National Wildlife Federation
It's All in the Name: Weather Versus Climate
What goes up when rain comes down? An umbrella! Activity eight in the series of 12 explores weather and climate. In pairs, participants analyze maps, watch a short video, create a weather forecast, and complete a reading to determine the...
Space Awareness
Greenhouse Effect
A greenhouse provides additional warmth and protection to the plants inside, but what if the greenhouse gets too hot? Pupils discuss and experiment with the difference between natural and anthropogenic greenhouse effect. They measure the...
NOAA
Marine Ecosystems
Be at the top of the food chain when it comes to understanding marine ecosystems. The 21st installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program investigates marine ecosystems, ocean zones, and food...
Wind Wise Education
What are Wind Shear and Turbulence?
Let's go fly a kite. By flying a kite, class members observe the difference in air flow. The class notices the characteristics of banners tied to the kite string to determine where wind turbulence stops. Adding an anemometer to...
National Wildlife Federation
Why All the Wiggling on the Way Up? CO2 in the Atmosphere
The climate change debate, in the political arena, is currently a hot topic! Learners explore carbon dioxide levels in our atmosphere and what this means for the future in the 11th installment of 12. Through an analysis of carbon dioxide...
EngageNY
Modeling Relationships with a Line
What linear equation will fit this data, and how close is it? Through discussion and partner work, young mathematicians learn the procedure to determine a regression line in order to make predictions from the data.
Kenan Fellows
Half-Life
Scholars shake their way to understanding half-life with the help of candy. They observe and record which side candy lands on to graph the exponential decay in the fifth lesson of seven integrating chemistry and algebra. Combining...
Chicago Botanic Garden
GEEBITT (Global Equilibrium Energy Balance Interactive TinkerToy)
Young scholars use the GEEBITT excel model to explore how global average temperatures are affected by changes in our atmosphere in part two of this series of seven lessons. Working in groups, they discuss, analyze graphs, and enter data...
Curated OER
Matrix Analysis of Networks
Explore the connection between a finite graph, a directed graph, and a matrix. Graph lines and identify the relationship of matrices in real-world scenarios. Then use this information to work with a partner to plan and design a...
Berkshire Museum
Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle: Sorting Through Personal Choices
Raise children's awareness about the importance of conservation with this hands-on science lesson. Start by breaking the class into groups and having them collect trash from around the school or local park. Students then use the provided...
Teach Engineering
A Good Foundation
It takes a strong foundation to build a house and a stronger one for a bridge. This resource presents the effects of geology and soil on bridge foundations. Working in groups, the class investigates the interaction of shallow and deep...
Smithsonian Institution
Trait Tracker
Help mice beat the odds with an exciting activity about traits. Biologists discover the role of diet and other factors on animal traits by participating in a simulation activity. Teams collect and evaluate data to understand how certain...
Actis
Handling Data: Probability, Tree Diagrams
Clean, but captivating, two online simulations demonstrate probability for middle schoolers. They can choose the number of coins and tosses and watch as the results pile up. They can choose from a variety of spinner types and the number...
Smithsonian Institution
Weather Widget
What's so difficult about predicting the weather? Scholars work collaboratively to build a device that models how meteorologists use computers to forecast weather. Team members collect and interpret data while working together to...
NOAA
Importance of Deep-Sea Ecosystems – How Diverse is That?
When judging diversity of an ecosystem, both species evenness and species richness must contribute. After a discussion of diversity and a guided example using the Shannon-Weaver function, scholars use the same function on two other...
Baylor College
Energy for Life (Energy from Food)
Energy comes in many forms, but how do living things get the energy they need to survive and thrive? In a simple, controlled experiment with yeast, water, and sugar, groups make observations about how yeast reacts with water alone, then...
Prince William Network
Migration Math Madness
A great way to incorporate math into life science, this instructional activity has learners measure migratory routes on a map and calculate the actual distance that shorebirds on the routes would cover. Learners compute the distance...
LABScI
Taxonomy: Who is in My family?
Find similarities in seemingly unlike organisms. The second instructional activity in a series of 12 builds the concept of a taxonomy and explores the use of a dichotomous key. Learners begin in part one by attempting to group a set of...
Kenan Fellows
Effects of a Golf Course on Stream Health
Is the golf course causing issues in the stream? Find out with a resource that has groups perform chemical water tests to analyze the effects of a golf course on a stream. Pupils collect water above and below the course and analyze the...
National Wildlife Federation
Watershed Web: A Field Trip
Observing plant succession doesn't have to be a decade long process. A hands-on lesson has groups study succession over a designated space. Learners use their observation skills to record differences in plant and soil characteristics in...
Curated OER
Graphing Memories
Mem Fox’s Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge provides the labels for a graphing activity. Class members create an illustration of a memory item brought from home, and place their illustration in the proper column of a graph. When the...
Curated OER
Energy Saving activities Lighting
Eighth graders study how light emits energy. In this energy savings lesson, 8th graders conduct two experiments to find ways to save energy. In one experiment students measure the light in each classroom and make recommendations for...
Curated OER
Slip Slide'n Away
Young scholars analyze the sliding of boxes along a warehouse floor. In this algebra lesson, students connect math and physics by calculating the friction created by the sliding of each box. They develop faster method to move the box,...
Curated OER
Saving Energy Through Ecological Landscape Design
Learners are able to transcribe to scale the plant features of a common landscape. They determine true north and south and collect and record data on a table. Students calculate a rating for and describe a definition of insulation and...