson, students research Internet sites to find out what type of information these telescopes provide. They debate whether it is financially responsible to...
Curated OER
Quality of Rice
Sixth graders research how farmers irrigate, harvest, and keep high standards of rice. In this farming lesson plan, 6th graders discover how rice, wheat and soy beans are farmed. Students make a chart showing the similiarities and...
Curated OER
Economics: What Are Some Other Uses for Rice?
Sixth graders investigate ways rice is sold by creating a chart of the different rice foods. In this economics lesson plan, 6th graders examine their local food store and list at least 10 rice by-products in a class chart. Students...
Curated OER
T-Rex
Learners examine the differences between a scavenger and a predator. For this predator lesson students research an animal and study its physical traits.
Curated OER
Creatures of the Skies
Students create a bird identification game. In this classification lesson, students work in pairs to collect information about a specific bird. They use a bird field guide to aid in the research. They challenge other students in their...
Curated OER
Endangered Species
Young scholars define extinction, name four animals and two plant species that are extinct, list three reasons why animals and plants become extinct, and create ways that would help prevent extinction.
Curated OER
What Makes Bones Strong?
Students explore the function of bone, muscle, and skin. Pasta and rubber bands are used to model how minerals and collagen contribute to bone strength. The effects of the reduction of these substances are explored in chicken bones.
Curated OER
Mental Illness: Could It Happen to Me?
Students investigate the effects of depression and the brain's influence on metal illness. The factors that may affect a person's ability to develop depression are examined in this lesson.
Curated OER
What's Wrong?
Students analyze case studies to explore similarities and differences among illnesses. PET images are examined to explore how scientists investigate the changes in the way the brain functions during depression.
Curated OER
Decisions Today for a Healthy Tomorrow
Students explore a variety of factors that affect the health of the bone, muscle, and skin systems. Healthy lifestyle recommendations which include behaviors over which we have control are explored in this instructional activity.
Curated OER
You're the Expert Now
Students evaluate information about mental illness for accuracy and relevance as they examine brochures developed in the lesson by their classmates. Data about mental illness is revisited and adjusted for additional information obtained...
Curated OER
Chemicals, Chemicals, Everywhere
Students divide substances into categories: made of chemicals/not made of chemicals, synthetic/naturally occurring, and toxic/nontoxic. They observe a mystery chemical and determine what precautions they need to take when handling an...
Curated OER
Burning It Up
Students explore energy as it relates to body function. Data about the personal physical activity of students is gathered and entered into a database which is utilized to test hypotheses made.
Curated OER
Food Journal Exercise
Students are required not to change their usual eating pattern while recording everything they eat and drink for 1 day. They evaluate the nutrient composition of their diet, as well as their dietary intake and behavior within the...
Curated OER
Creative Writing
Students criticially read an unfinished creative writing piece, answer factual questions concerning the piece, and then finish the story or create their own story about their own neigborhood and possible environmental issues.