Curated OER
Unwind: Vocabulary Strategy, Creating an Unwind Glossary
Prior to reading Unwind, Neal Shusterman's 2007 young adult science fiction novel, class members research the common definition of words drawn from the novel that will come to have a very different meaning to them as they are drawn into...
Agriculture in the Classroom
"Steer" Toward STEM: Careers in Animal Agriculture
Think like an engineer and an agricultural scientist over the course of 12 lessons in a STEM based unit. Young scientists take on the roles of animal physiologists, animal geneticists, agricultural engineers, animal nutritionists, and...
BBC
Walking with Dinosaurs
Breath new life into your class's study of dinosaurs with this extensive collection of materials. Offering everything from a printable T-rex mask, word searches, and connect-the-dots activities to informational handouts, hands-on...
Curated OER
Science: Matter and Energy
Designed to use when teaching adults preparing for their high school equivalency exam, the resource integrates reading practice, writing, and analytical thinking in every lesson. The unit covers 23 topics, but it only includes three...
Berkshire Museum
Where’s the Water?: Acting Out Science Cycles
Young scientists transform themselves into rivers, oceans, clouds, and drops of water in order to explore the water cycle. After assigning and explaining to students their different roles in the activity, the teacher reads aloud a...
Scholastic
Lesson One: The Earth, Background and Glossary
How much do you really know about our planet? Middle schoolers build up their prior knowledge about Earth, its placement in the solar system, its composition, and important geological vocabulary with an introductory earth science lesson.
North Carolina State University
Exploring Genetics Across the Middle School Science and Math Curricula
Where is a geneticist's favorite place to swim? A gene pool. Young geneticists complete hands-on activities, experiments, and real-world problem solving throughout the unit. With extra focus on dominant and recessive genes, Punnett...
National Wildlife Federation
Green Green Revolution
School budgets don't have a lot of extra money, so when students propose saving the district money, everyone jumps on board. The first instructional activity in the series of 21 introduces the concept of an energy audit. Scholars form an...
Science 4 Inquiry
Trick or Science: Catching the Light
Your class might be surprised to learn that mirrors have been around since the first century AD! Young scientists explore reflection and refraction of light through a series of challenges. They use this knowledge to design their own...
Broward County Public Schools
Force and Motion
Get the ball rolling with this upper-elementary science unit on forces and motion. Offering over three weeks of physical science lessons, this resource is a great way to engage the class in learning about simple machines, friction, the...
Curated OER
Volcanoes: Fifth Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Fifth graders explore volcanoes and the rocks they produce using the Internet. The lab portion of the lesson prompts young scientists to compare and describe igneous rocks. Next, they critique a pair or more of books on volcanoes in...
Curated OER
Volcanoes: Third Grade Lessons Plans and Activities
Discover how rocks are formed from volcanoes during a geology pre-lab activity. Third graders describe the volcanic rock samples and creating a model of Mt. Lassen, located in California. The lesson culminates in a discussion about how...
Lerner Publishing
Meet the Dinosaurs
Take your class of youngsters on a prehistoric adventure with this four-lesson series on dinosaurs. Accompanying the Meet the Dinosaurs books by Don Lessem, these lessons engage children in writing their own dinosaur books, making...
Texas Center for Learning Disabilities
Fourth-Grade Text-Based Intervention
Provide young readers with the extra support they need using this series of 10 literacy lessons. Following a repeated sequence of learning activities, these lessons engage children in expanding their vocabulary and developing their...
Texas Center for Learning Disabilities
First-Grade Intervention
Learning how to read is a big challenge for young learners, but this series of lessons provides them with the extra support they need to succeed. With each lesson following the a clearly outlined format, children are introduced to new...
Texas Center for Learning Disabilities
Second-Grade Comprehension-Based Intervention
Help your youngsters find meaning in the text they read with this series of five intervention lessons. Offering explicit, step-by-step instructions for walking children through shared readings of leveled books, these...
PBS
NOVA Evolution Lab Lesson Plan
It doesn't matter if you look on land, in the air, underground, or in water—evolution is everywhere. Scholars complete worksheets with multiple question types as they progress through six online missions creating phylogenic trees.
US National Library of Medicine
Science and Society: Preventing the Spread of Disease
Looking for a valuable resource on the spread of infectious diseases? Here is a lesson in which pupils simulate the spread of diseases and learn about how to prevent them from spreading. Class members read case studies about diseases,...
NOAA
Lost City Chemistry Detectives
In 1977, scientists discovered hot springs in the middle of deep, cold ocean waters near the Galapagos Islands. Scholars research the chemical reactions that explain what scientists found at the Lost City. A discussion connects many...
Centers for Ocean Sciences
Ocean and Great Lakes Literacy: Principle 1
Is your current lesson plan for salt and freshwater literacy leaving you high and dry? If so, dive into part one of a seven-part series that explores the physical features of Earth's salt and freshwater sources. Junior hydrologists...
Curated OER
Plate Tectonics: Third Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Third graders examine plate movements and boundaries with a lab that demonstrates how volcanoes and earthquakes are formed. It presents different types of stresses an object can withstand through a hands-on experiment with clay to...
University of Colorado
Punnett Squares with Piebald Deer
Explore the science behind Earth's amazing diversity of life with this instructional activity on genetics. Looking at specific traits in piebald deer, carnations, and roan cattle, young scientists use Punnett squares to determine the...
National Park Service
Glaciers and Water
Explore the amazing power of glaciers with a hands-on earth science experiment! After first learning basic background information, learners go on to create their very own chunks of frozen water and gravel in order to observe first-hand...
NOAA
Understanding Food Chains and Food Webs
Jump into an exploration of marine ecosystems with the first lesson in this four-part series. After first learning about crustaceans, mollusks, and other forms of sea life, young marine biologists view a PowerPoint presentation that...