Virginia Department of Education
Historical Models of Atoms
What does the past have to do with today? Young scientists find that answer as they learn more about past chemists and their significant contributions to the field. Pupils use the Internet to research historical figures...
Curated OER
The Science of Selling
Students discuss advertisements and techniques they have discovered. They read an article about the science of selling and create an advertisement of their own to sell a book. They record people's reactions to their advertisement and...
Curated OER
Investigate Science Using Crayfish
Young scientists discover the importance of scientific investigation by observing live crayfish. They carefully observe the patterns of crayfish in different environments. Then they discuss their conclusions and define what all living...
Kenan Fellows
How Do Chemists Measure?
Young chemists create gold nanoparticles as they learn to measure accurately with the metric system. They create an advertisement for the application of nanotechnology to complete the first lesson in a series of six.
Polar Trec
Playground Profiling—Topographic Profile Mapping
The Kuril islands stretch from Japan to Russia, and the ongoing dispute about their jurisdiction prevents many scientific research studies. Scholars learn to create a topographic profile of a specific area around their schools. Then they...
Foundation for Water & Energy Education
How Can Work Be Done with Water Power? Activity B
In this second of three activities, energy engineers plan and create a hydropower dam as they learn how hydroelectric power plants generate electricity. A hydropower puzzle is also included, which can be worked on by teams that finish...
Curated OER
Earth Science
Students explore the planets and celestial bodies in our solar system. In this outer space lesson plan, students identify the planets and record journal information about them and other celestial bodies. Students define outer space words.
Curated OER
Sources of Heat
Fourth graders conduct an experiment related to heat sources, and participate in a heat source hunt. They identify sources of heat, then compare the melting rate of ice cubes, illustrating the results in their science journal. Students...
Curated OER
More Rocket Science
Students observe two rocket science experiments, and create a graph to demonstrate the results. They draw a picture and write an explanation of the results of the experiments.
Curated OER
Science and Technology Timeline
Learners develop a time line of discoveries that have occurred in their lifetime. In this time line lesson plan, students research scientifically or technologically related events of interest to them, write a brief description on a 4x6"...
Curated OER
Rockin? Chalk (Integrating science - make own chalk)
Students use plaster of Paris, talc, and cornstarch to create their own chalk. They hypothesize what mixture of ingredients produce the "best" chalk. Students discuss what they think are the characteristics of the "best" chalk.
Curated OER
Capturing Light: The Science of Photography
Students explore light, and how it travels in straight path, recognize that light-sensitive chemical processes can be used to create images using light as catalyst, discover that light can be refracted by convex lens to focus camera,...
Curated OER
Science Safety is Elementary
Third graders are introduced to the importance of science safety. As a class, they role play through different safety procedures and decide which senses need to be protected for different scenerios. They discuss how to avoid hazardous...
National Research Center for Career and Technical Education
Health Science: Back to Basics
This lesson focuses on unit conversion, proportions, ratios, exponents, and the metric system. Discuss measurement with your math class and demonstrate how to solve several health-science word problems. Give learners a chance to visit an...
Virginia Department of Education
Laboratory Safety and Skills
Avoiding lab safety rules will not give you super powers. The lesson opens with a demonstration of not following safety rules. Then, young chemists practice their lab safety while finding the mass of each item in a mixture and trying to...
Polar Trec
Create a Topographic Profile of Beacon Valley
Landforms in Beacon Valley, Antarctica, where there is no snow, bear a striking resemblance to landforms found on Mars. Scholars identify landforms found in Beacon Valley through analysis of topographic maps in the activity. They then...
California Academy of Science
A Day in the Life of a San Francisco Native Animal
Before Google, before Sillicon Valley, before the Gold Rush, the San Francisco landscape was a biome filled with grizzly bears, mule deer, tule elk, coyotes, gray fox, gophers, and moles. To explore the early days of yesteryear, kids...
Alabama Wildlife Federation
Butterfly Book
Journaling is a great tool for processing information. Budding scientists build their own butterfly journals from their observations in a butterfly garden. The lesson challenges them to identify different stages of the life of the...
Curated OER
What's That Tree?
Fifth graders identify trees along a nature trail. Using a dichotomous key, 5th graders answer questions to aid in their identification of trees along a specified nature trail. Observations are recorded in their science journals. Sample...
Curated OER
Matter
Students recognize that some changes to matter are reversible and some are not. For this matter lesson, students experiment a physical and chemical change. Students record experiment results in their science journals. Students act...
Curated OER
A Pill with a View
Learners brainstorm a list of potential uses for micro-video technologies. After reading an article, they analyze the development of a new pill-sized camera. In groups, they create a children's book that shows them the various systems of...
Curated OER
Replacing Missing Links in the Evolutionary Chain
Examine the evolution of various species of hominids from their earliest existence approximately 4.5 million years ago to today. In small groups, learners research one of the ten stages of hominid evolution and then create a poster and...
Curated OER
Organ Music
Middle and high schoolers solve a riddle about the appendix, and explore the paradox surrounding this organ. They research other human body organs to create a paper model of the human body, and write riddles highlighting identifying...
Curated OER
E.T., Are You Out There?
Research the necessary components of a planet that supports life after reading the article "All of a Sudden, The Neighborhood Looks a Lot Friendlier" from The New York Times. After finding their information, middle and high schoolers...