Three activities make up a solar system lesson that features the sun, its light, and the shadows it produces. Scholars step outside to discover the changes shadows make at different times of day, take part in a demonstration of...

Two hands-on activities celebrate the sun and moon autumnal equinox. First, scholars create a cairn using a shoebox, flashlight, and drawing tools to view the sun's progression. Second, learners take to the kitchen to bake mooncakes...

What's cooking? A sizzling STEM unit challenges scholars to build a solar cooker that can successfully cook an egg. The unit opens with a study of Earth's rotation, the sun's energy, and shadows. Pupils use a compass and thermometer to...

Who needs a compass to find cardinal directions? Just place a stick in the ground and record the movement of its shadow over the course of a day. Then, measure the shadow lengths in order to determine a north-south line. A simple...

Light is such an amazing thing! Elementary schoolers explore the wonderful world of light and shadow. The lesson is meant to be carried out on a whiteboard. Objects are placed in front of a light source, and learners must predict what...

Students learn about preventing sunburns. In this sun safety activity, students explore the effects of the sun and find different types of protection from the sun. When finished students create a beach scene using real sand.

Give your pupils a front row seat at the biggest light show in the sky this year! In addition to admiring the total solar eclipse, young astronomers can explain the phenomenon with a little help from an inquiry-based instructional...

Young scholars examine the use of a sundial to tell apparent time. In this sundial instructional activity, students watch a teacher demonstration using a flashlight to create shadows. They discuss what happens to shadows of different...

Students build sundials and observe changes in shadows over the course of one or more days. They identify patterns in the shadows and discuss how shadows may be used to tell time.

A simple activity for a simple, but special, holiday. Young learners read a brief history of Groundhog Day, practice reading aloud, and then discuss how shadows are formed.

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...

How did the 2017 eclipse look in Los Angeles—or Chicago? Experience both views, plus many more, using a lesson from PBS's Space series for middle schoolers. Scholars follow the movements of the sun, moon, and Earth during the most recent...

Students investigate a model of the tilt of the Earth in its relationship to the Sun during the different seasons of the year. They study the solstices and equinoxes, while determining how sunlight hits the Earth with different angles in...

Young scholars trace the beginning of the heliocentric theory of the solar system--the idea that the solar system revolves around the Sun--to an observation by the Greek astronomer Aristarchus, which convinced him that the Sun was much...

Students explore the use of sundials. They observe the shadows cast by the sun and record the times at various points throughout the day. They create sundials and record the location of the shadows and the time of day. They view a...

It's no fun catching a fungus. Scholars first investigate how the seasons affect the angle of the sun and the lengths of shadows. They then apply right triangle trigonometry to determine the height of trees based on their shadows to...

Students examine how Christopher Columbus determined his latitude.

Fourth graders complete activities to study the sources of energy and forms. In this energy lesson, 4th graders discuss the origin of energy and define it. Students participate in several experiments to further study energy including a...

Dramatize the stars and planets as they become a visual representation of the solar system in this activity. Young astronomers track and simulate various constellations as they orbit the Earth to learn the position and motion of...

Home in on the quote on this page to explore setting, the author's and character's voices, and plot in Willa Cather's My Antonia. Pupils draw a picture of what is described in the quote, discuss the content, and make connections to their...

Why does it look like there is a man on the moon? Why does the moon look different every night? These are the focus questions of a lesson that prompts class members to observe and record the nightly changes of Earth's natural...

This Groundhog's Day, challenge scholars to predict, estimate, tally, and graph in a weather-themed activity in which class members play the role of the groundhog to forecast the weather come February second. 

Students explain how moon phases occur. They describe and explain at least two common misconceptions that people have about the moon. Students explain what a star is. They explain 3 ways that the night sky has been used throughout history.

Students explore plants and recognize that they are living things that require light and water to grow; students identify, name and match the parts of plants.