Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ecosystems and Habitats

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders go on a virtual field trip to five ecosystems. They investigate and videotape a temperate forest in the school's backyard.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Air and Water in the Environment

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders participate in a three part lesson in which they identify and describe forms of moisture in the environment. Part one of the lesson involves the three stages of the water cycle, part two focuses on creating humidity by...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cloud Types

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students examine cloud types. For this cloud lesson, students identify cloud types, observe clouds and collect data, and analyze data to identify the most common cloud they observe overhead during the course of a month.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Seasonal Cloud Cover Variations

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Pupils recognize different cloud types. They determine the seaonality of various types of clouds. They graph the data and determine if a correlation exists between season, cloud cover and type of clouds most prevalent during each season.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Rock Cycle

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students study the rock cycle of different types of rock. They arrange cut-outs of the parts of the rock cycle in the correct order and then draw the rock cycle or research different types of rocks.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lightning

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students study lightening and the history behind how it was used for electricity.  In this electricity lesson students complete several experiments on the invention of the lightning rod.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rain Forest Reporters

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students work as magazine reporters to produce a print or multimedia magazine about rain forests.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Can You Find Me Now?

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
Students locate points using longitude and latitude coordinates. They locate their home using longitude and latitude, explore the uses of GPS, and accurately use a GPS.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ecology and the Conservation of Natural Resources

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students examine the components of ecosystems. They compare and contrast an ecosystem to an aquatic ecosystem. They examine a local ecosystem and discuss its components.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Check Out Lights and Shields with Beads

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students explore Ultraviolet detecting beads and conduct several investigations with them.  In this investigative activity students participate in an experiment to see the harmful effects of UV light and discuss their findings. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Living in a Watershed

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders examine watersheds. In this ecosystem lesson, 4th graders discover what a watershed is and identify the local watershed they live in. Students investigate the attributes of a watershed as well.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Why is the Sky Blue?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explore diffusion or scattering of light. For this physics lesson, students explain why the sky is blue and sunsets/sunrises are red.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

PLATE MOVEMENTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students label three geological maps with continents provided to analyze the relationships between the movement of tectonic plates and the changes in the climate. In small groups, they discuss their findings and form hypotheses about the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mount St. Helens Shakes and Burps

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students uncover the nature of volcanoes and locate some of the world's active, dormant, and extinct volcanoes. They also discover how scientists detect, measure, and predict volcanic activity.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Human Needs

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students investigate human needs and how they have adapted to different environments. They complete an experiment to discover the effect of stress on muscles. They use the food pyramid to create a plan for healthy eating.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Where's the Period in the Periodic Tables?

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students investigate the Periodic Table of Elements. The teacher is provided with the necessary background information to complete the instructional activity. Students practice matching the element symbol to its place on the chart.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Environment: How'd That Pollution Get There?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students examine how global wind and water patterns aid in the spread of worldwide pollution. In groups, they read articles about the domino effect of pollution and create posters displaying its journey. On blank world maps, students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Radio Astronomy and Radio Telescope

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students construct a simple radio telescope. In this astronomy lesson, students explain how this telescope works and what information it collects.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pond Ecology

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders examine pond ecology, testing how temperature affects the respiration rate of fish. They collect various living things found at a pond, and identify the animal and plant life discovered. They observe a pond community in an...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Intelligent Design Fumbles; Evolution Still Going Strong

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students examine how all life is related and how species are classified. They also discover how traits are passed down from one person to the next. They examine the evolution the arthropod has going through.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Finding Wind Direction

For Teachers 1st - 5th
Young scholars identify the wind direction. For this weather lesson, students use a weather vane to find the wind direction. Young scholars complete a worksheet.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What the Sun Can Do

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students develop and test a unique, personally-relevant hypothesis about the consequences of exposure to UV radiation based units on a living organism, common baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae).
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Weather in the USA

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students identify the different types of weather conditions that occur in the United States. They discover how to adapt to weather and explain forecast and warning signals.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Space, the Final Frontier...

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students study a common theory on how the solar system was formed and examine the relative scale of the size and distances among the bodies of the Solar System.