Curated OER
Campfire
Students have fun and investigate about the nature and history through songs, skits, and other activities. They sing songs, and act out skits. Students decide what songs or skits that they are going to sing. They sit around a campfire...
Curated OER
Salmon and Steelhead Life Stories Web Search
Students conduct an Internet investigation to discover the natural history of local salmon and/or steelhead. They then write a story that describes the life of a salmon or steelhead from the local creek, including a description of each...
Fluence Learning
Writing About Literature: What Is Happiness?
Jack London's heart for adventure has come to define the spirit of America and its frontier. Selected passages from the foreword The Cruise of the Snark take eighth graders through London's construction and voyage of his ship before...
Indian Land Tenure Foundation
A Sense of Belonging
In order to understand how the land changes over time because of the people who live there, learners interview an elderly person about the past. Children ask an older family member to describe what the local area was like when they were...
Lee & Low Books
Classroom Guide for Sacred Mountain: Everest
The most famous climbers of Mount Everest could never have made it to the summit without the assistance of the local Sherpa. Christine Taylor-Butler's nonfiction children's book Sacred Mountain: Everest is the focus of an extensive...
American Museum of Natural History
Journey to the Stars
Fifteen detailed pictures and informative captions delve deep into the exploration of stars—their life cycle and importance in the universe.
Curated OER
How Do New Species Form?
Students read an article by Niles Eldridge about species and the environment and break into small groups to discuss it. They write essays noting strengths and weaknesses of punctuated equilibrium and gradualism, or other topics listed.
Curated OER
Fahrenheit vs Celsius
Students construct a thermometer and convert Fahrenheit temperature into Celsius temperature. In small groups, they construct a thermometer, write a paragraph describing how to make a thermometer, and convert temperatures.
Curated OER
Modeling the Process of Mining Silicon Through a Single Displacement/Redox Reaction
High schoolers study silicon and where it comes from. In this solar mining lesson students complete an Internet search of mining and a lab activity.
Curated OER
Knocked Out by Trout
Learners work in pairs and read an article about the pacific tree frogs being knocked out by the nonnative trout. In this invasive species instructional activity, students create a graphic organizer to record their findings. Once the...
Curated OER
Plants and Animals of Great Bay Animals and Plants of the Estuary
Students participate in a webquest about the plants and animals that inhabit an estuary. They role play as environmentalists researching this habitat and present the results of their research in a creative way.
Curated OER
Are You One of Us?
Students investigate how scientists sort and classify organisms. For this sorting and classifying lesson, students examine what systematics are as tools that scientists use. They examine images of invertebrates and sort them while...
Curated OER
The Flame and the Atom:
Students investigate the structure of atoms. Students read information about the Rutherford model, the Bohr model, and the Quantum Mechanical model examining each for its scientific validity. They watch a PowerPoint presentation of alpha...
Curated OER
Rocks in our Backyard
Students examine igneous and sedimentary rocks. They observe and identify geological formations in their community, analyze igneous and sedimentary geological layers using a geological map, and use GPS to locate geological formations.
Curated OER
Raptor Force
Students observe a video about pilots, their desired traits, and explore the similarities between a bird and an airplane. Using paper, wood or foam, they design create an aircraft to be flown in a competition to see which plane will fly...
Curated OER
Wildlife Study Comparison
Pupils compare/contrast two studies that examine the effects of environmental contaminants on animals. They read an article, identify the components of a research study, summarize the article, and complete a matrix.
Curated OER
Using the Very, Very Simple Climate Model in the Classroom
Students study the relationship between the average global temperature and carbon dioxide emissions. In this weather lesson students develop a test scenario using a model then read and interpret graphs of data.
Curated OER
One Square Meter
Students explore the concept of a quadrat study. Students select and investigate a site and conduct a quadrat survey. They take measurements, observe the area and analyze their findings.
Curated OER
Can You Beat Jet Lag?
Students examine the health condition of jet lag. Using mealworms, they test the effect of light on the development of them into adults. They answer discussion questions and examine the relationship of age and one's activity level.
Curated OER
Bigger Better Bubbles
Students research different types of bubble gum and identify the variables in them. In this bubble gum instructional activity students design an investigation to test their hypothesis and graph their data.
Curated OER
Fingerprints
Students analyze their fingerprints. In this fingerprint lesson, students make prints and observe the patterns for arches, loops, and whorls. They write a brief autobiography about themselves titled "I'm Thumbody."
Curated OER
Edible Wild Plants
Students explore the benefits of recognizing edible wild plants. In this wild plant lesson, students collect, make ready and eat edible plants. Students answer questions about the plants.
Curated OER
Is There A Fungus Among Us?
Sixth graders classify fungus into two different groups. In this fungus lesson, 6th graders collect as many pieces of fungus as possible. Students then classify these pieces of fungus as saprophytic or parasitic.
Curated OER
Rockets: Kinematics or Energy?
Students construct model rockets, measure and record the height of the launch. In this creative lesson students use different methods to calculate velocity and height data from their launched rockets.