Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Weather "Whys" Lesson 2 Seasons

For Teachers K - 1st
Students explore seasons.  In this cross curriculum weather and seasons instructional activity, students identify characteristics of the four seasons and sequence related pictures. Students listen to poems and stories about trees in...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Shake, Rattle, and Roll: Mt. St. Helens - Lesson Plan 2

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students compile information on volcanic activity at Mount St. Helens.  In this earth science lesson, students use the information they gathered on Mount St. Helens to answer questions and create charts in Excel.  Then students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Measuring Biodiversity

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers collect species data from a mock intertidal community. In this biology lesson, students graph their data and analyze the species in it. They construct a species accumulation curve and present it to class.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Moving Bodies

For Teachers 7th - 10th
In this moving bodies worksheet, students investigate how the amount of mass of a body in motion affects its tendency to remain in motion. Students use a meter stick as a ramp, marbles, string and a wooden block to determine how far a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

You’re Tugging at Me!

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students study the sliding and rolling friction.  In this forces lesson students divide into groups and use a cart to examine the amount of force that is used to move objects. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tsunami Simulation Experiment

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students examine the importance of tsunami warning systems. They read and discuss an article, conduct an experiment in a wave tank, calculate wave velocities of tsunamis, and identify what happens to tsunamis as they approach a shoreline.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Earth Energy Budget Lab

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students conduct experiments showing the greenhouse effect. In this scientific experiment lesson, students test for CO2 concentration, water vapor, ground albedo, and clouds. They describe what factors affect temperature and how...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring Alternative Energy Sources

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Young scholars research the amount and kinds of energy that are produced and consumed in the United States, including the limitations of this kind of consumption. They research and create a display to teach classmates about a specific...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Native Species Restoration and its Impact on Local Populations

For Teachers 8th - 10th
For this native species restoration worksheet, students are given 3 scenarios to choose from to help restore a declining population of an endangered species of deer. Students make predictions about what they will think happen when the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What is That Smell?

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students identify various scents by using their sense of smell. In this five senses lesson, students smell items such as popcorn, mint, and lemon and identify the scents by only using their sense of smell.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Show Me!

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students analyze and interpret graphs. In this graphing lesson, students view a video and construct their own graphs (line, circle, bar) from given sets of data. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ocean Temperatures

For Teachers 8th - 11th
Students list data collected by marine buoys and the different kinds of moored buoys. They describe how data is transmitted worldwide. They explain the difference between near shore and offshore air and water temperatures.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Blizzard of 1993

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students read and interpret the information from a barograph from a major winter storm. This task assesses students' abilities to interpret and analyze graphs, construct data tables and graphs, generalize, infer, apply knowledge of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Human Activity and the Environment

For Teachers 9th - 11th
Students review and analyze graphs and tables as a group. They develop their graph and data analysis skills by converting data tables from Human Activity and the Environment into graphs.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

La Toteca- A Tropical Paradise

For Teachers 7th - 11th
Students collect data on the time of the ferry. In this algebra instructional activity, students use the data to predict a ferry schedule. They also compute the depth where oxygen would be needed when diving.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Graphing Aquatic Insects

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students identify aquatic insects. For this organism lesson, students locate aquatic insects near a local waterway and collect them. Students graph the amount of insects that they collected.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Laws of Motions

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders explore the Laws of Motion. They define friction and explain the concept of inertia. Students explain what happens when a force is exerted on an object that is in equilibrium. They state the second and third laws of motion.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Measurement: Stream Flow & Stadium Capacity

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders study the scientific fields and how information can be monitored and recorded.  In this scientific inquiry lesson students view a PowerPoint presentation and complete a hands on activity. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Radioactive Decay

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students generate a radioactive decay table for an imaginary element, use their data to plot a decay graph, develop the concept of half-life, and use the graph to "age" several samples.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

One Plus One Makes New

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students discover the properties of matter and how they change when composite materials are produced.  For this informative lesson students write up a question and procedure to an experiment then analyze and draw conclusions based...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Probing Under the Surface

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders use a measuring stick to determine the shape of the inside of the bottom of a box, then apply their knowledge to an additional situation. This task assesses students' abilities to make simple observations, collect and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Geologic Age

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students investigate rocks. In this geologic age lesson, students conduct an experiment to determine absolute age as one would for rock layers. Students graph data and problem solve using results. 
Lesson Plan
PHET

Soda Bottle Magnetometer

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Introduce learners to set of complete instructions that describe how to build a magnetometer that works just like the ones professional photographers use to predict auroras. The diagrams are wonderfully descriptive, and the written...
Lesson Plan
Polar Trec

What Can We Learn from Sediments?

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Varve: a deposit of cyclical sediments that help scientists determine historical climates. Individuals analyze the topography of a region and then study varve datasets from the same area. Using this information, they determine the...