Curated OER
Airplanes and Airports: How To Take Off Without Ever Leaving the Ground
Learners plan an airport visit. In this Airplanes and Airports lesson plan, students observe the people, activity, and machinery at airports. Then learners compare the characteristics of their observations at the airport. Students make...
Curated OER
Comets
Students explore the nature and composition of a comet. They research comet facts, legends, and myths. They identify different types of comets and describe what happens to a comet as it travels closer to the Sun.
Curated OER
My Antonia: K-W-H-L Strategy
Use the well-known KWHL chart as a tool for building up to a research project and oral presentation related to Willa Cather's My Antonia. Starting with a class brainstorm, pupils research and gradually narrow down topics relating to...
Curated OER
Transportation Through Time
Third graders measure the speed at which they can walk in order to understand speed and distance traveled. They then research the history of transportation and express data in a class timeline.
Curated OER
Exploring the Night Sky: Fall/Winter
Learners explain how moon phases occur. They explain three ways that the night sky has been used through history. Students locate some of the constellations in the night sky. They discuss stories and myths surrounding stars.
Curated OER
INTERPRETING THE EFFECTS OF THE SPANISH AMERICAN WAR ON US CITIZENS.
Young scholars write an article about some aspect of American life during the war. -Examples include: Food, Travel, Weapons, Communication, Maps, Leadership. Each group of three will then be responsible for posting their article to the...
Curated OER
Charles R. Savage Lesson Plan Ideas
Students explore works by English photographer Charles R. Savage. For this visual arts lesson, students investigate photography by Savage as they discuss the use of perspective, space, color, and texture.
Curated OER
Types of Galaxies
Eighth graders take a quiz to review the different objects in space. As a class, they define terms related to galaxies. In groups, they make a model of the Milky Way galaxy using materials provided to them by their teacher. To end the...
Curated OER
Retrograde Motion of Mars
Young scholars investigate the motion of Mars. In this space science lesson plan, students use transparencies to trace the path of Mars through constellations. Young scholars discuss the characteristics of the planet.
Curated OER
Destination Mars
Students study Mars and what it would take to man a mission there. In this solar system lesson plan students view a video and complete an art activity in groups.
Curated OER
Water and Ice
Students examine how water changes state, from a liquid to a solid. In this water lesson students study the water cycle and how temperature and pressure effect it.
Curated OER
Lunar Real Estate
Students investigate the aspect of colonizing the moon by comparing techniques that are used on Earth. The colonization takes place with the planning of a hypothetical model. The model is used as a point of discussion and target...
Curated OER
Take a Leap!
Eighth graders discuss the flight of the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk. They study artwork of various sculptors showing the concept of flight. They write a paragraph and design a papier-mache' sculpture that shows movement.
Curated OER
The Million Mile Journey
Middle schoolers read quotes. In this philanthropy lesson, students read Historic Excerpts of The Europeans. Middle schoolers work in pairs and pick one quote to illustrate.
Curated OER
Activity on United States Moon Landing: Apollo 11
Students use the World Wide Web to access additional information needed to complete a set of questions. They demonstrate an understanding of latitude and longitude by interpreting a lunar map.
NASA
The Evidence is “Clear”!
Do you think you know better? Become a scientist and prove it. Scholars review the evidence for two different theories of the origins of the universe. They notice the empirical observations as well as the inferences to determine which is...
NASA
Lava Layering
Take the old baking soda and vinegar volcano to the next level by using it to study repeated lava flows over time, examine geologic features on Earth and Mars, and speculate about some of the formations on Mars.
PHET
CME Plotting
Young scientists build on their previous knowledge and apply it to coronal mass ejections. By plotting the path of two different coronal mass ejections, they develop an understanding of why most don't collide with Earth.
NASA
Photons in the Radiative Zone: Which Way Is Out? An A-Maz-ing Model
Can you move like a photon? Young scholars use a maze to reproduce the straight line motion of a photon. The second in a six-part series of lessons on the sun has learners measure angle of incidence and refraction to determine the path...
University of Colorado
Are All Asteroids' Surfaces the Same Age?
There are more than 600,000 asteroids in our solar system. Pupils analyze images of two asteroids in order to determine if they are the same age. They count craters for each asteroid and compare numbers.
University of Colorado
Are All Asteroids' Surfaces the Same Age?
Did you know scientists can tell the age of an asteroid by looking closely at its craters? This final lesson of a six-part series focuses on two asteroids, Gaspra and Ida, in order to demonstrate the concept of dating asteroids. Scholars...
NASA
Measuring Dark Energy
You're only 10 minutes late? Do you know how much the universe has expanded in those 10 minutes? Scholars graph supernovae based on their redshift and see if the results verify Hubble's Law. If it does confirm it, the universe is...
Curated OER
Look at those Leaves!
Learners observe and measure tree leaves. In this leaf lesson students do on a "leaf walk" then use the leaves they find to complete a few activities.
Curated OER
Exploring All Frontiers
Students utilize higher thinking skills to expand their self concept to include physical, cognitive, and affective frontiers. The teacher create activities which allow students to use raw data and primary sources, as well as...