Curated OER
What Is Natural?
Your junior highers will learn about which objects are natural and classify objects as abiotic or biotic. Your class will trace human products to their natural resources using matter cycles and then create their own definition of nature.
Captain Planet Foundation
Energy Flow in the Garden
How can you tell what an owl has eaten? Study the food chain and flow of energy in an ecosystem by dissecting an owl pellet and noting the bones found inside. Additionally, the lesson includes a game about consumers and producers with a...
Curated OER
NIGHT AND DAY: DAILY CYCLES IN SOLAR RADIATION
Students examine how Earth's rotation causes daily cycles in solar energy using a microset of satellite data to investigate the Earth's daily radiation budget and locating map locations using latitude and longitude coordinates.
Curated OER
Animal Habitats
Elementary schoolers complete a worksheet that has them decide which of four environments a variety of animals live in. The environments are: pond, soil, ocean, and woodland. There are 12 different types of animals that pupils must match...
Teach Engineering
Incoming Asteroid! What's the Problem?
Oh, no! An asteroid is on a collision course with Earth!. Class members must rise to the challenge of designing a shelter that will protect people from the impact and permit them to live in this shelter for one year. In this first lesson...
Discovery Education
It's Getting Hot in Here
Class members engage in a STEM experiment and investigate how materials affect heating in a house by creating models of houses and using different top surface materials. They record the temperature inside the models and consider what the...
Curated OER
Greenhouse Gases
Although the worksheet for the lab activity is not included, this is an activating activity for your class to do when learning about the greenhouse effect. They lay three thermometers underneath a lamp: one out in the open, one under a...
Curated OER
A Comparison Study of Water Vapor Data to Precipitation over North America
Learners use NASA satellite data to compare water vapor over the United States. For this data analysis lesson students use an Excel spreadsheet to map their data.
NOAA
A Quest for Anomalies
Sometimes scientists learn more from unexpected findings than from routine analysis! Junior oceanographers dive deep to explore hydrothermal vent communities in the fourth lesson plan in a series of five. Scholars examine data and look...
Curated OER
Scale/Ratio
Investigate the use of ratios in scale drawings. Learners scale objects up or down using ratios then find the actual size of something using ratios. They apply their knowledge of ratios as they make their own telescopes in science...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Good Litter, Bad Litter
Which ones can be thrown on the ground? Discover the difference between natural litter and unhealthy trash, helping scholars by using several examples. Use the information here to give them a basic background, but also encourage prior...
Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Eyes on Dissolved Oxygen
Learn about the factors that affect the way oxygen dissolves in salt water with a chemistry lab. After studying the molecular structure of water, young scientists figure out how aeration, temperature, and organic waste affect...
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Life In A Nest: Exploring Life Cycles With Bird Cams
Why read about it when you can watch it happen? Bird cams make it possible for learners to experience the life cycle of a bird in real time! An engaging set of lessons provides activities to connect their learning to bird cam...
Teach Engineering
Inside the DNA
Get your class to take a closer look at DNA. Pupils conduct research to determine the methods used by scientists to analyze the molecular structure of DNA. The class members investigate different types of molecular imaging along with gel...
Curated OER
Two Rivers Ran Through It
Sixth graders discover the problems that early Mesototamian farmers faced while developing agriculture in the land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. They design a working model that solves those unique challenges.
Curated OER
Soils
Young scholars apply knowledge of soil, environmental impacts, economics, multiple human demands, and use given data for a proposed scenario in making land use decisions. They debate land use issues and/or scenarios and discuss a case...
Florida International University
Design Your Own
Apply scientific principles to designing an experiment to study organisms living on the coral reef in our oceans. Through reading, individuals learn about the coral reef ecosystem and important factors that affect its function....
NOAA
The Methane Circus
Step right up! An engaging research-centered lesson, the third in a series of six, has young archaeologists study the amazing animals of the Cambrian explosion. Working in groups, they profile a breathtaking and odd creature and learn...
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...
NOAA
Off Base
How does carbon dioxide affect the world's oceans? The final installment in a series of six lessons has pupils research ocean acidification, then conduct an experiment to witness the delicate balance that exists in our seas. Materials...
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
Our Solar System - Comparing Planetary Travel Distances
NASA presents a mini-unit on distances in our solar system. It incorporates scientific concepts of gravity, mass, density, and payload while your aspiring astronauts also employ mathematics skills. They calculate speed, they determine...
Curated OER
Make Quiz Time a Fun Time
Students investigate a topic and prepare a quiz activity. For this space science lesson, students investigate one of the planets and construct a quiz for their classmates.
Curated OER
Planet of Plenty
Students examine a small piece of land to determine the diversity of life on Earth. They role play as visitors from outer space seeing life on Earth for the first time. They measure and observe their plots while working in small groups....