Sometimes, taking things apart is more fun than putting things together. Groups of learners participate in a reverse engineering activity. They dissect a device of their choosing to see how it works—great hands-on learning from the...

The incredibly shrinking meter—decimeters to centimeters, to millimeters, and now to nanometers! Learners may have a difficult time visualizing particles on a nanoscale. Help them see a little clearer using a well-designed lesson...

Chart your way to an understanding of nanoscale. Using a Google map, learners estimate a radius around their location of 1,000 and 1,000,000 meters. Predicting what 1,000,000,000 meters would look like takes them off the charts!...

Imagine a race to complete a puzzle where each person has the same 50 pieces, knows they are missing other pieces, and must figure out how everything fits together. The winner gets fame, listed in books for years to come, and a financial...

Young meteorologists explore different aspects of the weather while learning about measurement devices. They build instruments and then set up a weather station outside and measure temperature, humidity, air pressure, wind speed, and...

Show the six-minute video, "Changing Planet: Fading Corals," and then demonstrate how calcium carbonate forms a precipitate in the presence of carbon dioxide. Separate your scientists into small groups to gather information about coral...

Students will conduct a lab on the oxidation of an apple. The students will learn that the oxidation process can be halted when lemon juice is applied to the flesh of an apple because the lemon juice contains vitamin C, an antioxidant....

Students investigate how rocks are formed, how they are used, and how to collect them by listening to a read aloud of Roma Gans, Let's Go Collecting Rocks.. They discover background knowledge of rocks.

This lesson plan challenges students to make their own judgments about the safety of artificial sweeteners after hands-on study and Internet research, and to support those judgments with carefully considered evidence and reasoning.

Students develop a rock word web during a large group discussion. Using the categories generated during that discussion, they sort their rock samples accordingly.

Young scholars investigate the question: What is the impact of urban development and expansion on the health of a decidious forest ecosystem and humans? They examine the issue of land development by responding to a specific scenario and...

Students explore the nature of the air we breathe by observing petri dishes that have accumulated particulate matter from the atmosphere. Students make mathematical calculations and inferences about the effect of this matter on...

Students explore ozone levels. They measure the concentrations of ground-level ozone in the atmosphere. Students observe changes in the concentrations of ozone over time. Students complete a data sheet to record ozone readings over a...

Students explore the respiratory system. They use a computer to monitor the respiratory rate of an individual. They determine residual oxygen levels in exhaled air. Students evaluate how internal 02 and C02 concentrations influence...

High schoolers conduct Internet research on an autoimmune disease, and present the information in a PowerPoint presentation.

Students demonstrate force and motion by rolling a ball through a tube. For this motion lesson students explore what happens to the ball when it is rolled with other balls of various sizes, weights, and textures.

Learners explore the structure of a plant cell. They carefully peel a single layer of onion skin from a slice of onion and stain it with methylene blue to observe the structures inside. They use a Digiscope connected to a computer to...

Students watch the weather. In this science observation lesson, students collect data regarding the local weather and create their own weather forecasting video.

Geology beginners examine three different rock samples and determine their origin by their characteristics. By making and recording observations, they become familiar with features of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rock types....

Upper graders practice their estimation skills by observing different objects then making their best guess without using measuring instruments. Students are asked to estimate mass, length, volume, and area.

Students read an online CNNfyi.com article related to the energy crisis in California. They calculate the monthly cost of running household appliances. They develop a list of alternative methods of energy sources.

Students discuss the three states of matter and how they are affected by temperature. They make ice cream in a bag while observing how temperature change affects the mixture. They discuss why some specimens froze more quickly than others...

Students observe and count bird sightings around their schoolyard throughout the school year.

Students make a barometer and write a paragraph describing how they did it.