Science Matters
Lotusland
It's time for a field trip! Scholars take their new-found knowledge of adaptations and seed dispersal on a field trip to a local botanical garden. They gain an up-close look at how ecological interdependence works in a distinct...
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Metamorphosis
Students select organic object and transform it to an inorganic object in five or six steps, and complete value rendered drawings.
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Peanut Butter Broccoli
Fifth graders explore food production by viewing DNA presentations. In this genetic engineering lesson, 5th graders discuss the foods they typically eat at home and how many common foods are engineered in a way that can produce a bigger...
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Rock, Paper, Scissors
Fifth graders explore genetic traits. In this genetic traits instructional activity, 5th graders investigate dominant and recessive traits. Students identify similar traits between a parent organism and its offspring.
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Bug Work
Students explore the life cycles of insects and how they interact with each other in the prairie to create a healthy ecosystem and viable food chain. They list animals or insects in their own community that are similar to the prairie...
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Quick-Change Flip Book
Students create flip books that illustrate the growth and change of a plant or an animal as it goes through its life cycle.
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Rooster's Off To See the World Number-Sense
Students recognize how numbers are used in number stories. In this Rooster's Off To See the World lesson, students participate in the story. Students complete a number activity and work on the computer to illustrate a number story. ...
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Clearly Classified
Young scholars review the classification system for living organisms and apply it the classification of insects and flowers in the still life by Ambrosius Bosschaert. They create a chart classifying the animals and plants in the painting...
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Classifying Plants and Insects
Art and science come together in a lesson based on Flower Still Life by Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder. Learners classify plants and insects in the painting by color, leaf shape, size, reproduction, and season of bloom.
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Frame Animation
Students examine the idea that an object might never have a "fixed" existence and may be a thing existing always in flux by creating a frame-based animation of something that transforms from one shape into another. They create...
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How Hot is Too Hot?
Fifth graders use the scientific method to conduct experiments on the temperature effects on organisms. In this temperature effects on organisms lesson plan, 5th graders observe and record the hatching or the developing of organisms into...
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Bug's Eye View
Learners explore biology by writing fictitious stories in class. In this insect life lesson, students identify many different types of insects in the animal kingdom and the classifications they fall into. Learners collect insects on a...
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Magnificent Metamorphosis
Students discover stages in metamorphosis through up close and real encounters with video, hands-on investigative and interactive activities using mealworms.
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The Grouchy Ladybug By Eric Carle
Second graders complete a unit about ladybugs based on Eric Carle's, The Grouchy Ladybug. They complete comprehension questions, categorization activities, Venn diagrams, and choral readings of Susan M. Paprocki', Little Red Bug. As they...
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Understanding Cause and Effect using A Sound of Thunder
Students listen to a short story, A Sound of Thunder, and retell parts of the story which is about time travel. They respond to the story by writing cause/effect outcomes about the ecosystem using a handout.
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"What Insecit Am I"
Young scholars play the game "What Insect Am I" to explore the parts of an insect and their habitats.
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Mimicry: Other Insects That Resemble Bees
Students design a conceptual experiment to test whether mimics actually benefit from the fact they resemble other organisms or objects. They define the term mimicry. They focus on insects that resemble bees and wasps.
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Season Board
Students help create a classroom display for use throughout the year in this Art-based cooperative-learning lesson. The display can then be modified for different seasons and activities. Ideas for season modifications are given.
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Development in Drosophila melanogaster
Students study the least familiar aspect of development in Drosophila melanogaster; the development of the pupa. Students isolate and culture "First-day" pupae. They are dissected daily to study the progressive developmental changes.
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Simple Cycles
Students use Inspiration to map cyclical events. They recognize links between separate events and structural patterns. They explore the Internet Connection section to browse additional resources on teaching about cycles used in...
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Oddball Out
In this science worksheet, students examine 4 pictures in a row and circle the invertebrate that is different from the others. There are 4 rows of pictures. Answers are provided upside down on the page.
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Metamorphosis Matching
Young scholars view pictures of animals as they complete the metamorphosis from a larva to an adult. In this metamorphosis lesson plan, students view pictures and in the end are able to match pictures of a larva stage to an adult stage...
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Clearly Classified
Learners investigate plants and insects. In this science classification lesson, students create separate categories for insects and plants by characteristics. Learners discover scientific names of insects.
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Science: Backyard Bugs Data Collection
Students practice data collection skills by observing common bugs found in their local environment. Once the data is collected they complete data sheets to compare, contrast, sort, and classify the insects. The lesson includes...