California Academy of Science
Coral Reef Habitat Match
Different animals live in different habitats, and each animal has specifically adaptive traits that make them tailor-made for their environments. This is true on land and in the ocean. Little ones examine how various marine animals have...
Discovery Education
Perfectly Decomposed!
We all know someone who won't eat the banana with a brown spot, the grape with a dimple, and the apple with a bruise. Scholars use different fruits to explore what happens when fruits really start to decompose. They set up an experiment...
Curated OER
Plants
Third graders study the factors necessary for plant growth and how plants adapt to their environment. They examine ow different plants require different environments to thrive.
Serendip
Evolution and Adaptations
Survival of the fittest isn't just for the movies! A five-part lesson plan explores several different species with known adaptations and analyzes them for their survival strategies. Using both video and research data, scholars draw...
Curated OER
Common Adaptation Patterns
Students become familiar with common categories of animals and discover adaptation patterns and structures in animals that help them survive in different environments. Students identify major structures of common animals.
Curated OER
Living in the Desert
Conduct an investigation on the plants used by the Hohokam tribe. To survive in the harsh desert environment the Hohokam used many natural resources. Learners read, research, map, and graph multiple aspects of Hohokam plant use as a...
Curated OER
Teaching the Kono Salmon Kite
Students complete several student readings involving kite making and kite flying. They analyze how the parts of a system go together and how these parts depend on each other. They comprehend how different environments both provide...
Curated OER
Ice Mummies: Frozen in Heaven
Students conduct an experiment to investigate the rate of microbial growth at different temperatures. Students predict what will happen to the food at various temperature and test their hypotheses. Students describe the differences in...
Curated OER
Praire Biome Models
Fifth graders, in groups, list the physical characteristics of a biome and think of ways in which animals might have to adapt to live there and make a biome mobile ball that show the different types of habitats that shape the praire biome.
Virginia Repertory Theatre
The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse
Accompany the story, Town Mouse Country Mouse by Jan Brett with an assortment of activities designed to reinforce concepts covering story structure, comprehension, grammar, and social studies. Here, scholars identify the difference...
Royal Society of Chemistry
Green Plastics—Chemistry Outreach
How do green plastics reduce waste and environmental pollution? Budding scientists create and test a variety of compounds used in green plastics during an insightful experiment. Beginning with startling statistics and ending with...
University of North Carolina
Clichés
When it comes to writing, cliches are as old as dirt. A handout on tired phrases provides examples of cliches, as well as a description of the negative effects they have on a paper. Writers discover specific words and phrases to avoid,...
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...
Teach Engineering
Working Together to Live Together
Whose home is it anyway? Design teams plan a housing development in which they must also protect a native species. The teams consist of a project manager, civil engineer, environmental engineer, and graphic designer. Teams present their...
Teach Engineering
Above-Ground Storage Tank Design Project
The challenge: determine whether a tank will float. A design activity has groups work as engineering teams in order to determine the stability of given tanks and liquid contents. The teams need to determine the equations to...
Teach Engineering
Where Are the Plastics Near Me? (Mapping the Data)
The last activity in a nine-part series has teams create a Google Earth map using the data they collected during a field trip. Using the map, groups analyze the results and make adjustments to the map to reflect their analysis. A short...
NOAA
Deep-Sea Benthos
Much like a distant planet, the underwater world of deep-sea benthos is strange and largely unknown. How do creatures survive and thrive in such extreme pressure and temperature conditions? Young oceanographers join the crew of Operation...
Beyond Benign
Is It Easy Being Green Game Show
Is it possible to create an environmentally friendly shampoo? Learners accept this challenge in the fifth lesson in a green chemistry series of 24. The analysis of their shampoo ingredients must address pH, exothermic reactions, and...
ProCon
Vegetarianism
What do Mike Tyson, Ellen DeGeneres, and Paul McCartney have in common? They're all famous vegetarians. Using the resource, scholars learn about the pros and cons of eating a vegetarian diet. They read a fascinating history of...
PBS
NOVA Energy Lab Lesson Plan
Can our energy resources keep up with our ever-growing population? Science scholars learn the basics of energy and Earth's energy resources during an electrifying lesson plan. The resource combines video clips and an engineering design...
US Institute of Peace
Defining Conflict
Conflict is everywhere—but is it avoidable? The first activity in a series of 15 peacebuilding lessons examines the nature of conflict at home, school, and across the world. Learners develop a definition of conflict through group work...
Curated OER
Creating your Frog's Environment
Students discuss where frogs can live. After the discussion, they create an environment for a frog using items of their choice. Some may include: construction paper, paint, magazines. The environment could even be 3-D. The key to this...
Curated OER
What Parts Are There to a Plant?
Young scholars identify and sort plant parts through hands-on activities and group discussions and then work with magnifying lenses and tape measures to document their observations on a student sheet.
Curated OER
Animals, Animals, Everywhere
Fourth graders participate in a variety of activities dealing with animal characteristics and classifications in this multi-task activity. They use graphic organizers, make booklets, and make models.