Curated OER
The Earth's Energy Budget
Students study the Earth's energy budget. In this investigative lesson students observe a lab that shows all aspects of heat transfer and light processes.
Curated OER
Our Solar System
Learners explain the classification of planets according to various criteria. They create charts illustrating comparative data.
Curated OER
How Hot is that Star?: Astronomy, Sun, Solar Temperature, Science
Young scholars explain sun facts and solar information. They discover how temperature of a star is measured. They investigate the various scales used to measure temperature. They observe images of the sun. They classify stars according...
Curated OER
Asteroids
Students study asteroids and how their size relates to a possible danger of one colliding with Earth. In this asteroids lesson students see how big an asteroid has to be to cause destruction to Earth.
Curated OER
Blazing Gas
Fourth graders read and discuss the sun and the energy we use on Earth from the sun. In this sun lesson plan, 4th graders discuss the solar system, planets, and answer short answer questions.
Curated OER
Theories
Students view a series of videos that explore the development, formation and arguments for the geocentric model of the solar system. Studenst investigate the heliocentric model of the solar system and consider how scientific theories...
Curated OER
Green Buildings Virtual Tour
Young scholars fill out a worksheet after researching green buildings by taking a virtual tour. In this green buildings lesson plan, students use Google Earth to research green buildings.
Teach Engineering
Get Me Off This Planet
What do Newton's Laws have to do with getting from Earth to Mars?The activities in this resource show how Newton's Laws work with rockets to get them into space. Background information includes facts about orbits and how orbits...
Curated OER
An Internet Lesson on the Planets
Sixth graders research one of the planets in the solar system based on questions that they develop using information from the Internet. They create a travel brochure using the research information.
Science 4 Inquiry
Phases of the Moon
The moon takes just over 27 days to orbit around Earth. Young scientists position themselves as the earth as they rotate around the sun and hold the moon. This allows them to observe the patterns and phases of the moon.
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...
Centers for Ocean Sciences
Ocean and Great Lakes Literacy: Principle 1
Is your current lesson plan for salt and freshwater literacy leaving you high and dry? If so, dive into part one of a seven-part series that explores the physical features of Earth's salt and freshwater sources. Junior hydrologists...
Curated OER
Fossil Fuels (Part II), The Geology of Oil
More of a mini-unit than a lesson, these activities lead inquisitors through a survey of oil deposits. In the first part, they read about and view diagrams of sedimentary rock layers that trap oil. Next, they test porosity and...
Rainforest Alliance
Climate Educator Guide
Climate change is a hot topic in the news. Class members examine carbon dioxide data to analyze trends of our atmospheric makeup over time. They also discuss climate and climate change, and determine how these changes are affecting life...
Curated OER
Unit VII Energy: WS 3a Energy Transfer and Storage
Here is a nifty worksheet on energy transfer. Physics fanatics analyze a diagram and state whether or not friction is involved. They sketch bar graphs and draw energy flow diagrams for each system as well. Circular motion, movement up...
NASA
NASA
Everything you have ever wanted to know about our solar system, space exploration, and more can be found here. Be prepared to clear your schedule; you will be sucked into the app like a star into a black hole.
NASA
Precipitation
Here is a fabulous collection of lessons for your emerging meteorologists! In them, learners will utilize satellite data to determine distribution of rainfall, research global rainfall patterns, and utilize their knowledge to propose new...
NASA
Dark Matter NASA Conference
Young scholars calculate the escape velocity of planets in our solar system and use that knowledge to calculate the escape velocity for NGC 2300 group. They then suggest reasons for the escape velocity to be higher than possible given...
Curated OER
Round and Round
Learners interpret data from a three-dimensional array of current monitors to determine an overall pattern of water circulation. They hypothesize what effect an observed water circulation pattern might have on seamount fauna. A very...
Curated OER
Settlement Exploration: Then and Now
NASA has crafted an imaginative and memorable series of lessons, "NASA and Jamestown Education Module." This lesson is one of the five components. In it, middle schoolers connect history and science by comparing the settlement of...
SRI International
Nanofiltration
How can everyone in the world have access to clean drinking water? Throughout the instructional activity, learners read about and listen to how water is filtered, what the filtration process removes, and the best ways to filter....
Curated OER
Floods and Flash Floods
Junior geologists, hydrologists, or meteorologists simulate what happens during the flooding of a river and demonstrate factors that contribute to flash flooding. This outstanding resource provides a vocabulary list, online resources,...
Curated OER
What Makes Day and Night?
In this What Makes Day and Night worksheet, students explain what makes day and night by looking at pictures of the earth and sun and reading 11 related words. Students also write interview questions for a scientist and investigate day...
Kenan Fellows
Sustainability: Learning for a Lifetime – Soil
Do great gardeners really have green thumbs—or just really great soil? Environmental scholars discover what makes Earth's soil and soil quality so important through research and experimentation. Learners also develop an understanding of...