Middle schoolers work in a team to use the ProScope Digital USB Microscope and a computer to collect microscopic images from a variety of mineral specimens. They compare specimens and determine how they are alike and different by...

Learners discover soil and Earth movement by experimenting in class.  In this Earth Science lesson, students utilize a stream table, soil, graduated cylinder and water to create a re-enactment of a landslide.  Learners simulate...

Pupils analyze and discuss different types of hate crimes. They listen to and discuss the background behind the song, "Scarecrow" by Melissa Etheridge. They research a hate crime and imagine how the victims must have felt. Finally they...

Fifth graders study the processes of erosion, transportation, and deposition in soil. They walk outside the school to see examples and then accurately create a physical model which shows each type of soil movement and allows them to...

Learners explore the concept of bituminous coal and the role it plays within our world.  In this economic and earth science lesson plan, students discover and model the extraction methods with hands-on activities.  Learners...

Students complete a Web Quest on ways that Native Americans hunted for, harvested, stored, and prepared food and what types of natural foods were eaten.  In this early American food cycles lesson, students discover many of the ways...

After comparing earthquake and volcanic hazards to one another, fifth graders take a closer look at damage associated with a volcanic eruption. They then create a simulation of mudslides due to a volcanic eruption. Using different...

The San Andreas Fault moves about two inches a year, approximately the same rate fingernails grow—crazy! The third instructional activity in the series allows for hands-on exploration of various fault formations. Through the use of a...

Who actually likes leeches? Meet a scientist that makes his living letting leeches feed on him. Pupils learn about the characteristics of leeches and different variations of the species. The lesson works as a remote learning resource or...

Students take a virtual tour of Yosemite and selects photographs to use in their journal.

Students different types of reusable trash containers to class. They use the pieces of trash to create something like a bird feeder. They discuss other ways of reusing items to generate less garbage.

Students examine rocks and minerals. Using the internet, students research rocks and how they are formed. They use word processing software to list minerals and materials that form specific rocks.

Students explore a simulated ocean floor. In this environmental lesson plan, students take on roles of an ocean dive team exploring the ocean floor. Dive logs will be created and the students will explore their sections of simulated...

Students engage in a lesson in which volcanoes be explored and examined. After watching a video, students create volcanoes out of clay.

Young scholars learn about the kinds of fossils and what scientists can learn from them.  In this earth science instructional activity, students are told how engineers and paleontologists work together.  Then young scholars...

Learners explore process of live collection of insects and spiders using sweep nets, aerial nets, and beating sheets. they collect, examine and release several different types of insects or spiders then compare their journal drawing of...

Sixth graders complete many activities and lessons based on a reading of "Call It Courage." They watch the video, complete computer based writing assignments, and prepare writing folders in the art center. They practice their word...

Seventh graders participate in an experiment in which they calculate the time of decomposition of different materials. In groups, they fill bags with different materials and cover them in soil. After six months, they create a line graph...

Introduce third graders to energy waves with a hands-on geology activity, in which they answer questions and compare seismograms in the San Francisco Bay area. After a demonstration that shows how bigger waves indicate a...

This unit focuses primarily on plate tectonics and plate boundaries surrounding continents. It contains pre- and post-lab sections that walk young geologists through plate movements in order to visualize what's going on inside Earth.

Searching for an activity that allows emerging biologists to explore symbiosis up close and personal? Pupils collect samples and view lichens through a microscope and conclude with a discussion about the relationship they have...

Eighth graders identify the three main types of chemical bonds. In this chemistry instructional activity, 8th graders draw Lewis dot diagrams of elements and determine the bond formed. They create a model water molecule.

Students explain how moon phases occur. They describe and explain at least two common misconceptions that people have about the moon. Students explain what a star is. They explain 3 ways that the night sky has been used throughout history.