Virginia Department of Education
Thermochemistry: Heat and Chemical Changes
What makes particles attract? Here, learners engage in multiple activities that fully describe colligative properties and allow the ability to critically assess the importance of these properties in daily life. Young chemists...
BioEd Online
Spiders in Space
Does a spider spin its web differently in space? What other ways might microgravity affect an arachnid? Pick a topic to research, plan an investigation, and follow astronauts on the International Space Station as they perform some of the...
Curated OER
Volcanoes: Fifth Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Fifth graders explore volcanoes and the rocks they produce using the Internet. The lab portion of the lesson prompts young scientists to compare and describe igneous rocks. Next, they critique a pair or more of...
Lesson Plans
Analogy of the Cell Project
Intended to supplement your existing cell function and organelle lessons, pairs work together to develop a real-world analogy for cell structures. In addition to writing paragraphs about the comparison, each group will make a short...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Modeling Food Webs in Darién, Panama
It's a jungle out there! Young biologists journey to Darien, Panama to examine the intricate relationships between the organisms that inhabit the jungle. Groups begin by demonstrating an understanding of energy flow in ecosystems, then...
IOP Institute of Physics
Physics in Concert
What do physicists and musicians have in common? A lot more than you might think. After first viewing a slide show presentation and completing a series of skills practice worksheets on the physics of light, sound, and...
NASA
Christa's Lost Lesson: Newton’s Laws
How do the laws of motion work in space? Learners explore Newton's laws of motion in different experiments as part of the Christa's Lost Lessons series. They rotate around the room in three stations to experience each law in action using...
Curated OER
High-Tech Food: Science in Your Shopping Cart
Kids are given a lot to think about, as they delve into the world of high-tech foods. They discuss GMOs, biotechnology, food enhancements and domestication. They view videos, engage in class discussions, complete worksheets, and learn...
University of Minnesota
Mirroring Emotions
Do you ever give your class the "teacher look"? Without saying a word, they become silent and engaged (hopefully). How do they know what you're thinking? Explore the concept of nonverbal communication and how it relates to our...
Curated OER
Cell Wall Recipe: A Lesson on Biofuels
Biotech engineers discover that changes in the DNA code for cell wall formation can help create crops better suited for biofuel production. They extract DNA from wheat germ. They decode paper strips with codes and relate the activity to...
University of Georgia
Energy Content of Foods
Why do athletes load up on carbohydrates the evening before a competition? The lesson helps answer this question as it relates the type of food to the amount of energy it contains. After a discussion, scholars perform an experiment...
Curated OER
E.T., Are You Out There?
Research the necessary components of a planet that supports life after reading the article "All of a Sudden, The Neighborhood Looks a Lot Friendlier" from The New York Times. After finding their information, middle and high schoolers...
Curated OER
Exploring Living Science Careers
Use a variety of group activities to explore living science careers. Living science careers include everything from a food scientist or farmer to a veterinarian or agricultural economist. Kids will discuss 31 different careers in this...
Curated OER
America's Heartland: Step-By-Step Lesson Guide
An excellent resource gets kids looking at agricultural production to better understand the careers needed in distributing foods from the farm to the consumer. Book, poster, web, and video links are included for teacher use. There is...
Virginia Department of Education
Viruses
Germs, parasites, and viruses, oh my! Facilitate a lesson on viruses as individuals explore functions of Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya. They learn how viruses compare with other organisms in nature and how they contribute to health...
Curated OER
Air Pollution in Mexico City
A fantastic lesson on urban air pollution problems throughout the world is here for you. Learners understand that there are many factors involved in creating pollution, that there are many health effects brought on by air pollution, and...
Curated OER
Big Dam Construction in India
This complete and full resource includes everything needed to conduct a lesson on the environmental impact of large dams in India. Background information, handouts, answer keys, and web links are all there to help you educate your class...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Coloring Discrete Structures
What's the least number of colors needed to color a U.S. map? The lesson begins by having pupils view a video clip on continuous and discrete phenomenon, then launches into an activity reminiscent of Zeno's paradox. A separate video...
PBS
Blow the Roof Off!
Blow the minds of young scientists with this collection of inquiry-based investigations. Based on a series of eight videos, these "hands-on, minds-on" science lessons engage young learners in exploring a wide range of topics...
Curated OER
Canada's Role in Astronomy and Space Science
Ninth graders, in groups, research a Canadian astronaut, developing a profile of their astronaut for presentation in a learning center. They visit the other groups' centers to explore more astronauts.
National Science Teachers Association
Hop into Action
Young scientists find out what makes amphibians such unique and interesting animals in this simple life science instructional activity. After looking at pictures and discussing the characteristics of amphibians, learners...
G. Turrell
Science Activity 1: Light & Sound
Are you looking for lab sheets to go with your class experiment on plant response to light? You are no longer in the dark! This is a lesson that was written for a unit on light, but could easily be used to demonstrate plant behaviors in...
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
The Giver: Lesson 1
Do “memories need to be shared?" Are “memories…forever?" Would you give up memory to live in a perfect world? Introduce a unit centered on Lois Lowry’s utopian/dystopian novel The Giver with a series of activities that has groups...