Curated OER
What Do You Do With An Orphaned Cheetah?
Students brainstorm techniques for teaching baby cheetahs survival skills. In this science lesson, students view an episode of "Cheetah Orphans" and work together to analyze the situation and develop a plan to teach the baby cheetahs the...
Curated OER
Life Cycles
Using computers, Students work in small groups and progress through the roles of Explorer, Researcher, Designer, and Evaluator as they study the life cycle of plants, insects, butterflies and frogs.
Curated OER
Red Mangroves Of Southern Florida
Middle schoolers engage in a unit plan to examine the ecological background for the Mangroves of southern Florida. They conduct research using print and computer technology sources. They use the information in a number of other extension...
Curated OER
If I Were A Raindrop!
Students review the water cycle. In this water cycle lesson, students review the different stages of the water cycle. Students use the computer program Kid Pix Weather to help demonstrate understanding.
Curated OER
Practice with Plant and Animal Cells
Students work in small groups to match cell vocabulary terms to the appropriate cell part in a photograph. They use a draw program to sketch a plant and animal cell.
Curated OER
Our Solar System
Learners explore the solar system on the internet and video programs. They investigate the names of each planet and their places in the solar system. They chose their favorite planet and design an advertisement to sell a vacation to...
Curated OER
Time Travel, Black Holes, and Relativity
Young scholars read the novel, The Time Machine, and compare H.G. Well's perceptions of the future with those presented in The Third Wave, by Alvin Toffler. They research current scientific and mathematical theories that relate to space...
Curated OER
Moment of Inertia Contest
Students design a wheel that can go down the ramp with the smallest moment of inertia. In this technology lesson, students construct their model using a computer program. They calculate the moment of inertia of their finished product.
Curated OER
Spreadsheets in Science
Fourth graders create spreadsheets, explore patterns and make predictions based on the information. They select the appropriate graph to display the spreadsheet data. They search and sort prepared data bases to gain knowledge for...
Curated OER
Creating a Bar Graph with a Graphing Program
Students use the S'COOL data base to create a bar graph.
Curated OER
Science: The Big Sleep and Criminalistics
Students view the film, "The Big Sleep" focusing on the investigation techniques employed by the main character. Throughout the viewing, students respond to essay questions explaining actions by the characters. The questions center on...
Science Matters
Earthquake Building/Shaking Contest
Japan is one of only a handful of countries that constructs buildings that are almost earthquake proof. The 13th instructional activity in the 20-part series challenges scholars to build structures to test against earthquakes. With...
Lawrence Hall of Science
Photolithography
Examine the use of photolithography in the fabrication of circuit boards and other components. An advanced activity teaches pupils a process for transferring a pattern onto a surface. Using UV light and a light reactive substance,...
Berkeley Lab
Virtual Frog Dissection Kit
Fluffy is one of the most common names for a pet frog. Fluffy, the digitized frog in this dissection kit, opens up quite literally to allow scholars to see what's inside. The basic kit encourages pupils to click on various organs to see...
Polar Trec
Temperature Profile above the South Pole
Collecting and understanding data is a big part of understanding the world and how it changes. To better grasp what temperatures are changing and how they affect global populations, learners create a graph based on the date provided....
Curated OER
Magazine Project
Groups of students create magazines that contain stories and images of one aspect of the ocean, and ocean life. The expectations for the final products are quite high, so this lesson will require some effort to properly implement. A...
LABScI
Kinematics: The Gravity Lab
Falling objects can be brutal if you don't protect your noodle! Scholars explore the motion of falling objects through measuring short intervals to determine if the distance traveled varies with time. Building off of this, scholars...
Curated OER
A Comparison Study of Water Vapor Data to Precipitation over North America
Students use NASA satellite data to compare water vapor over the United States. In this data analysis instructional activity students use an Excel spreadsheet to map their data.
Curated OER
Zoobilation
Youngsters become familiar with zoo animals. They sort them into categories, and choose an animal to act out. Two zoo centers are created in the classroom that have examples of the animals for the pupils to play with. Then, they choose...
Curated OER
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Here is a good activity on butterflies and caterpillars. After listening to The Very Hungry Caterpillar, young learners put cards that depict the life cycle of a butterfly in the correct order. There are some good ideas for center...
Curated OER
Electricity and Food: From Glowing Pickles in Citrus Batteries
Fifth graders explore electrical concepts and host a guest speaker. This lesson sets up guidelines for students to follow when they have a guest speaker. Students are primed to become actively involved in a lecture or discussion, while...
Curated OER
Introduction to Watsonville Wetlands
Identify the different plants and animals found in wetlands, your class will explain the importance of wetland ecosystem and locate the different wetlands in their area.
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
Looking to the Future
New Horizons set forth on a mission to Pluto in 2006. Ten years later, the spacecraft is still on its way. Here, enthusiastic scholars predict what they will be like—likes, dislikes, hobbies, etc.—when New Horizons arrives at its...
NASA
Modeling the Periodic Table
Imagine a race to complete a puzzle where each person has the same 50 pieces, knows they are missing other pieces, and must figure out how everything fits together. The winner gets fame, listed in books for years to come, and a financial...