Curated OER
Lost King of the Maya
Students are introduced to the Mayan Long Count calendar system. They work in groups to calculate the date of their birth and use the calendar to determine important Mayan dates.
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To Infinity and Beyond
Students explore the planets in our solar system and create a brochure on each planet. They read the book, The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System and write notes about solar system facts and watch a video. After the video, they...
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Exploring the Sun's Role in Living Systems
Pupils create graphic organizer webs that illustrate their thinking about seasonal physical and biological changes caused by changes in sunlight. They identify the central role of sunlight in living systems.
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A Solar Project
High schoolers make predictions about the global temperature of the earth and to see how this is dependent upon a number of variables. Students visualize how changing parameters can impact the global temperature of the earth.
NASA
Earth, Earth’s Moon, Mars Balloons
Very specific diameters are given for blowing up three different balloons to represent, in scale, the moon, Earth, and Mars. In groups of three, amateur astronomers explore scale measurements and distance in space.
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Hoop Trip To The Planets
Students practice locomotor patterns already introduced while reinforcing facts about each planet.
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The Lesson: Space Exploration
Young scholars explore space. In this current events lesson, students visit selected websites to learn about NASA, Mars, the Seti Institute, and space exploration terminology. Young scholars make space glossaries and their own telescopes.
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Continents and Oceans on the Move
Students create an awareness of the vast percentage of water covering the earth. They relate similarities/differences between topographical maps and other maps of various time periods. Students examine how to use a topographical map.
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Hello Sun, Goodnight Moon
Students become familiar with different times around the world through the reading of 9 O'clock Lullaby. In this Earth, sun, moon lesson, students recognize the movement of the Earth and the relationship to the sun and the...
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The Weather Classroom: Atmosphere
Students explore the planets and their atmospheres online. They write the story of "Goldilocks and the Nine Planets" to explain how each planet's atmosphere differs from Earth's. They design a viable life form.
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The Path of the Sun, the Ecliptic
Students are introduced to the ecliptic, the zodiac and the apparent motions of the Sun, Moon and planets across the sky.
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The Lepidoptera Project
Students are introduced to Scientific Inquiry and discover how to design an experiment that answers critical questions using butterflies as the topic. They design experiments that compare the number of species of butterflies in a vacant,...
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Our Home in the Milky Way
Students gain appreciation of the vastness of our galaxy by viewing an applet about the Milky Way. Students hypothesize about how long it would take to get from Earth to Pluto.
DiscoverE
Touch Down
Protect the marshmallows! Groups create contraptions that will keep marshmallows in a cup, even after dropping them from a certain height. This is a fun way to model the shock-absorbing capabilities of spacecraft.
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SIZING UP SOL
Ninth graders produce a projected, pinhole image of the sun and from measurement of the image and projection distance, calculate the actual size of the sun. They estimate the sun's apparent brightness from different planet.
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Edible Mars Rover
Students investigate the equipment of Planetary Land Rovers. They construct one using various food products for construction materials. The lesson includes historical background for the teacher to introduce the information. The grading...
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Place Value Through Billions
Place value reading skills are the focus of this lesson. Students are given an example of Pluto's orbit distance from the sun to introduce the concept of the billions place value. Students are then given four numbers in the billions, and...
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A Season for Chapters
Art, music, poetry, and the beauty of the seasons is what you'll find in this very nice unit idea. You can use any of the suggested books and activities to engage your second graders in an exploration of the changes that take place...
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Your Weight on Other Planets
Learners explore their weight on other planets. In this science lesson, students view a presentation about the other planets and complete a worksheet in which they make predictions about their weight on the moon and other planets.
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Using Mathematic Models to Investigate Planitary Habitablity
Students examine how the sun's intensity affects the temperature on various planets. They determine whether or not these planets could be habitable. Finally, they factor in the average albedo of the planets to determine whether or not...
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Why is the Average Temperature Greater on Venus than on Mercury?
Middle schoolers examine the reasons why the temperature is higher on Venus than on Mercury. In groups, they analzye both planet's atmospheres and determine the rate of global warming on each. They use the internet to research the...
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The Nature of Science and Technology
Learners study the environmental concerns of orbital debris. In this orbital debris lesson students complete several activities.
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Power Play
Once your physical science stars have a grasp of the different forms of energy, use this resource to get them putting the energy to work. Small groups choose from seven different project options and work together to build an energy...
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Get Charged!
Students explore the concept of electricity in this activity based unit. In this physical science lesson plan, students focus on electricity and electrical engineering. The teaching unit includes 5 activities to develop students...