Students create a model biome. In this ecology lesson, students use materials to create a model biome. There is an extension activity that allows students to write about plants and animals and their specific biome.

Learners create a desert biome to understand the abiotic and biotic factors of that biome. In this desert biome lesson plan, students include elevation, precipitation, temperature, plants, and more.

How fun it must be to play Frisbee in space! That is just what a NASA engineer gets to do, and you can learn how, too. Follow the instructions provided in this informational article to create your own satellite launcher. Afterward,...

To get the word out that the Great Pacific garbage patch (GPGP) contains millions of pounds of non-biodegrading plastics, individuals research the GPGP and write an article for a newsletter. Researchers present their facts in a...

Help overcome challenges in eating pizza. Scholars work in groups to design a device that assists a physically handicapped person eat pizza. They build a prototype of such a device to test their designs before building. To...

Applying engineering concepts to the field of medicine, pupils design a device to help test peripheral sight. The class learns and follows a specific design process for engineers before separating into groups; each group builds...

Did you know that the population is expected to grow to 11 billion by 2100? The resource serves final installment in a six-part series on the global population and its effects. Scholars interpret data from the United Nations about the...

Your sense of hearing depends upon tiny hairs deep inside your ear and if you lose these hairs, you lose your hearing. Here, groups explore hearing through the decibel measurement of common sounds. As a class, participants discuss...

Youngsters complete a unit of lessons based on the story "Little Miss Muffet." They predict what will happen in the story, and use context clues to look for meaning in the words. They research information about spiders using the Internet...

Second graders are introduced to different types of motion. They make rolling spider toys and race them on different surfaces to invsetigate forces and motion. Pupils make glue "spider webs" for their spiders after testing different...

Here's a workshop for teachers that rocks the academic world! Using earthquakes as a medium for instruction, educators learn about crosscutting engineering with science. Fun, hands-on, collaborative exercises encourage participants to...

Get out the goggles and conduct a simple experiment to model and explore the harmful effects of acid rain (vinegar) on living (green leaf and eggshell) and non-living (paper clip) objects. Young chemists observe and describe the harmful...

Students investigate the concept of tracking and spatial movements of animals in relation to the environment in which they live. They participate in an interactive activity by tracking one another over a pre-defined region, record the...

Fifth graders apply the concepts they know regarding mass, volume and density in the previous activities to design a boat. Student teams must make a boat which can travel the waters of the Amazon Rainforest. Each group makes a...

What do a cheetah, Audi commercial, and air have in common? They're all topics of an engaging inquiry-based, hands-on workshop for educators about background knowledge, reading strategies, the CER model, and argumentative writing. The...

Seventh graders give examples of local sources of pollution and postulate reasons as to why local sources of pollution can harm the ecosystem. They address the following question in short answer form: "Why is litter/chemical pollution...

Find out the science behind ancestry testing! Investigators watch a video exploring how ancestry works before participating in a hands-on group activity. Scholars role play scientists while learning about testing protocols and test...

Put a new twist on your collection of optical illusion activities. Affix the linked printable spiral to a drill, record player, or some other rotating tool. Have learners stare at the spinning disk for only 15 seconds and then look away....

Did you see that or did I imagine it? Optical illusions are often created with mirrors and lenses, and here is a presentation that covers many different types of mirrors and lenses and how they work. Flat, concave, and convex mirrors, as...

In order to understand DNA fingerprinting, advanced biology aces divise a crime scenario and analyze three different samples of lambda DNA. This creative lesson plan provides practice with micropipettes, electrophoresis boxes, and other...

Young scholars explore how different materials (sand, gravel, lava rock) with different water contents on different slopes result in landslides of different severity. They measure the severity by how far the landslide debris extends into...

Seventh graders are introduced to Earth day--- what is it and why do we care, ease into topic of pollution, where have they seen pollution in their community, steer conversation in the direction of the Anacostia. They are reintroduced...

Learn about defensible space and renewable resources with a lesson about forest fires. After exploring the ways that humans have impacted the environment, kids conduct mock interviews about differing points of view in the conservation...

Scholars explore the procedure for bacteria sampling in a virtual lab by first walking through a detailed step-by-step procedure of preparing the samples of raw milk and pasteurized milk, growing the bacteria, and comparing results....