Silver pennies and copper nickels are made possible by applying some chemistry. Learners use electrolysis to coat a penny with zinc sulfate and a nickel with copper sulfate. Their investigation builds an understanding of electroplating...

What is hibernation? Which animals hibernate and which don't? A 40-page packet on hibernation includes graphic organizers, reading passages and pictures about animals that hibernate, task cards, templates for a hibernation booklet,...

Explore the food chains that support Arctic ecosystems. A class discussion on interdependence and the different roles plants and animals play in ecosystems provides students with the knowledge to complete a worksheet asking them to...

Now it becomes crystal clear why the unit is called Mixtures and Solutions. The fifth installment of a six-part unit explores mixtures and solutions. After viewing a demonstration on mixing pebbles with water, salt with water, and...

When the sun's rays can't reach the producers in a food web, where does all the energy come from? Extreme environments call for extreme food sources. Young scientists investigate creatures that appear to get their energy from methane...

Dig into a classic math problem with your classes. Through an engaging task, learners work with rate and distance information to make conclusions. In the task, two people walk at different rates; one leaves first, and scholars...

The periodic table has so much more to it than meets the uninformed eye. An inquiry-based lesson leads learners through the history of the discovery of several transuranium elements. They then use informational resources to build a...

Pathogens, what they are, how they spread, and how to prevent them from spreading are the focus of this resource that can be used to prepare learners for a performance task assessment or to begin the study of communicable diseases.

What is the main difference between a moth and a butterfly? Butterflies have club-shaped antennae, while moths have a feather-like antennae. But what else differentiates these beautiful insects? The presentation in the resource...

Represent motion with arrows and call them vectors! The lesson is a presentation that models the mathematics involved when determining a resultant vector. It addrssses motions that are parallel, perpendicular, and a combination of...

Beans are for more than just counting! Introduce public key cryptography with cups and beans and ask scholars to use the beans to send secret numbers. Participants learn how this activity relates to public key cryptography and...

Rocks and minerals are great on their own, but they also turn into some pretty amazing stuff! An online lesson explains the different types of materials we get from rocks and minerals, including glass, plastic, and coins. An embedded...

Don't be caught in the dark! Young scientists investigate the causes of both solar and lunar eclipses using an interactive to help them understand the development of an eclipse over time. They then research facts and characteristics...

In this compare and contrast homework instructional activity, students and their parents eat two different candy bars, fill in a graphic organizer where they record 2 ways each candy bar is different from the other and 2 ways they are...

In this ions activity, learners complete a graphic organizer by filling in the number of protons and electrons plus the charge of the given ion.

Fourth graders study about food chains. With the assistance of a local biologist, Students hike the school trail system. They explore ecosystem and collect data by charting the organisms found and identifying the energy source. They...

As of April, 2016, more than 28,000 suspected cases of Ebola were recorded in Western Africa with over 11,000 human deaths. Classes discuss the Ebola virus outbreak in 2014 and then groups develop an action plan based on...

Is your class in the dark about photosynthesis? Shed some sunlight on an important biological process with a thoughtful activity. After answering questions to help determine their level of knowledge, learners work with chemical equations...

Conversion immersion — it's measuring mania! A set of four activities teaches scholars to convert between customary and metric units. Resource covers unit conversions in length, temperature, weight/mass, and volume.

A great way to bring poetry and parody into your language arts classroom, this lesson mimics famous poems based on Jon Scieszka's Science Verse. The activity not only allows the class to see examples of poem parodies, but to create their...

Before your learners excuse themselves to get a drink at the water fountain, prompt them to think about where that water comes from. A middle school science lesson encourages groups to research their community's source of drinking water,...

Here is a handy guide for putting together a research report on birds, or on a selection of other topics (see the added materials.). Individuals are guided to think of three questions about their topic, they narrow down subtopics, use a...

How is a movie theater like a desert biome? Compare systems to ecosystems with a set of activities that focuses on accessing multiple intelligences and building upon knowledge. As learners discuss the ways elements of an ecosystem depend...

Are spiders related to crabs? Study the order of arthropods with a reading selection about animal diversity. It provides details about each class within the order, as well as vivid pictures and explanatory charts.