PBS
Climate Change as a Scientific Theory
Get your class thinking about climate change as a scientific theory. Guided by a handout, emerging earth scientists read articles and take notes about glaciers and sea ice. To conclude, they write an evaluation of the evidence for...
Bethel School District
Observations and Inference
What's the difference between qualitative and quantitative observations? Learners make observations, inferences, and predictions about their environment with a set of questions and activities that are applicable to either language arts...
Curated OER
A'planting We will Go
Germination is an amazing process that results in amazing things. The book The Tiny Seed is the inspiration for a set of activities that will help build early literacy, observation, language, and writing skills. The class observes how...
Berkshire Museum
Nature Journaling: Experience the Outdoors Through Writing and Drawing
Step into the great outdoors and develop young scientists' skills of observation with a nature journaling lesson. Given a specific focus or goal, children practice making and recording observations of nature through written descriptions...
University of North Carolina
Scientific Reports
IMRAD isn't text-speak for I'm cool. It's actually the format for scientific reports. As part of a larger series on specific writing assignments, an informative handout explains the nuts and bolts of writing a lab report. First, however,...
Berkshire Museum
Adopt a Schoolyard Tree
Help young scientists connect with nature and learn about trees with a fun life science lesson. Heading out into the school yard, children choose a tree to adopt, taking measurements, writing descriptions, and drawing sketches of it in...
Curated OER
Learning Scientific Coral Terminology
Learners explore properties of coral. For this scientific observation lesson, students investigate properties and characteristics of coral. Learners write statements describing the coral using observation words.
Curated OER
A Planting We Will Go
Even the youngest kids can make scientific comparisons using collected data. They read The Tiny Seed, then discuss the essential nutrients and elements needed for a seed to grow into a blooming plant. They plant seeds and track their...
Berkshire Museum
Backyard Rocks
You don't have to travel far to learn about rocks, just step outside, pick up a stone, and begin investigating. After taking a class walk around the school grounds collecting rocks, young scientists practice their skills of observation...
K12 Reader
The Scientific Method
Introduce the scientific method with a reading comprehension activity. Have kids read a few paragraphs that describe the process of making a hypothesis, gathering evidence, and taking notes that will support the experiment.
Ohio Department of Education
Observe Then Infer
To develop their skill at drawing inferences from observations, sixth graders rotate through six stations, conduct a series of experiments, make observations, and draw inference from what they observe.
Curated OER
Human Fingerprints: No Two the Same
Sixth graders explore scientific observations by analyzing a group of data. For this fingerprint identification lesson, 6th graders identify the reasoning behind fingerprinting and create their own ink fingerprints. Students discuss the...
Curated OER
Memories to Last: Observing Monuments
Students use scientific observation and inference to examine the Hazen Brigade Monument. In this observation lesson, students review the reasons for building monuments in society. Students then recall monuments they have seen and draw...
K12 Reader
The Scientific Method
The scientific method is the focus of a reading comprehension exercise that provides readers with a short description of the steps, and then asks them to respond to a series of questions based on the article.
Curated OER
Designing Experiments - Overview
Young scholars explore the concepts that enable them to design and conduct sound scientific experiments. They critique a faulty experiment and become familiar with some of the criteria of a good experiment. They conduct their own...
Curated OER
Investigating Brass Instruments and Pitch
Students observe the sounds of different brass instruments in order to understand how to create different pitches. In this musical lesson, students create a "brass" instrument from everyday household objects. The students discuss the...
Curated OER
Natural Inquirer Lesson: Scientific Abstracts
Students practice scientific observation by writing abstracts. In this science reporting lesson, students identify the 4 segments of a scientific abstract, what the problem is, how it was studied, what was found and the importance of...
Curated OER
Sound Observations
Students explore sound waves by conducting an experiment in class. In this sound frequency instructional activity, students utilize a tuning fork in class and identify which objects in class create different sound pitches on the fork....
Curated OER
"Snapshot" Exercises & Sensory Detail Word Bank
Read a sample of creative descriptive writing to your science class. Discuss how writing can be used to record and communicate observations that scientists make. Reading selections and thought-provoking questions are suggested. Also...
Curated OER
Measuring Permeability of Soil, Sand and Gravel
Students investigate the different materials in their environment. In this geology lesson, students collaborate in groups to examine the differences in sand, soil and gravel. Students utilize a magnifying glass or microscope and record...
Curated OER
Focusing on Lenses
Students explore scientific observations by examining the parts of a microscope. In this optics lesson, students discuss the importance of a focal point and focal distance when utilizing an optical device such as a microscope. Students...
Curated OER
Investigate Science Using Crayfish
Young scientists discover the importance of scientific investigation by observing live crayfish. They carefully observe the patterns of crayfish in different environments. Then they discuss their conclusions and define what all living...
EngageNY
Performance Task: Hosted Gallery Walk of Scientific Posters
The guests have arrived. Scholars participate in a hosted gallery walk, using their scientific posters to share their research about DDT with their classmates. Then, using sticky notes, individuals leave positive feedback on their peers'...
Curated OER
Milk and Monarch Butterfly Mania Journal Entry
In this milk and monarch butterfly mania journal entry instructional activity, students write a scientific journal entry about the milkweed plant, using the information from another linked website. This instructional activity includes...