Take cover because a wild presentation on hurricanes is about to make landfall in your classroom! An outstanding PowerPoint presentation is the centerpiece of this lesson. Not only does it provide information and photographs, but several...

In class, your emerging environmentalists construct dust catchers. They take them home for a week or two, and then bring them back into class to examine under a magnifier. From this activity, they learn what makes up dust and that...

Astronauts train underwater to simulate the change in gravity. An out-of-this-world unit includes three hands-on activities, one teacher demonstration, and a discussion related to some of the challenges astronauts face. Scholars apply...

We all know photosynthesis happens, but why should we care? Here is a unit that covers everything young scholars need to know about photosynthesis. Hands-on activities, assessments, and lectures guide pupils though the physiology of...

Is your class in the dark about photosynthesis? Shed some sunlight on an important biological process with a thoughtful activity. After answering questions to help determine their level of knowledge, learners work with chemical equations...

Break your class in to the general structure and function of the brain. Brainiacs discuss what they know about it and create personalized brain development timelines. They also take a true-false, pre-assessment quiz to get them thinking...

Where is HIV/AIDS most prevalent and what are the current trends regarding HIV? Have groups work together to map the world's HIV/AIDS rates, then create a class map with all the data. Lesson includes cross-disciplinary concepts including...

Three, two, one, blast off to a better understanding of force and motion with this exciting science lesson! Beginning with a discussion about rockets and gravity, young scientists go on to complete a series of worksheets about net...

Color me green. The fourth activity in a unit of 15 introduces the class to color images and how to encode color images using binary code and hexadecimal numbers — and they will quickly notice that it is easier to code the...

Many researchers focus on one impact of climate change in isolation, but researchers gain a global perspective when they come together. A timely lesson plan teaches scholars about the projected impacts of global temperature increases....

These rocks are HOT! Well, they used to be, anyway. Take young geologists on a two-week journey through the life and times of the average igneous rock. Lab groups work together to hypothesize about intrusive and extrusive igneous...

Genetics learners read an article and watch a video about personalized medicine and the hope it holds for treating patients more specifically than doctors currently are able to. They research, design, and produce a brochure about the...

The first in a six-lesson mini unit, all using M&Ms® candies, this physical science activity gets kids to observe a single piece and discover what happens when it is placed in a plate of water. The activity can be used to...

Many types of cancer treatments now depend on nanotechnology—a big "little" discovery. Scholars begin by removing "malignant" tissue from simulated brains, one using fluorescent markers thanks to nanotechnology and one without. This...

When we think of ocean exploration, many of us have visions of sunken pirate ships full of treasure or mysterious creatures of the deep. What really motivates deep-sea investigation? The first in a series of diverse six-part lessons...

Public policy is important to understand because it affects everyone. The resource tells middle schoolers how the government uses policy to accomplish goals in the administration. It includes a reading, true or false worksheet, a...

A lamp, four globes, and some signs taped around the room are all you need to set up a solar system simulation for teaching how Earth's tilted axis creates the seasons. (Sticky dots are also needed, but not mentioned in the materials...

A professional-quality PowerPoint, which includes links to footage of actual landslides in action, opens this moving instructional activity. Viewers learn what conditions lead to erosion and land giving way. They simulate landslides with...

Young scientists learn how to select a scale factor for a large scale model. Then they figure the scale for each of the planets and the distance between them. Finally, they construct a giant scale model of the solar system and answer...

The first STEM lesson in a group of 10 explores composting. After discussing how to make a better tomorrow, classes are challenged to track garbage in their communities, visit a local waste management facility, and conduct a survey...

Calling all science sleuths! A patient appears to have a disease eradicated years ago—how do you treat it? Scholars must research the illness, the possible causes, and find a cure before the disease spreads and wipes out the entire city....

Designed to accompany the 13-minute video The Making of the Fittest: The Birth and Death of Genes, this handout serves as both a viewing guide during the video and an analysis of how the adaptations of the icefish might help treat...

As a lesson on scientific observation, have your class investigate the features of a penny and a nickel. Working in pairs, they practice writing detailed descriptions using their senses and a ruler to gather information. This is an...

Got milk? Only two cultures have had it long enough to develop the tolerance of lactose as an adult. Learn how the responsible genes evolved along with the cultures that have been consuming milk. This rich film is supplied with a few...