Curated OER
Creatasaurus
Upper elementary children still are intrigued by dinosaurs. Here is a dinosaur lesson that is geared toward their age group! The learners consider a list of prefixes and suffixes. Using the list, they can analyze the names of their...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Greenhouse Gas Emissions — Natural and Human Causes
What impact do humans have on greenhouse gas emissions? What are the natural causes of these gasses? Thanks to the carbon cycle, carbon dioxide eats away at the earth's atmosphere with the intensified help of humans. Young scientists...
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
New England's Ground Water Resources
Learn all about where ground water is stored, how it moves, and how it is accessed in a detailed and thorough 10-page reading. Whether supplementing reading for an existing environmental or earth science course or providing background...
Curated OER
How I Use Water
Beginning with a brief anticipatory set on how water is commonly used, this presentation evolves into a well planned lesson on the water cycle. Students will discuss vocabulary, label the parts of the water cycle, locate where water is...
Star Date
Shadow Play
Three activities make up a solar system lesson that features the sun, its light, and the shadows it produces. Scholars step outside to discover the changes shadows make at different times of day, take part in a demonstration of...
Curated OER
THAT'S WHY THEY CALL IT SPACE
Ninth graders set up a scale model of the solar system using the same scale for distance and diameter. They calculate scale distances and sizes for modeling the solar system and relate actual distances to difficulties in discovering and...
Curated OER
A Design You’ll Dig: Designing a Habitat for Worms
Students discover how worms contribute to the balance of the environment. In this composting lesson, students study the composting and decomposition processes. Students then create habitats for worms that allow them to do their jobs.
NASA
States of Matter
Water, one of the basic needs of humans, is found in all three states of matter on Earth; no other planet—that we know of—possesses this quality. Here is a unit that allows learners to explore through experimentation what it...
NOAA
Please Pass the Salt
Salinity is the focus of two experimenters that work to answer the question, How does salt change the physical properties of water? Super scientists compare the freezing rate of salt and fresh water, combine the two waters to...
Journey Through the Universe
A Scale Model Solar System
Between the time scientists discovered Pluto and reclassified it as a dwarf planet, it did not even make one full revolution around the sun. In two activities, scholars investigate scale models and their properties. Pupils find that it...
NOAA
Wet Maps
How do oceanographers make maps under water? Junior explorers discover the technologies and processes involved in creating bathymetric maps in part three of a five-part series designed for fifth- and sixth-grade pupils. The...
Curated OER
Landforms of Illinois
Fifth and sixth graders are introduced to the primary landforms of Illinois and discover how they were created. Landform cards are made for each pupil. They use the twenty-questions format until they have identified each one. Then,...
Scholastic
Perfect Postcards: California
It's time to hear about some adventures in travel! The Transcontinental Railroad changed life and travel in the United States during the 1800s. Practicing online research skills, pupils discover the features they would like to visit on...
Curated OER
Measure for Measure
Young mathematicians work to recognize the relationship between their scale models of the Joides research vessel and the real vessel. They calculate the relationships between various parts of the ship using fractions, ratios, and...
Curated OER
Layers of Rock
Juvenile geologists drill clear plastic straws down into a playdough sedimentary rock model, pulling out sample rock cores. As they analyze their cores, they apply the law of superposition and discover that originally horizontal layers...
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
The Solar Wind Tunnel
The winds of change are blowing in our very own solar system! But what makes some heavenly bodies more affected by solar winds than others? Pupils discover the concept of magnetic forces at work in space in this...
Teach Engineering
Energy in Our Lives Carousel
Don't waste any more energy trying to find a great resource on energy. The third installment of a 25-part Energy Systems and Solutions unit focuses on energy use in pupils' lives. They consider how their daily routines consume energy and...
Curated OER
Trekking to Timbuktu: Restoring the Past
Students investigate the environmental factors that threaten Timbuktu. Students investigate what measures are being taken to restore their mosques, and the condition of their ancient manuscripts. Students discover information about the...
Curated OER
Wonderful Whales
Primary marine biologists consider the largest living animals on Earth, the whales. Introduce them to general anatomy, unique adaptations, and behaviors. Teach them to sing a song that will help them remember some of these facts....
Starry Night Education
Comets and Meteors
Comets are also known as dirty snowballs or icy mud balls. With your super scientists, create a model comet nucleus to discover how they are made and take part in a scientific discussion to learn how it behaves.
NOAA
A Day in the Life of an Ocean Explorer
What's life like aboard an ocean exploration vessel? Junior oceanographers examine the important role of communication in ocean research in lesson two of a five-part series from NOAA. The materials introduce the class to life on...
NOAA
Mapping the Deep-Ocean Floor
How do you create a map of the ocean floor without getting wet? Middle school oceanographers discover the process of bathymetric mapping in the third installment in a five-part series of lessons designed for seventh and eighth graders....
California Academy of Science
Rapid Brainstorming: How Can We Conserve Our Water Resources?
Water covers around 75 percent of the earth, yet humans struggle to find enough fresh water to live. The fourth of 10 lessons focusing on Fresh Solutions requires brainstorming. Young scientists consider various problems related to fresh...
Curated OER
Normal (dip-slip) Earthquake!
Students label the fault lines and tectonic plate boundaries on the world map. In this earth science lesson, students simulate ocean floor formation using CEENboTs. They explain the causes of earthquakes.