Students study orbits and ellipses and see the differences between orbits and comets.  For this investigative lesson students do an activity that shows them what objects are more like comets and fill out a worksheet. 

Sixth graders observe light being separated into a color spectrum.  In this electromagnetic activity students use a diffraction grating to separate light and compare light sources. 

Students write down the names of common turtles and observe pictures of various types. In this sea turtles lesson, students review names and features of these animals, label and draw a picture. Students research habitat, migration,...

Resource links to a video, satellite images, data, and photographs of glaciers provide emerging earth scientists the opportunity to examine how the ice has been retreating over the years. A data table is included for pupils to record...

How big is your footprint? Activity three culminates the series by having groups complete carbon footprint audits with people in their schools and/or around the districts. Groups then gather their data, create a presentation including...

Landforms in Beacon Valley, Antarctica, where there is no snow, bear a striking resemblance to landforms found on Mars. Scholars identify landforms found in Beacon Valley through analysis of topographic maps in the activity. They then...

Each color holds its own feeling and these feelings are used to describe the four seasons. Youngsters create a color palate based on the four seasons, assigning various colors to each season. They each create four clay tiles, painting...

How does NASA transport people and cargo to planets? The five-lesson unit breaks down the transportation system that scientists use to transport cargo to space. Pairs team up in order to devise a transportation system that will...

How do scientists provide evidence to support the theories they put forth? What clues do they put together to create these theories? After watching West of the West's documentary Island Rotation class members engage in a series of...

Scholars get to know famous Dutch painter, Vincent van Gogh, as an artist as well as a person. After reading personal letters and analyzing paintings, participants paint two self-portraits that represent their personality. Then, write a...

Many people don't realize that all people on the planet are entitled to certain inalienable rights. Scholars discuss the subject with the first of four lessons in the Introduction to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights series....

Young geologists explore volcanoes with a series of engaging geology activities. First, they learn the difference between magma and lava before coloring and labeling the parts of a volcano. During the lab, individuals watch a...

Teach young environmentalists to protect their planet's resources with a set of interactive experiments. Kindergartners and other youngsters learn about watersheds and the water cycle, while older elementary learners focus on fertilizer...

Just as no man is an island, no country is totally independent of other countries. To understand the impact of individual consumer decisions on the global natural environment, class groups consider how the stuff they...

In the pre-lab, kindergarteners mimic the movements of the eruption of a volcano and discover various volcanoes around the United States. Then, pupils sort different types of volcanic rocks in the lab before learning how volcanoes grow...

How hard do you need to throw a ball in the air so that it never returns? Scientists call this measure the escape velocity. Classes can explore this concept through an intriguing interactive lesson. Pupils adjust velocities and observe...

Much like a distant planet, the underwater world of deep-sea benthos is strange and largely unknown. How do creatures survive and thrive in such extreme pressure and temperature conditions? Young oceanographers join the crew of Operation...

Scholars analyze the environmental movement started in the 1960s. Through excerpts from Rachel Carson's books as well as diary entries, they take a look at the reason for the modern movement to save the planet and then create final...

Is Earth's energy flow a little off balance? Explore our energy budget using a click-through interactive. Scholars discover the many factors that move solar energy around the planet and why the system is no longer in equilibrium.

Scientists don't have a ruler long enough to measure to the stars, so they rely on math. Scholars learn to calculate the distance from Earth to a star using the parallax method. They use angle measures from different perspectives to...

Students learn the order and key characteristics of each planet in our solar system. In this solar system lesson, students work in groups to characterize each planet on an index card. They use their index cards to put the planets in...

First graders investigate the five outer planets. In this space science lesson, 1st graders read the book Our Solar System and identify the five outer planets. Students create a booklet and write about outer planets.