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Plate Tectonic Cycle
Students explore the Earth's movements by completing worksheets. For this plate tectonics lesson, students define such natural disasters as volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis and mudslides and discuss their connections to plate tectonics....
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Water: Our Most Important Beverage
Third graders complete a KWL chart on what they already know about water and what they want to know. As a class, they participate in an activity in which they discover the amount of drinkable water on Earth and are introduced to the...
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Bird Up
Third graders identify basic physical and behavioral characteristics of birds and how they adapt to their environments. To organize and share scientific information with peers. They discuss similarities and differences among birds....
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Electrifying Electricity
Students explore the basics of electricity using common everyday items as well as demonstrate how parallel and series circuits can be used in electronics and electrical devices. They explore how common items in their world can be wired...
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Reasons for Seasons
Young scholars model the tilt of the Earth as it orbits the Sun. They explain the meaning and characteristics of solstices and equinoxes. They explain that sunlight hits the Earth at different angles at different locations over the...
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Water
Students conduct a series of investigations on the unique properties of water. In this general science activity, students explain what causes water's surface tension. They explain the different stages in the water cycle.
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Reflecting on Reflectivity
Learners plan and construct a "mini-lab" to measure the reflectivity of different earth surfaces. They measure reflectivity of materials, including ice, soil, rocks, etc., and then extrapolate from what they have learned to consider the...
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'Round and 'Round it Goes!
Students discuss and interpret background knowledge on poster copy given on the water cycle. Students complete the included activity sheets using the poster as a reference in small groups. Students identify and name where water can be...
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Continents on the Move
Students examine the tectonic plates of the Earth and how the landforms of Earth have changed position over time. In groups, they identify the evidence that the continents are still moving. To end the activity, they practice measuring...
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How Far... How Powerfu
Students work with a real optical spectrum of a gamma ray burst afterglow taken at the Keck Observatory. They measure the shifts of spectral lines, deduce the velocity of the astronomical object, and then use Hubble's Law to get its...
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What Do We Need In Our Environment To Survive?
Students discuss and write about waste management to save the environment. In this environment lesson, students discuss what an alien coming to Earth would notice about the environmental needs of humans for survival. They pretend that...
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Wonderful Worms
Students identify living and non-living things and explain the importance of earthworms to the soil. They name some basic facts about earthworms, recognize basic worm vocabulary words and demonstrate vermicomposting techniques.
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Fighting Back!
Fifth graders inspect the basic functions of the immune system and determine how viruses and bacteria invade the immune system. They also explore what happens to the immune system in outer space.
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The Forest Community And Ethnobotany Past And Present
Students describe a forest as a living community. They determine members interact, and in many cases, depend on each other for their basic survival needs. They investigate how dependent the Native Americans were on the forest...
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Far Out!
Students research and compare/contrast how routine tasks on Earth would be without gravity. They read and discuss the article "The Life Galactic: A Lot of Work, a Little Play, Plenty of E-Mail." In groups they write a pitch for a TV...
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The Cool Forms of Water
Young scholars discover the different forms of water on Earth. In this states of water lesson, students read material on the different forms of water and how they are created. The young scholars answer written questions on worksheets.
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Rockets Away with Newton's Laws of Motion
Eighth graders comprehend Newton's Laws of Motion and to use the scientific method in rocketry sub-unit. They work through the scientific method. Students illustrate how science and Newton's Laws can be used in everyday situations and...
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Dinosaurs 1: Where Are the Dinosaurs?
Students study dinosaurs. In this dinosaur instructional activity, students watch a web based video about dinosaurs before discussing what they liked about the dinosaurs, telling about the sounds they heard, and explaining what the Earth...
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Black Holes Revealed
Students explore the concept of black holes through an interactive program. They explore how they form and what materials form them. They can also visit websites in which they can research radio transmission between the Earth and space.
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Density Challenge
Students calculate the densities of several liquids that appear similar. In this physical science lesson, students go beyond understanding the way liquids of different densities behave to researching how this knowledge applies in...
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Investigation 6 - Soil Profile
Fourth graders study the components of soil. They observe the basic components of soil and relate the components to plant growth. They record color, texture, and kinds of materials on their profile log (light color, denser, grittier -...
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The Discovery of Photosynthesis
Young scholars explore how scientists discover photosynthesis. In this biology instructional activity, students identify the basic requirements for photosynthesis to happen. They recreate past scientists' experiments and record their...
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The Basics of Creature Connectedness: Biodiversity Diversions
Students study biodiversity. They participate in a scavenger hunt to look for presence of wildlife and connections in nature. They create a collage about Venezuelan biodiversity in small groups and present to the class. They write a...
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Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot!
Students study the different types of volcanoes and how they erupt. In this volcano lesson students identify where volcanoes are most prevalent and options for predicting eruptions.