Curated OER
Melting Ice is Hot Stuff!
Fourth graders determine the amount of energy required to melt ice using a calorimeter. They calculate the Molar Heat of Fusion of Ice.
Curated OER
Oral History of World War II
Students research how citizens from the United States respond to the onset, duration and aftermath of World War II. They view clips from the movie "Swing Shift" and discuss the roles of civilians, minorities and military personnel. They...
Curated OER
Women and the Homestead Act: Creating a Place for Themselves In the West
Eighth graders examine basic elements of the Homestead Act, describe gender make-up of the West before and after the Homestead Act, connect the Homestead Act with women's suffrage, and create a modern day business propaganda pamphlet.
Curated OER
Project Geode
Young geologists attempt to predict the appearnace of a geode's internal structure based on how it looks from the outside, its mass, and its physical characteristics. For this geologly lesson, learners use scientific equipment to collect...
Curated OER
Activity #3 Finding Mass
Students use graph paper to construct a graph and determine the slope of a straight line. They determine the weight (mass) of paper clips with a pan balance. Pupils weigh an unknown number of paper clips, and to interpret the graph to...
Curated OER
How Much Carbon is Held by the World's Forests?
Seventh graders identify how much carbon is held by the world's forests. For this forestry lesson, 7th graders study the carbon cycle and discuss what role humans have had on climate change. Students write a one page paper on how...
Curated OER
Temperature and Enzymes
Students compare the times it takes the milk in each of two cups to curdle. They are told that an enzyme that is added to the milk, rennin, is involved in the natural curdling process of milk. Students are asked to consider what...
Curated OER
THE WONDERFUL WATER CYCLE
Students are introduced to the processes of evaporation and condensation as they observe physical changes in water. They observe how matter changes from a solid to a liquid state. Students are explained that steam is water in its gaseous...
Salt River Project
How Do We Clean Polluted Water?
How do we clean up oil spills and other pollutants in the water? Explore water treatment strategies with a set of environmental science experiments. Groups remove oil from water, work with wastewater treatment, and perform a water...
Curated OER
"Heat Transfer and Ice Cream!"
Learners analyze earth science by creating a frozen treat in class. For this heat transfer lesson, students discuss how matter is transformed from solid to liquid and liquid to gas when energy is removed from the equation. Learners...
Curated OER
Crystals: What Are They and What Holds Them Together
Students are introduced to the characteristics of crystals and what keeps them together. Using the Periodic Table, they examine the various elements and develop a model of an atom. In groups, they place sugar and salt in petri dishes...
Curated OER
Solids, Liquids, and Gases
Students explore the three main forms of matter: solid, liquid, and gas. They examine concrete examples of each, using their five senses and "experimenting" to find differences in them. They find pictures of each, cut them out and past...
Curated OER
The History of Rock and Roll
Seventh graders examine how the different layers of rock show the history of the Earths surface. In this rock lesson students divide into groups and complete an activity using clay.
Curated OER
Physical Changes and the Water Cycle- Three
Third graders take note of the changes in the water level in a cup of water that is left out. Using a model of the water that depicts a lake and landscape that is being heated by a heat lamp, the students observe precipitation, and...
Curated OER
Activity #8 Which State Are You In?
Middle schoolers define, give similarites and differences between solids, liquids, and gases. They compare and contrast a solid, liquid and gas in terms of shape, volume, compressibility, diffusion and density. Pupils classigy common...
Curated OER
Critter? Growth
Students identify and use the elements of the scientific inquiry to solve problems. They explain concepts about the structure and properties of matter. Pupils write an explanation of polymers and how the characteristic of polymers...
Curated OER
Melting and Freezing
Students explore how various substances change from a solid to a liquid or from a liquid to a solid and how temperature, pressure and nature play an important role in this process. For this melting and freezing lesson,...
Facing History and Ourselves
Emmett Till: Confronting the Murder
The 1955 murder of Emmett Till is often regarded as the catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement of the 20th century. Learn more about the brutal crime—and, as many believe, the miscarriage of justice—that began a national conversation...
Curated OER
What Really Matters When it Comes to Sound?
Students conduct experiments to learn about sound wave vibrations in objects and pitch. Students test how varying the volume of water in a vessel changes frequency and pitch.
Curated OER
Heat And Heat Transfer
Students role play molecules in a container as the container is heated to develop a definition of heat and temperature. They also observe demonstrations of conduction, convection, radiation, and phase transfer. Using these observations...
Curated OER
The Day the Atom Died (Grade K-1)
Students investigate what is wrong with the Rutherford atomic model. In this chemistry instructional activity, students answer questions about the atomic model after watching a video. They draw conclusions from the video and discuss how...
Curated OER
Conventions: Hyperbole
Fifth graders discuss hyperbole. In this language arts lesson, 5th graders understand that hyperbole enables writers to make a point by describing something in an overly dramatic way. Students create a list of objects that can be used to...
Curated OER
Wood is Everywhere!
Fifth graders diagram and label the parts of a tree. For this lesson plan on how trees obtain food, 5th graders diagram and label the parts of a tree, and determine the diameter, height, and age of a tree.
University of California
Hot! Hot! Hot!
Calories are not tiny creatures that sew your clothes tighter every night, but what are they? A science lesson, presented at multiple levels, has learners experiment with heat, heat transfer, and graph the function over time....