Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Overpopulation

For Teachers 5th - 11th
Young scholars examine population growth and how it impacts our environment.  In this population instructional activity students identify the causes and consequences of overpopulation.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

New York City Water Quality Assessment Project

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students investigate the chemistry of water and how its molecular structure supports life through its biochemcial, physical, and environmental roles. They investigate the quality of water as it interacts with the environment. Students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rusting-A Form of Oxidation

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students observe the rusting process in the lab. In this chemistry lesson, students rank metals according to their conductivity. They give real world applications of this activity.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Norman Suburban Activity

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students analyze the factors affecting organisms in the pond ecosystem. In this environmental science lesson, students perform an experiment to determine pH, nutrients and temperature of different pond sites. They present their result to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ecosystems and Remote Sensing

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students obtain remote sensing data to compare and contrast global biomass data with global temperature data.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Edible GMOs?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Make Your Own Temperature Scale

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Differentiate between temperature and thermal energy. Your class will build a thermometer using simple materials and develop their own scale for measuring temperature. Discuss with your class and consider why engineers need to understand...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Is in the Water?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Young scholars compare bottled water qualities to water found naturally in a pond habitat. They research their state's laws/regulations in regard to bottled water and study the advertising, cost, and quality of brands of bottled water....
Lesson Plan
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network

An Easy (Bake) Approach to an Edible NanoLab

For Teachers 6th - 8th
You can make it if you bake it! Young scientists model electronic chip fabrication with an easy bake oven. They create a design to embed in their brownie "chips" and compare their models to wafer production in basic nanotechnology.
Lesson Plan
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network

The Effects of Gold and Silver Nanoparticles on Brine Shrimp: A Toxicology Study

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
Who doesn't love gold and silver? Brine shrimp, that's who! Learners conduct an experimental lesson plan to monitor the toxicity of gold and silver nanoparticles on brine shrimp. They synthesize solutions to expose the brine shrimp to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Human or Natural?

For Teachers K - 3rd
Students explore nature by participating in a class lab activity. In this human vs. nature lesson plan, students examine a group of items in their classroom and discuss whether they were created naturally or have been altered or created...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Simulating the Effects of Biodegradable Wastes on Dissolved Oxygen

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students evaluate the relationship between biodegradable waste and dissolved oxygen in water.  In this biodegradable wastes instructional activity students complete a lab activity in groups then analyze their results.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Do Salt Water Fish Drink?

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Students conduct an experiment with potato cores and a sucrose solution to investigate how salt water fish process water. They develop a lab report of their experiment.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Teaching About the Properties of Water

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students use video, Internet research, graphs and tables, worksheets and hands-on experiments to investigate the properties of water in a lake environment. They work under direction or through an inquiry process.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

USING YEAST AS AN ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT MEASUREMENT TOOL

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Pupils realize the importance of organisms as standards of measurement and experimentation.The first lab is a simple survival curve that demonstrates the effects of UV light on cells. The second lab looks at repair mechanisms of the DNA...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Chick Embryology

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students investigate techniques that can be used to observe the development of the chick embryo. They explore the environment in which the chick develops and how it can be manipulated.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

World of Protists

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Pupils observe a jar of pond water and predict how much life they think exists in the jar and watch a "Bill Nye: The Science Guy" video regarding protists. They participate in an online virtual pond dip where they begin to familiarize...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Succession in the Classroom

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers investigate their environment by growing plants in class.  In this botany lesson plan, students discuss the lifespan of plants and animals and how they must be cared for continuously over time.  Middle...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Nebraska's Wild Weather

For Teachers K - 3rd
Students examine the weather in Nebraska. Using this information, they describe the cause and effect relationships in the environment based on these changes in weather. They write various types of poems with weather themes and share them...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Worm Weather Predicted

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students examine worm habitats. In this animal habitats lesson, students participate in a lab activity that requires them to explore the adaptations that earthworms make to their environment.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Closer Look at Wood

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students examine forests as a renewable resource and conservation practices.  In this conifers lesson students complete a lab activity on the different types of wood. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

BIoluminescence

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers investigate the concept of bioluminescence. They use dinoflagellates in a lab situation to study photosynthesis. They conduct research into the concept using a variety of resources. Also the class is taken on a field trip...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Spineless - YES... Helpless - NO!

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students distinguish between invertebrate and vertebrate organisms while examining the zoological classes of a number of invertebrates. They illustrate a food web of these organisms and investigate the impact of humans on the oceanic...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Trophic Relationships, Cycling of Chemicals, Human Impact on Ecosystems and Conservation

For Teachers 7th - 11th
Students explore how the energy flow through a system is related to trophic levels. They investigate how organisms affect the cycling of elements and water through the biosphere. Students participate in lab activities to observe ways...