What's life like aboard an ocean exploration vessel? Junior oceanographers examine the important role of communication in ocean research in lesson two of a five-part series from NOAA. The materials introduce the class to life on...

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is the inspiration for this project-based learning activity. Kindergartners create a lifecycle chart for a butterfly with four sections: egg, caterpillar, pupa, and butterfly. It is a three-dimensional...

A pool of brine in the deep sea can be up to four times as salty as the surrounding sea water. The deep sea ecosystem relies on chemosynthesis and the organisms that live there are often strange to us. The lesson focuses on researching...

How long do fresh foods last in space at the International Space Station? Which foods perish quicker than others? How can astronauts preserve their foods to make them last longer in space? Young scientists test the rates at which...

How is a movie theater like a desert biome? Compare systems to ecosystems with a set of activities that focuses on accessing multiple intelligences and building upon knowledge. As learners discuss the ways elements of an ecosystem depend...

Students explore the realm and limits of science. Engages students to give examples of topics that can be studied by science, and those that cannot. This also takes a examine descriptive terms, which reflect the true nature of modern...

Students explore the life cycles of insects and how they interact with each other in the prairie to create a healthy ecosystem and viable food chain. They list animals or insects in their own community that are similar to the prairie...

Space diving refers to the act of jumping from outer space and falling through Earth's atmosphere before parachuting to land. Scholars learn about this extreme activity and study the layers of the atmosphere they must conquer in the...

Planning a unit on simple machines? Save some time and energy with this collection of lessons and activities that explores how these devices are used in the real world to make life a little easier. 

It's alive! Or is it? Through a series of shared readings, whole class activities, and independent exercises children explore the difference between living and non-living things, creating a pair of printable books...

Students are introduced to the idea of soil as a habitat for many different organisms. They are introduced to the links between the biological adaptations of an organism and the physical demands of its habitat. Pupils are introduced to...

Can a coral cure cancer? Take seventh and eighth grade science sleuths to the underwater drugstore for an investigation into emerging pharmaceutical research. The fifth installment in a series of six has classmates research the wealth of...

Plants provide a variety of delicious foods essential for human survival. In the fourth lesson plan of this series on food science, young scientists investigate common fruits, vegetables, and grains in order to determine which plant part...

The greenhouse effect is important, for without it, life on Earth would not exist. An activity that includes modeling the greenhouse effect and acting out the Earth's energy balance makes up the first part in a series of seven...

Bacteria outnumber all other forms of life on Earth. Scholars observe the growth of bacteria in petri dishes to understand their role in maintaining good health. Then, they observe the growth of bacteria after they introduce...

Nanofibers can be made through electrospinning or force spinning in order to reduce the negative impact on the environment. Pupils study the role of fibers and dye on the environment through a series of five hands-on activities. Then,...

Household materials can be used for more than cleaning! In this collaborative experiment, emerging chemists use products such as vinegar and liquid antacid to explore chemical reactions that commonly occur in the human body.

Students examine the evidence that scientists have used to support the existence of global warming and the greenhouse effect. How the concepts have been developed and evaluated form the focus of this lesson.

What is the main difference between an engineer and a technician?  This is one of the driving questions in a plan that proves that analysis at every step of development is crucial to the engineering design process. The lesson...

Teenagers explain the process from making the decision to have a baby to parenthood. They identify the positive and negative aspects of parenting. In small groups, they browse catalogs of baby equipment and evaluate the cost of...

Energize a shared reading of the Magic School Bus and the Electric Field Trip with this collection of supplemental materials. Whether your looking for discussion questions, reading comprehension worksheets, or writing prompts,...

Pupils learn about both male and female anatomy before understanding how they work together to make a baby. Scholars discover new vocabulary, create a presentation on fertilization, and discuss related topics.

Global warming isn't just an issue on land; deep ocean waters are also showing troubling signs. Young scientists learn more about deep water corals and the many recent discoveries researchers have made. Then they examine data related to...

Larvae transportation on the New England seamounts is based on the density of the water. Scholars calculate density and graph salinity versus temperature to better understand the distribution of organisms in a water column....