Curated OER
The Sense of Hearing
Students study the cycle of how we listen and hear our own speech. They examine sound waves, and the role of the nervous system in hearing. They investigate the cues besides lipreading that deaf people rely on for comprehension.
Columbus City Schools
To Measure its Mass or Volume?
Atoms, elements, and molecules, oh my! Teaching the fundamentals of chemistry to curious sixth graders has never been easier to accomplish. Here is a resource that pulls together everything needed to get them off to a good start,...
Columbus City Schools
What is in that?
Invite your class to dig in to an engaging journey into the world of mining! Here you'll find the tools to equip young miners with knowledge of soil, rocks, and minerals, as well as types of mining operations. To round things out, the...
Curated OER
Models of the Water Cycle
Students describe and review the stages in the water cycle. In groups, they build their own models of the water cycle and demonstrate where the water goes in a closed system. They answer discussion questions after the experiment to end...
Columbus City Schools
Biome Basics with a Disastrous Twist
Bored with your current biome bag of tricks? This bundle is a bountiful bag of biome fun! Travel the globe with seventh graders and explore the biotic and abiotic factors that define our world's biomes. Then, introduce a little...
Curated OER
The Water Cycle
Students develop a better understanding of the need to conserve our renewable resources. In this water cycle lesson students take notes, complete a guide sheet and illustrate the water cycle.
PBS
Breaking it Down
After challenging themselves to correctly choose the form of erosion and length of time required for a given landform to develop, earth science class members model mechanical and chemical weathering with various lab demonstrations over...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Carbon, Greenhouse Gases, and Climate
Climate models mathematically represent the interactions of the atmosphere, oceans, land, sun, surface, and ice. Part two in the series of four lessons looks at the role greenhouse gases play in keeping Earth warm and has participants...
Curated OER
Earth's Water
If the majority of our planet is covered with water, why do we need to bother conserving it? With a thorough and varied investigation into the location and types of water on the earth, learners will gain an understanding of why this...
Education Outside
Soil Composition & Discovery
Organic or mineral? How does the matter matter? Second graders use their knowledge of the rock cycle to label the different components in garden soil.
Serendip
Where Does a Plant's Mass Come From?
Where does the mass for a growing tree come from? Scholars consider a few different hypotheses and guess which is correct. They then analyze data from different experiments to understand which concepts science supports.
University of California
Energy and Biomass Pyramids
Young scientists play tag as they act out the food pyramid in the ocean ecosystem. Energy circles pass from the smaller prey to the predators and at the end of the activity, a data chart and analysis questions allow pupils to apply their...
Curated OER
Alternative Energy
Students discover the different alternative fuel sources. In this biology lesson, students identify the different stages of the carbon cycle. They explain the pros and cons of using alternative energy.
Curated OER
The Water Cycle
First graders investigate the different stages of the water cycle. They conduct Internet research and complete a water cycle WebQuest. Students identify what happens at each stage of the water cycle, and write about each stage in their...
Curated OER
Cell Repair and Cell Cycle
Seventh graders explore the cell cycle. They view pictures of different stages of mitosis and explain why cells reproduce. They identify the five phases of mitosis: interphase, prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase.
Curated OER
The Living Environment
Young scholars explore the cycles of an ecosystem. In this environmental science lesson, students work in groups to research the nitrogen cycle, the water cycle, or the oxygen-carbon dioxide cycle. Young scholars prepare a...
Curated OER
Carbon for the World
Students explore the presence of carbon in the world. In this environmental stewardship lesson, students discuss the carbon cycle after they read assigned textbook pages. Students also discuss biomass content in different parts of the...
Curated OER
Rain, Rain, Where Did You Go?
Students study the water cycle including condensation, evaporation, and precipitation. In this water cycle lesson plan, students watch a video and access assigned web sites to investigate the water cycle. They complete an experiment with...
Curated OER
Water Supply
Fourth graders complete three activities. In this water supply lesson, 4th graders learn that water can exist in different forms and watch a demonstration of each form. Students explore the water cycle and make a water cycle using the...
Curated OER
A Rock’n Earth
Seventh graders identify the three types of rocks. For this earth science lesson, 7th graders model the rock cycle using crayon shaving. They explain how rocks change as they go through the cycle.
Beyond Benign
Puzzler
Are some packaging materials superior to others? Using sustainability as a guide, scholars analyze different packing materials to describe their life cycles. They create puzzles to communicate their findings.
Discovery Education
Motion in the Ocean
How do temperature changes affect ocean currents? Scholars explore convection currents by demonstrating the flow of water in a baking dish. They use ice, heat, and food coloring to see currents. Then, they draw conclusions about their...
National Park Service
Reduce Our Carbon Footprint, Let’s Compost!
Roll up your sleeves and get a little dirty with this elementary and middle school compost lesson plan. All you need is a large plastic container, a couple old newspapers, some organic waste, and a few hundred worms and you're ready...
Curated OER
Biosphere
There is so much to learn about the different cycles, processes, and parts of the biosphere. Using a pretest as a formative assessment to see what your budding ecologists already know is a great way to figure out which important areas...