Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Impact Craters

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Young scholars investigate the factors affecting the size of a crater. In this space science instructional activity, students collect data from the activity and graph them. They explain how velocity of impact relate to crater size.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Making Sedimentary Rocks

For Teachers 5th - 9th
Students make models of sedimentary rock layers to explain how rocks form layers and represent ancient environments. Layers of sediment and fossils are added together to simulate the environment and connections to sedimentary rocks are...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tracing the Origins of Man

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students discuss Hominid evolution through various websites and other resources. They examine online fossil skulls, discuss the use of tools by ancient man, and look for examples of sophisticated tools built by man.
Lesson Plan
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Be a Whale

For Teachers K - 3rd
Students explore the body shape, behavior and history of gray whales by creating origami whale hats. Students role-play whale behavior as they listen to a story.
Lesson Plan
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Dating Sedimentary Strata

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Learners investigate how the age of sedimentary strata is determined. In this sedimentary strata instructional activity, students work through problems that show that geological history covers millions of years. They distinguish between...
Lesson Plan
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Electricity Generation

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students study the history of electricity and the different ways we generate electricity.  In this electricity lesson students complete several experiments on generating power.
Lesson Plan
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Operation Mexfly

For Teachers 8th - Higher Ed
Students research information about pesticides. Students discuss the history of the Mexican fruit fly. They experiment to discover malathion concentration levels in organisms. Students explore the effect of toxins at the top of the...
Lesson Plan
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Water: H2O = Life

For Teachers Pre-K - 6th
In this earth science worksheet, students explore and describe animals and their adaptations, including their habitats, physical characteristics, and competing organisms. They also explore and describe how others use water around the...
Lesson Plan
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Solar System: The Four Inner Planets and Earth's Moon and Astronauts

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders read THe Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System. In this language arts and science lesson, 2nd graders explore the four inner planets. Students view the inner planets using Google Earth.
Lesson Plan
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Sanctuary: Quail Island Banks Peninsula

For Teachers 4th - 10th
Students consider the connection between the past and future landscape of Quail Island. In this visual arts lesson, students observe existing artwork, art vocabulary, and connections to the role of social sciences when painting...
Lesson Plan
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An Elephant Never Forgets

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students are introduced to the Addo Elephant National Park in South Africa. For this natural science lesson plan, students identify the elephants by name according to the diagrams. Students study the unique characteristics of the...
Lesson Plan
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The Invasion of the Medfly

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Pupils examine the invasion of the fruit fly in California. In groups, they observe and record the fruit fly's lifecycle and how they affect humans in society. They also discuss the history and geography of the fly and the different...
Lesson Plan
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Dinosaurs

For Teachers K - 5th
Students will develop goals for inquiry. They will also improve content area reading and research skills. The context of studying dinosaurs will help learners to distinguish from organisms that live presently and those from the past...
Lesson Plan
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Species Interactions

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders explore seven terrestrial biomes. They compare relationships between children, parents and friends to interactions among species. After observing pictures of types of interaction, 8th graders describe the predator-prey...
Lesson Plan
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Put on a Happy Face!

For Teachers 1st - 5th
Students explore using recycled materials. For this ecology/art lesson, students use recycled materials to create a Halloween mask. Students view folk art made of natural and available resources, and discuss possible cultural uses for...
Lesson Plan
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The Shape of Things

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore dome shape construction. In this dome shape construction lesson, students explore the history, strength, and endurance of the dome shape design.
Lesson Plan
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Exploring Magnetism and Electricity

For Teachers 9th - 11th
Students explore Faraday's Law. In this electromagnetism lesson, students investigate Michael Faraday. Students discover the history of the electromagnet. Students examine the parts of an electromagnet.
Lesson Plan
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Channel Islands and the Surrounding Sea

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers examine the Channel Islands and identify its characteristics. They participate in activities to help them discover the islands history, geography and conservation efforts. They complete a worksheet to end the lesson plan.
Worksheet
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Math in Science-Radioactive Decay and Half-Life

For Students 9th - 11th
In this radioactive decay and half-life instructional activity, students use given half-lifes to calculate the amount of time it will take for certain amounts of elements to decay. They also find the age of samples and determine how many...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Little Horse Sense

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
How have horses evolved over time? How do horse skulls reveal this evolution? How have the roles horses play changed over time? What kind of social structure do horse herds have? How should wild horse populations be managed? To find the...
Lesson Plan
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A Dinosaur Scavenger Hunt

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Students explain what a fossil is, learn six dinosaurs and tell one characteristic about each, then describe verbally what a dinosaur might have looked like.
Lesson Plan
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A Tour Down the Hudson River

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students discuss how the Hudson River is an ecosystem made up of both biotic and abiotic factors. They view the PowerPoint the Journal Down the Hudson River. Students become aware of where the Hudson River begins and ends, the plant and...
Lesson Plan
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Air Pressure is Powerful

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students make a barometer and write a paragraph describing how they did it.
Lesson Plan
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Are You One of Us?

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students compare and contrast insects and arthropods, identifying characteristics of each. In groups, they sort pictures of arthropods into the five different classes of arthropods. They also sort pictures into insect and non-insect piles.