How does your class measure up? Young scientists create a scale drawing of the JOIDES Resolution in a collaborative activity. The lesson incorporates mathematical principles with deep-sea exploration to focus on enhancing measurement...

Who actually goes looking for a virus? Expose your class to the high-stakes life of an epidemiologist on the trail of the Nipah virus. Pupils engage in a short video, then examine how scientists predict, model, and find the source of...

Begin a full lesson on climate change by demonstrating how carbon dioxide gas contributes to increased temperatures. Be aware that pressure inside the antacid-containing bottle in Activity 2 may cause the lid to fly off; keep viewers at...

At first glance, grassland ecosystems might seem dull and uninteresting, but once you start to explore it's amazing the things you'll find! Through this series of engaging lessons, activities, and experiments, elementary students examine...

Give your classroom decor a boost with a rainforest themed mural highlighting what class members learned through their five senses—taste, touch, see, smell, and hear. Scholars create a rainforest filled with trees and animals using their...

Why do metals rust differently? Scholars experiment with metal combinations in a hands-on activity. They create unique environments with different metals and compare the rate and amount of rust for each.

Not all sandwiches are tasty. Scholars use basic materials to build an instrument called a sound sandwich. They see how blowing on the instrument causes rubber bands to vibrate, which produces sound waves.

Students use the Internet to research the ancient practices of building structures and to help them recognize what building materials serve as good conductors and insulators of heat. They build a structure using straw bale walls.

Three activities make up an introductory lesson plan designed to create a strong foundation in comparing fractions to decimals and exploring and building decimal models. Pupils brainstorm and complete a Venn diagram to show how decimals...

Experiment with electric circuits and conductivity. Young scientists will model and discuss how an electric circuit works. First they will draw a model of the flow of electrons and then build an actual circuit. Finally, they will explain...

A comprehensive lesson on acceleration awaits your physicists and engineers! Two YouTube videos pique their interest, then sample F=ma problems are worked and graphed. The highlight of the lesson is the building of a Lou-Vee air car!...

Searching for a relatively interesting way to demonstrate Charles' Law? Here is a lesson in which pupils heat air inside a flask and then cool the flask to quickly cool the air. They make observations about what occurs during the...

By constructing a watershed model and identifying watershed features in it, they discover how water erosion changes the landscape. As with most watershed modeling activities, this one is costly in terms of time and materials. It is,...

This is not they typical set of teacher instructions. It is an organized chart of the important organic compounds. For each, the involved elements, the name of the building block monomers, the names of polymers, extra information, and a...

Students develop awareness of constraints. In the early grades, children may be inclined to go with their first idea with little testing. Therefore, students should be encouraged to reflect on the practicality of their designs. However,...

Students are introduced to the idea that some materials can be recycled. They will investigate the types of materials that can be reused, as well as potential uses for each type of recyclable material.

Students design and build their own cars. In this physics instructional activity, students test their car's speed and make changes when necessary. They graph data and analyze results.

Students consider how the scientific advances of the past have contributed to the science topics reported on today in the Science Times section. After reading a current science article, they compare and contrast the way science was...

Students study the different parts of a tree and the significance of each part.  In this build a tree lesson plan, students use role-playing theater to reinforce what they are learning. Students use their imagination to become tree...

Students construct an extremely simple series circuit that powers a lamp on and off with a switch. They are in groups of 4 and are given a set of components and have to build the circuit working together as a group. Finally, they have to...

Students examine and reflect on the role of science reports in the larger scientific community and become familiar with one scientist's experience preparing a report. They identify key points to build a strong science report and create a...

Students create and build cars to race in class. In this physics lesson, students calculate the speed using distance and time information. They evaluate their design and make adjustments when needed.

Students research the demands or limitations on Earth scientists. In groups, they design and build a model that would be useful to them in the lab or field. They share their model and their ideas behind it to the class and answer any...

Students brainstorm what it is like to fly on an airplane and discuss the parts of a plane. Students construct a paper plane of their own, decorate it, have a competition, and discuss the importance of each part of a plane and the role...