Curated OER
Dragon Boats
Students create a model boat. In this art lesson, students identify what makes a boat float and use milk cartons to create their own boat.
Curated OER
18th Century Microscope
Students examine a microscope from the 18th century. In this microscope lesson, students investigate how it works, what it was used for and how the tool has evolved through the years. Students also build knowledge on how compound...
Curated OER
3-2-1 Blast Off!
Students explore physics by participating in a flight experiment. In this rocket design instructional activity, students discuss the scientific process and how chemical reaction can create the energy needed to boost a rocket. Students...
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Alike and Different
Students compare and contrast objects and are introduced to a Venn Diagram. In this alike and different lesson plan, students make observations regarding properties of objects. Students classify object and build ideas about variables....
Teach Engineering
Design a Flying Machine
Wrap up the unit in one final design. Pairs use their knowledge of aviation to design new flying machines and record how their designs take into consideration the forces that act upon airplanes. The pupils determine whether their designs...
K12 Reader
It’s Elemental
This comprehension worksheet provides readers with an article about basic matter and then asks them to use this information to respond to a series of comprehension questions.
Virginia Department of Education
Average Atomic Masses
Facilitate learning by using small objects to teach the principles of atomic mass in your science class. Pupils determine the average mass of varying beans as they perform a series of competitive experiments. They gather data and...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Ocean Acidification
Human impacts on the environment can sometimes be difficult to measure, especially under water! An activity centered on ocean acidification gives science scholars the opportunity to examine the effects of carbon dioxide on marine life....
Curated OER
Rock On! Featuring the Igneous, Sedimentary and Metamorphic Trio!
Get your classroom rocking with this four-lesson earth science unit. Through a series of shared reading activities and hands-on investigations, young geologists learn about the three types of rocks and the unique properties of each.
NASA
Foam Rocket
When going for distance, does it make a difference at what angle you launch the rocket? Teams of three launch foam rockets, varying the launch angle and determining how far they flew. After conducting the series of flights three times,...
Channel Islands Film
Sa Hi Pa Ca (Once Upon a Time): Lesson Plan 2
What tools do archaeologists and anthropologist use to learned about what life was like in the past. After watching West of The West's documentary Once Upon a Time that details how scientists use artifacts to establish a...
Curated OER
Testing the Caverns
Students build model caverns using paper mache or clay and bury them in a tray of sand. They test the models by dropping balls onto them to simulate an asteroid hitting the earth. They evaluate the effectiveness of a structure against...
Curated OER
The Science Behind Phone Systems
Students, in groups, discuss the origin of voice communications. In small groups students research the science behind innovations related to voice communications up through today's satellite systems. They make models or demonstrations.
Curated OER
Water, Water Everywhere
Young scholars explore water. In this water cycle lesson, students conduct a scientific investigation that requires build a terrarium models of the earth. Young scholars record their observations of the changes regarding water in...
Curated OER
Roebling and Suspension Bridges: A Thread of Steel
Students create a model bridge using steel. For this bridges lesson plan, students study John Augustus Roebling and how he created bridges out of steel and the impact it had on society. Then students build their own bridge model.
Michigan Sea Grant
Exploring Watersheds
Collaboratively, students partake in a hands-on activity in which they build models of a watershed. Each group member draws an elevation map—a bird's eye view—of their model and predicts how water will flow from the high to low points....
Curated OER
Principles of Flight
High schoolers explore the principles of flight. In this flight lesson, students construct a model plane and investigate the forces acting on the flier. They will measure the thrust and calculate the stored energy.
Curated OER
Acid and Rain and Its Effects
Students work in groups for up to three weeks to investigate the possibility of acid rain in your area and to investigate the damage that acid rain can do to buildings, monuments, and plants. Each group prepares a report to local...
Curated OER
Robot Soldiers
High schoolers explore the studies on scientists building a mechanical super-soldier that can heal its own wounds. Students consider and discuss the implications of mastering and using this type of technology. High schoolers analyze the...
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.
Curated OER
Balsa Wood Airplane Flight and Speed Correlation
Ninth graders calculate the average speed of their balsa wood airplane. For this physics lesson, 9th graders build their own airplane and make necessary modifications to to make it fly straight. They interpret distance and time graph...
Curated OER
The Fault Line
Students use cardboard models of the North American and Pacific plates and sand to investigate what happens when there is an earthquake or movement along the boundaries of the plates.
Curated OER
Up, Up, and Away
Students investigate the laws of physics that govern the flight of helicopters and airplanes. They build and launch a model rotor, simulating rotors used on helicopters to provide lift.
Curated OER
Proportionality: The X-Plane Generation
Students meet NASA researchers who describe the relationship between force, energy and motion. They discuss how NASA's experimental X-plane is being tested to make space travel more reliable and show how proportionality and ratios are...