Journey Through the Universe
How Far is Far?
The earth only revolves around one thing — and it's not any of your pupils. The instructional activity includes two activities dealing with the distance to the sun and the moon. First, scholars create a pin hole camera and use the rules...
Curated OER
Carbon Monoxide and Population Density
Tenth graders investigate the carbon monoxide level at a fixed latitude. They determine if there is a relationship to population density. They download data sets and generate a graph. They determine a link between human activity and...
Curated OER
HAIL STONE IMPACT
Students explore how and why local convective, possibly severe, storms develop. They examine how hailstones form and the conditions under which they form. They test mock hailstones of varying sizes to investigate the impact and damage...
Curated OER
Boccia
Boccia is very similar to the game of bocce. There is a jack, a small ball that is tossed within a 12' x 6' area which becomes the target. Each team has six hand-sized leather balls which they try to get as close as possible to the jack...
Indian Land Tenure Foundation
Relationships to Places
Young historians take a look at how the Indian tribes of California promoted a mindful relationship between people and the land. They begin to understand how the Indians were champions of conservation, and at preserving the natural...
Carnegie Mellon University
Transportation
Teach your environmental studies, life science, or engineering class how an internal combustion engine works using the first few slides of the accompanying presentation. Then, focus in on the resulting carbon emissions. Finally, take a...
Port Jefferson School District
Hurricane Katrina
Young scientists track Hurricane Katrina across the Atlantic Ocean as they learn about these destructive forces of nature. Provided with a table of data tracking the location and conditions of Katrina over a one week span, students...
University of Connecticut
Building Your Own Biosphere
On September 26, 1991, four women and four men entered the scientific experiment, Biosphere 2; the doors were sealed for two years in order to study the interactions of a biosphere. In the activity, scholars explore biospheres by...
Cornell University
Catapults
Ready, aim, fire! Launch to a new level of understanding as scholars build and test their own catapults. Learners explore lever design and how adjusting the fulcrum changes the outcome.
Curated OER
Basic Needs
Learners examine the unique and diverse historical artifacts that people have designed to fulfill their everyday needs in extraordinary ways. They identify ways humans have used design throughout history to enhance the ways they meet...
Curated OER
MATERIALS, Using What’s Local: Native Materials, Local Sources
Students consider the development of different societies. In this environmental building instructional activity, students consider local resources and how societies choose to use them. Students use their findings to design a 'green'...
Curated OER
Comprehension: Compare and Contrast Topics in Two Texts
A scripted instructional activity can be a big help for new teachers. This fully scripted three-day learning activity provides teachers with the means to demonstrate how to compare and contrast two topics in two texts. Learners will work...
Novelinks
Maniac Magee: Discussion Questions
Why did they say that? What did they mean? How did they feel? Using the six levels of Bloom's Taxonomy, challenge your young readers to answer the comprehension questions about chapters 41 and 42 of Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli. Each...
California Academy of Science
Pollution in Our Watershed
The concept of a how pesticides and other chemicals pass through a watershed can be difficult for younger learners to grasp without a concrete example. In the activity here, some blank paper, markers, and a spray bottle are all you need...
Carnegie Mellon University
Renewables Workshop
Youngsters examine resource maps to find out which states are using solar and wind power and discuss as a class various other renewable energy sources. They use a provided data table to record pros and cons to each technology, build and...
Virginia Department of Education
The Germ Theory and Koch’s Postulates
Explore the history of cholera and its effect on society with your biology class. Young biologists will then proceed to grow their own germs, prepared from live cultures, and follow the steps of the scientific method to generate data....
American Chemical Society
The Energy Efficiency of Heating Water
Can a small change in laboratory procedures save energy? Scholars test three different methods for heating water in a science lab. Then, they calculate the energy efficiency for each and compare them to determine which uses the least...
Curated OER
Connecting Kansas: Past and Present
Upper graders identify five forms of transportation and describe how Kansans are connected to the rest of the country using transportation and communication. They complete a graphic organizer for each type of text structure given to them...
Chymist
The Solubility of a Salt in Water at Various Temperatures
An educational activity allows young chemists to test the solubility of different types of salt at various temperatures. Groups create a graph using data from unsaturated, saturated, and supersaturated solutions.
NOAA
Plankton
Dive into the world of plankton. The 17th installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program introduces different types of plankton. Young scientists then use what they have learned to classify...
Curated OER
No Racket Tennis
Students explore scoring and positioning of players on a tennis court during a game of tennis. after learning the basics behind the game, students will stand on a court and throw a ball back and forth to practice their positioning....
Curated OER
Getting the Meaning in Pop Music
Critical thinkers compare the impact of visual versus aural perception in how they comprehend artistic intent. They consider the meaning of a set of pop lyrics first by reading them, then by listening to them orally, and finally viewing...
Curated OER
Ozark Karst: A Fragile Landform
Young geologists become familiar with the Karst Topography in the Ozark Mountains. They study how human activity has affected the cave ecosystem. They conduct a simulation in which a large development is proposed in the area, and they...
Curated OER
Getting Started: Pre-Writing Techniques
Pre-writing activities are covered to help your students examine topics and personal experiences. Your class will discover how to choose topics which create a strong piece of writing and incorporate personal knowledge.