NASA
Collecting Electromagnetic Radiation
Astronomy is literally over your head, but this lesson will explain how we study it. Young scientists make telescopes, calculate and compare the light gathering power of lenses, and simulate detection of infared radiation....
Salt River Project
How Do We Clean Polluted Water?
How do we clean up oil spills and other pollutants in the water? Explore water treatment strategies with a set of environmental science experiments. Groups remove oil from water, work with wastewater treatment, and perform a water...
NOAA
Ocean Layers I
How is it possible for ocean water to have layers? The sixth installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program investigates factors that cause different water densities to occur. Experiments...
National Park Service
Erosion
A set of PowerPoint slides supports a lecture or class review of weathering and erosion. Viewers learn the definition of each and examine various photos for evidence. Erosion is further depicted as caused by wind, water, and ice....
Chicago Botanic Garden
Climate Change Around the World
It is unknown if cloud cover increases in response to carbon dioxide levels changing, helping climate change slow down, or if cloud cover decreases, allowing Earth to warm faster. Part four in the series of five lessons has classes...
American Museum of Natural History
What's the Big Deal About Water?
It may seem simple, but water is one of the most unique substances on Earth. An interactive online lesson describes its properties and importance in so many different situations. Learners interact with the lesson to learn the role water...
Pingry School
An Introduction to Qualitative Analysis
Compounds take on different properties than their elemental components. How can scientists determine those elements? A lab-based activity has learners explore several double replacement reactions to analyze compounds qualitatively. They...
Curated OER
The Origin of Life
In this origin of life worksheet, students write answers to five questions. They describe characteristics of the first life forms and how scientists believe oxygen accumulated in the Earth's atmosphere.
Curated OER
The Day After Tomorrow: How is the Density of Water Related to Climate Change and Global Warming?
Science learners simulate what happens when ice breaks up and floats on water and how increased pressure on ice causes it to melt faster. They view a clip from the movie, The Day After Tomorrow, and relate their lab activities to what...
Texas State Energy Conservation Office
Investigation: Is Dilution the Solution?
Systematically diluting a full-strength sample of food coloring is meant to help earth scientists understand concentration in parts per million. While they will enjoy the lab exercise, it might be a challenge to help them relate it to...
Curated OER
Groundwater as Part of the Water Cycle
Make sure to read through the activity procedures thoroughly before teaching this lesson because the materials list is incomplete. Also, the mentioned worksheets and booklet are not available. However, there is no need to discard this...
Curated OER
Fossil Fuels (Part III), The Geology of Coal
Do not overlook this set of lessons just because your school does not have a data analysis system. There is plenty of material here to administer a complete mini unit on the formation, distribution, and properties of coal. Since it...
STEM for Teachers
Tsunami!
How does the depth of an ocean affect the speed of a tsunami's waves? Use Jell-o, graham crackers, and marshmallows to model the effects of an underwater earthquake and its resulting tsunami. The lesson plan includes hands-on activities,...
Curated OER
Water Table Lab
Students build a water table to show the zones of aeration and the zones of saturation. In this water table lesson plan, students use a beaker with sand and gravel to simulate the Earth's water table. They label the zones of aeration and...
Curated OER
Groundwater Pollution Lab
For this groundwater pollution worksheet, students use a piece of bread to represent the earth, food coloring to represent contaminants in the ground and water to simulate the movement of pollutants with water through the ground....
Curated OER
Continental Drift Lab-Wegener's Evidence
In this continental drift worksheet, 7th graders answer 7 questions about Wegener's theory of continental drift. They use a diagram of the Earth's continents that show plate tectonics.
Curated OER
Lab Safety
Students investigate the concept of lab safety using a variety of different activities. The equipment necessary is covered. They draw the different types of lab tools using a graphic organizer.
Curated OER
Dry Ice Activities Mini Lesson
Get your middle schoolers experimenting with dry ice. In the first activity, they place a piece in water and then use phenol red to identify its pH. In the second, they place a piece in a limewater solution and watch as the combination...
Curated OER
Weighing and Determining the Average Density of the Earth
Some background information about density and Newton's Laws of gravitation and motion assist pupils in the following experiment. The procedure will help them further their understanding of gravity, pendulums, and a drop-ball experiment....
Teach Engineering
Earthquakes Living Lab: Designing for Disaster
Build and design to rock and roll. Pairs research building design in earthquake areas and use computer simulations to see the effects of earthquakes on buildings,. They then sketch and explain a building design that would withstand...
NASA
Climate Change Online Lab
What are the key indicators that show scientists that our planet is in the fastest warming trend ever? Learners go on a WebQuest to examine the evidence for themselves. Following several links to NASA sites, kids see how the global...
Teach Engineering
Earthquakes Living Lab: The Theory of Plate Tectonics
Find out if your class agrees with Ice Age: Continental Drift ... or if it's just a fun family movie! Class members research the theory of continental drift, examine evidence of plate tectonics, connect...
University of California
Heating and Cooling of the Earth's Surface
Scholars collect data from heating sand and water before forming testable hypotheses about why sand heats up faster. Afterward, they develop and run experiments to test their hypotheses.
LABScI
Kinematics: The Gravity Lab
Falling objects can be brutal if you don't protect your noodle! Scholars explore the motion of falling objects through measuring short intervals to determine if the distance traveled varies with time. Building off of this, scholars...