California Academy of Science
What Kind of Geologist Am I?
Transform your class into young geologists as they learn about six different branches of geology. Using the included geology career descriptions and picture cards, learners work in small groups deciding which tools and locations fit...
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
Space Travel Guide
Looking to take a trip? Why not go to space? Here, scholars take on the role as travel agent to create a guide to their favorite planet including travel tips and sightseeing recommendations.
University of Colorado
Are All Asteroids' Surfaces the Same Age?
Did you know scientists can tell the age of an asteroid by looking closely at its craters? This final instructional activity of a six-part series focuses on two asteroids, Gaspra and Ida, in order to demonstrate the concept of dating...
NASA
Melting Ice: Designing an Experiment
Sometimes, despite the best laid plans, the unexpected will occur. Learners witness this firsthand as they carefully design an experiment to determine the time needed for ice to melt in salt water or pure water. They uncover facts not...
Curated OER
Relative Age Dating
Modeling dough and paper cutouts in science class? Learn about how relative age dating concepts, like the Law of Superposition and cross-cutting relationships, can be used to describe the formation of sedimentary layers.
McGraw Hill
Arthropods
Are spiders related to crabs? Study the order of arthropods with a reading selection about animal diversity. It provides details about each class within the order, as well as vivid pictures and explanatory charts.
Virginia Department of Education
Determining Absolute Age
How can radioactive decay help date old objects? Learners explore half-life and radioactive decay by conducting an experiment using pennies to represent atoms. Young scientists graph data from the experiment to identify radioactive decay...
Port Jefferson School District
Hurricane Katrina
Young scientists track Hurricane Katrina across the Atlantic Ocean as they learn about these destructive forces of nature. Provided with a table of data tracking the location and conditions of Katrina over a one week span, students...
PE Central
Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with Dance
Erin go bragh! Enliven your St. Patrick's Day celebration by teaching your class members some of the combinations found in traditional Irish step dancing.
NASA
The Evidence is “Clear”!
Do you think you know better? Become a scientist and prove it. Scholars review the evidence for two different theories of the origins of the universe. They notice the empirical observations as well as the inferences to determine which is...
PHET
Iron Filings and Magnetic Field Lines
How do magnetic fields differ? Allow scholars to see the difference between 2-D and 3-D magnetic fields. They construct models of both and observe how they are similar and different. It is the fifth installment of an 18-part unit.
Annenberg Foundation
Geometry 3D Shapes: Platonic Solids
From polyhedrons to platonic solids, here is a lesson that will have your classes talking! As an introduction to platonic solids, scholars cut and fold nets to create the three-dimensional solids. They use an interactive component to...
Annenberg Foundation
Geometry 3D Shapes: Test Your Skills
Time to find out what they've learned! The final lesson of a five-part series has learners complete a 39-question multiple choice review. They use what they've learned in the previous lessons to complete questions that include concepts...
Curated OER
Finding Meaning in the Badge
Children who are three to five years old study two rank badges from the Qing dynasty to develop an understanding of social rank, language skills, and symbolism. The lesson is discussion-based and requires learners to compare and contrast...
Intel
Energy Innovations
Collaborative groups examine the importance of energy resources on quality of life by researching different energy sources and alternative energy sources through data analysis. They make a comparison of different countries and cultures,...
Workforce Solutions
A Colony for Lunar Living
Two lessons explore the possibility of living on the moon. First, scholars read various scenarios to identify which careers would best transfer to life in space. Finally, pupils examine a website to locate items made for outer space,...
Lerner Publishing
Teaching Community Helpers
Youngsters discover who the leaders in their community are and what it means to build a community in this four-lesson unit.
National External Diploma Program Council
Capitalization Review
Using correct grammar is a capital idea! Elementary readers review the rules of capitalization, including proper nouns, abbreviations of organizations, and holidays, before correcting the errors in two sets of sentences.
Curated OER
San Francisco Explodes
Students investigate why San Francisco grew so quickly during the Gold Rush. They
Curated OER
Fueling Around with Energy: A Comparative Study of Conventional and Renewable Energy Use Among Nations
High schoolers compare and contrast renewable and conventional energy sources. In this energy lesson plan, students research about conventional fuel and present a persuasive argument about their stand on the issue.
Curated OER
Family Heritage Cookbook
Students compare favorite family recipes. In this cultural diversity lesson, students interview family members and record favorite recipes. Students examine cultural diversity through favorite foods.
Curated OER
What Makes a Cat a Cat?
Students investigate the lives of pets by videotaping them. In this animal life lesson, students videotape a cat and other pets using school cameras in a computer lab. Students review the footage from the cat and other...
Curated OER
WHAT HOLDS US TO EARTH?
Young scholars they imagine they are Galileo and try to duplicate Galileo's experiments and results.
Curated OER
Using Soil properties and Vegetation Differences to Hypothesize the Land Use History and Topographic Differences between Two Locations
Ninth graders take soil samples and perform tests on these samples.