Teach Engineering
Fun Look at Material Science
Introduce materials science with a class demonstration. After showing a PowerPoint presentation on materials and their properties, instructors provide a ceramic tile, a Popsicle stick, a paper clip, and a plastic bag as examples of...
Rainforest Alliance
Knowing the Essential Elements of a Habitat
To gain insight into the many different types of habitats, individuals must first get to know their own. Here, scholars explore their school environment, draw a map, compare and contrast their surroundings to larger ones. They then...
Curated OER
Identify and use Simple Machines
Students are exposed to simple machines and their uses. In this everyday tools lesson, students watch a demonstration on how a lever, pulley, ramp, and wheel works. Students are given the opportunity to use hands-on techniques to explore...
Curated OER
Ears Here!
Students participate in an interactive video to review the five senses. They perform hands-on activities to test their sense of hearing and play a hearing game from the Internet.
Curated OER
Look at Those Leaves!
Learners observe leaves in hands-on ways. As they observe attributes, they will group the leaves according to these attributes and consider any patterns they see emerge. In addition, they will communicate what they have learned about...
Carnegie Mellon University
How Power Plants Work 2
In this second of three lessons on power plants, future engineers find out how we generate electricity and how coal-powered plants operate. They work in small groups to make electromagnet generators to light LED bulbs. A set of...
Curated OER
The Living Environment
Learners use a spoon, clothespin, scissors, and toothpicks to simulate how animals get food in their environment. In this environment lesson plan, students learn about the adaptations animals make in order to survive.
Curated OER
Now You Have It, Now You Don't
Sixth graders compare corn-based shipping peanuts to Styrofoam shipping peanuts. In this hands-on environmental awareness lesson plan, 6th graders try dissolving two different types of packing peanuts in water.
Curated OER
Smile...you're on Insect Camera!
Students study insects. They go on an outdoor insect outing and look for insects in a variety of places--in the air, under rocks, on leaves, in water, etc. They record information about the insects they find, including habitat, weather...
Curated OER
Build the Taiga: Hands on Biome-Building
Learners explore environmental awareness by completing a construction project. In this biomes lesson plan, students identify the different elements for life to thrive in an ecosystem. Learners utilize a cardboard or wood box to create a...
Curated OER
Home Living / Daily Living: Labels on Food Products
Everybody needs to know how to make healthy choices when it comes to food. Understanding food labels is the first step. Using empty food packaging, you'll discuss what food labels are, what information can be found on them, and how to...
Nuffield Foundation
Observing Earthworm Locomotion
One acre of land can contain more than a million earthworms. Scholars collect earthworms to observe their movements. Once placed on paper, the sound of movement often fascinates pupils. When placed on glass, the earthworm is unable to...
Curated OER
Reading the River
In collaborative groups, young ecologists measure the temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen for three different freshwater samples. They examine each sample with a microscope and record observations on the microorganisms in the pond...
Curated OER
Backyard Bugs
Explore the concept of scientific classification and the similarities and differences between plant and animal species. Your class will participate in hands-on activities by investigating dichotomous keys and classifying their shoes. To...
Curated OER
The Aquatic Environment
Fifth graders focus on the various types of fish living in different water environments. In groups, they research the different methods used to fish and participate in experiments to determine the effects of mercury on fish, the...
Curated OER
Life Means Water Environment
Students investigate pH levels in bodies of water and experiment with acid/base reactions. In this water and pH lesson, students observe changes in pH levels of a sample solution and observe a Bronsted-Lowry reaction. Students...
Curated OER
Environment: Battling for Oxygen
Young scholars construct an interactive ozone depletion model using gumdrops and toothpicks. After analyzing the data obtained from the model, they record it on butcher paper and complete worksheets about oxygen.
Curated OER
Yuckiest Site on the Internet
Students investigate the worm and the cockroach. In this organisms lesson, students visit suggested websites to identify the characteristics of worms and cockroaches. Students dissect a worm and observe a live cockroach. Students...
Curated OER
A Pollution Solution- Taking Care of the Environment
Students examine the biodegradability of different brands of toilet paper in a hands-on activity. Through this activity they also discover the steps of the Scientific Method and use new terms such as hypothesis, procedure, observation,...
Curated OER
Science: Daily and Seasonal Cycles
First graders use their observations to describe daily and seasonal cycles. through a demonstration using a suspended ball and flashlight, they determine the time of day in various locations. Next, 1st graders participate in a...
Curated OER
Suited for Space
A fantastic lesson on survival in outer space should excite your learners! Pupils explore the challenges that living, working, and surviving in space elicit. They focus on the spacesuit itself; how it protects astronauts, and enables...
Curated OER
Edible GMOs?
The debate over genetically modified organisms is on! Young biologists imagine that they have been asked to choose which corn chips will be sold for a fundraiser, one made with GMOs or one without. This four-day lesson plan requires...
California Academy of Science
Fish Prints
What do a dead fish, conservation, and paint have in common? The answer is a great lesson plan about fish anatomy, fun print making techniques, and unsustainable fishing practices. The class will start by making fish prints with a...
Curated OER
A House is a House for Me
Students evaluate the impact climates have on the building of structures. They research the different types of materials used to build houses in various climates and build small models of houses which are tested against different climates.