Curated OER
The Golden Ratio
Seventh graders investigate a ratio found in nature and in numerous pieces of artwork throughout history. The lesson is cross-curricular and builds a sense of appreciation of design for students.
Curated OER
Immunology
Learners investigate the immune system. In this immune system instructional activity, students explore the immune system through participating in a WebQuest. After completing the WebQuest, learners create a video documentary or chart.
Curated OER
Reaching Into Your Genes
Students interact with a video to explore the basis for the science of chromosomes. They perform a chromosomal analysis called a karyotype and explore how seemingly minute errors in chromosomes can lead to devastating illnesses.
Curated OER
Making Connections: Exploring Our Brains through the Five Senses
Students record observations and create drawings and models of anatomy using their five senses. They describe the structures of a neuron and analyze each of their functions. They compare and contrast the typical structural features of a...
Curated OER
Scientists Find 27 New Species in Caves
Young scholars share their knowledge of creatures that live in caves, then read a news article about new cave animals that have been found in California. For this current events lesson, the teacher introduces the article with a...
Curated OER
Protect Your Melon
Students construct a helmet to protect their heads from falling objects. In this constructing lesson plan, students design this helmet with the lowest cost possible.
Curated OER
Exercise and Heartrate
Fourth graders experiment to find the effects of exercise on the heart rate. In this exercise and heart rate lesson, 4th graders create questions about exercise and heart rate. Students use the scientific method to test and analyze...
Curated OER
Simple Harmonic Motion with Dr. DAQ
Students study the work and accomplishment of Galileo. In this physics lesson, students calculate the period of a pendulum's using a mathematical equation. They explain the different factors affecting its period.
Curated OER
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
Young scholars identify patterns in the stars. In this constellation lesson, students simulate constellations using black canisters and patterns. Young scholars discuss the points on the constellations and how to draw imaginary lines to...
Curated OER
Health Issues Related to Space Experiments
Students participate in a science instructional activity that integrates connections between health issues on Earth and how those issues are related to studies conducted on the International Space Station. T
Curated OER
Plants and Animals: Partners in Pollination
Students describe the complementary relationships between pollinators and the plants they pollinate, identify adaptations that flowers have developed to "encourage" pollination, and create and draw their own "designer" flowers.
Curated OER
Create a Classroom Exhibit: Rocks and Minerals
Students bring in rocks and minerals from home. They observe them and describe them carefully, completing a worksheet. Finally, a classroom exhibit is created.
Curated OER
Is a Tough Smoking Law Coming to Your State?
Young scholars read and discuss a news article about a new anti-smoking law in Hawaii. They answer article comprehension questions, complete a fill-in-the blank activity, discuss laws that ban smoking in small groups, and create a No...
Curated OER
Rocks and Minerals
Learners bring rocks and minerals from home to investigate in the classroom. In this rocks and minerals lesson plan, students observe all the rocks and minerals brought into the class and answer 7 questions about the features of the...
Curated OER
A World of Symmetry
Students identify lines of symmetry. In this symmetry lesson, students create objects and identify their lines of symmetry. They answer questions about lines of symmetry. Students cut shapes out of cookie dough and...
Curated OER
Charlie and the Cell City
Students investigate the major components of the cell and their function through an adventure inside the cell with an imaginary little guy named "Charlie." Through the use of the Internet and viewing a video, students identify components...
Curated OER
Steamship Portland: Where's the Energy?
Students examine how steamships operate. They describe the necessary energy conversions. They construct a model paddlewheel ship. They use rubber bands as examples of potential and kinetic energy as they unwind and set the models in motion.
Curated OER
Lesson: Skin Fruit: Propaganda of the Deed
Art can express acts of injustice and move society to action. Upper graders analyze contemporary art relating to specific moments in history. They discuss propaganda, anarchy, sociology, and violence as activism. After researching and...
Curated OER
Home in the Desert: Lesson for Use with This House is Made of Mud
Third graders examine how a family modifies their environment to create a home out of mud. They read the book "This House is Made of Mud" by Ken Buchanan, and write a description of their own home that compares the home of mud to their...
Outdoor Learning Center
Outdoor Survival
Which of the following can you survive without for the longest time: water, food, or a positive mental attitude? The answer may surprise you. Guide learners of all ages through games, activities, and discussions about surviving in the...
Curated OER
EEEK! A Spider!
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...
Curated OER
Bears and Panthers Aplenty: Early Settlers Make a Home in Arkansas
Young historians research the Southwest Trail, which ran through Arkansas back in the 19th century. Pupils are divided into four groups. Each group researches a pioneer who blazed the Southwest Trail. Then, the group presents an oral or...
California Academy of Science
Pollution in Our Watershed
The concept of a how pesticides and other chemicals pass through a watershed can be difficult for younger learners to grasp without a concrete example. In the activity here, some blank paper, markers, and a spray bottle are all you need...
Curated OER
“THE LORAX” by Dr. Seuss
Few children's books convey the message of conservation as well as Dr. Seuss' The Lorax. Read the story aloud, emphasizing the interconnectedness of plants and animals in an ecosystem and discussing different ways people can help...