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Big Fat, Juicy Worms
Learners collect and study information about worms. They discover how an earthworm helps process and loosen the soil. They write in their journals as well.
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Aztec Floating Gardens
Aztecs created amazing hydroponic gardens called Chinampas, to grow their crops. Learners in grades k-7 engage in four mini-experiments to understand just how amazing floating gardens are. Tip: A perfect way to bring science into your...
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Watercycle
Third graders examine the natural circulation of water from oceans, lakes, and rivers to evaporation into the air, and then to condensation to produce rain falling back to the soil as components of the water cycle.
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Water Filtering
Students investigate how polluted water is filtered so people can use this recycled resource. They conduct an experiment in which they put "polluted" water through a filtering system. They investigate what happens at a water treatment...
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Earth Changes
Young scholars investigate the earth's structural layers by participating in hands-on activities. They identify the earth's structure and investigate earthquakes.
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Plant Adaptations
Students identify parts of prairie plants. They sketch the plants indicating its adaptive parts and write brief descriptions of them. They present their findings to the class.
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Osmosis
Second graders discover the process of osmosis. For this science lesson plan, 2nd graders learn how different kinds of solutions move through selectively permeable membranes, understand the role of osmosis in the movement of molecules,...
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Bean There, Done Plant
Students explain that events in nature follow an orderly progression when they plant seeds and observe the development of the seeds. They count seeds and find the likenesses and the differences of many seeds.
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What is Life?
Students investigate the characteristics of living things. For this life science lesson, students examine several living and non-living specimens. Students determine which things are living and non-living.
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Breathe In, Breath Out
Students discover how plants breathe. In this biology lesson plan, students learn that plants take in carbon dioxide and find that plants need sunlight to absorb the carbon dioxide.
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Best Management Practices for Water Quality
Fourth graders examine best management practices for water quality. For this water quality instructional activity, 4th graders explore unused land to identify areas of runoff, erosion, and effects of water flow. Students...
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Lead Detection
Pupils hypothesize whether the soil sample may have lead contamination and why. They describe what they see happening with the soil samples and the corresponding swabs. Pupils write a brief description of what they observe as the various...
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Organisms – Their Needs
Students compare and contrast different organisms characteristics. In this life science lesson, students design an experiment about plants and animals needs. They collect data and write their conclusion about the experiment.
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Neutralization
Ninth graders study pH, acids, bases, and neutralization. They discuss and apply principles of neutralization to everyday situations (bee stings, indigestion remedies, soil acidity, etc.). They carry out several experiments using acids...
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Making a Human Tree
Students explore botany by defining the anatomy of a tree. In this environmental exploration lesson plan, students research plant vocabulary terms and discuss the uses of each word. Students create a "human" tree by role-playing as one...
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Aquatic Ecosystems
Students study ponds and wetland ecosystems and examine the food chains and webs in them. In this aquatic ecosystems lesson students answer questions about the diversity of the flora and fauna in a pond.
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Through A Pinhole
Learners construct a pinhole camera using their knowledge of the physics of light. This interdisciplinary activity give students hands-on experience in understanding the production and processing of photographic images.
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Outdoor Education
Students participate in various outdoor activities to teach them about the environment. In this outdoor education lesson plan, students participate in activities such as compass direction, conservation, forestry, wildlife, and...
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Trash Disposal Choices
Students investigate the use of landfills. In this landfill use and recycling lesson, students discuss what happens to trash and junk. They review the types of trash before categorizing a list of items they throw away each day. They...
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"Tri-County" Project--Ground Water
Students explore data on some of the landforms in Nebraska to distinguish between porous and nonpremeable soils. The state's groundwater is investigated.
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Explore the Food Web
Young scholars identify plants and animals in the journals of Lewis and Clark's expedition. They describe the various animal habits. Students interpret the behaviors of the animals discovered on the expedition. They design a food web...
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Environmental Education
Second graders examine how their choices affect the environment. They identify different types of pollution and its source. They ask questions to end the lesson.
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Which Way to Roots Grow?
Second graders explore roots and how they grow. They observe as seeds planted in various directions grow and record their observations. Students discuss the direction in which the roots are growing.
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Classroom Composting
Students observe and describe the cyclic nature of life. They identify and appreciate the importance of a balanced ecosystem. Finally, students compare and contrast biodegradable and non-biodegradable resources in nature and describe the...