Curated OER
Dirt Babies
Dirt babies are an excellent way to show young botanists the plant life cycle. They explore the functions and industry behind grasses before growing some of their own. Use the informational text here and consider implementing some...
Penguin Books
An Educator’s Guide to Chraisma by Jeanne Ryan
Often, science fiction makes a lot of connections to real life. An educator's guide for the novel Charisma by Jeanne Ryan, has readers discuss many of the real-life issues that come in the text. A brief summary helps garner interest...
Spreading Gratitude Rocks
Token of Gratitude
What would the world be like if everyone expressed gratitude? Pupils explore the concept by watching a motivating time-lapse video. Scholars express appreciation by handing out tokens of gratitude, and then write about their...
Critical Thinking Cooperative
Doing Our Share
Whether at home or in the classroom, each member of a community has certain responsibilities they must tend to. With the help of the children's story Piggybook by Anthony Browne, kids learn how to assign jobs in a fair and safe...
Science Matters
Photosynthesis-Cellular Respiration Cycle
The balance of nature can be a wondrous thing! With the 19th lesson of the 21-part series on systems, learners explore the cycle of photosynthesis and cellular respiration using a lab-based activity. Groups set up different test tubes...
Curated OER
Photo Synthesis and Transpiration
Middle schoolers germinate pea seeds and plant the seeds. They experiment with different amounts of light and darkness on the plant growth.
Curated OER
Let the Sunshine In
Ninth graders conduct an experiment which demonstrates the absorption and reflection of sunlight by measuring the heat flow through various window coverings. They predict the relative amount of the sun's heat. Students draw conclusions...
Curated OER
Keep It Clean!
Fifth graders investigate the how water becomes polluted and how it effects the environment, animals, and humans. They watch a video and conduct experiments.
Curated OER
The Wonderful World of Slugs
Examine a slug? Of course, what else would a 2nd grader do with it? Pupils use clues and go on a slug hunt, read a slug story, or make a cooperative group mural of a slug's habitat. While older learners catalog slugs, go on a slug hunt,...
Curated OER
Friction: Friend or Foe?
Using a hands-on approach, learners explore the effect of friction on objects. Learners use toy cars, shoes, wood, metal, and more to experiment with the causes and effects of friction. Afterwards, they conduct experiments in which they...
Curated OER
I Wonder...
Students review information they have gathered from previous lessons. They create their own experiments and carry them out. They reflect on the project as a whole.
Curated OER
Adaptation and Diversity on Sheffield Island
Written for an exploration of shoreline ecosystems on Sheffield Island, this gives ecology or marine biology buffs a hands-on experience. Using GPS or visual triangulation techniques, they lay transect lines on a high and a low energy...
National Museum of Nuclear Science & History
Nuclear Popcorn
Make your lesson on radioactive decay pop with this lab exercise. Using popcorn kernels spread over a tabletop, participants pick up all of those that point toward the back of the room, that is, those that represent decayed atoms. As the...
Curated OER
The Sun's Energy
Sixth graders examine how the sun's energy arrives as light with a range of wavelengths. They discuss the characteristics of light, examine the color of light using a spectroscope, and conduct an experiment using water and thermometers....
Curated OER
Making a Thermometer
Pupils observe a demonstration of how a thermometer functions. They apply the scientific method while determining which of three cups hold the coldest water. They write a hypothesis before conducting the experiment and gather data.
Curated OER
Antibiotic Resistance
Students using the scientific method, study bacteria as a covering surface of the earth in many forms. They discover that not all bacteria is bad and introduce the topic of antibiotic resistance. Science Fair expectations are addressed.
Curated OER
Making Field Journals
Students follow a bookmaking format to create a book and use it as a garden journal. In this science journal lesson, students follow book making directions to create a garden and science journal.
Curated OER
A Tour Down the Hudson River
Students discuss how the Hudson River is an ecosystem made up of both biotic and abiotic factors. They view the PowerPoint the Journal Down the Hudson River. Students become aware of where the Hudson River begins and ends, the plant and...
Curated OER
Nervous System
Get to know the body's central nervous system through an engaging game of nervous system telephone. But this isn't your average game of telephone. Here, pupils must find a way to communicate a message to the brain without speaking....
Curated OER
The Digestive System
Discover how the human body's digestive system works with a brain and stomach friendly activity. Scholars taste test a variety of foods to find out how they behave once in the mouth. Class members then play a game called Move That...
Curated OER
What Role Does Light Play Within the Vision Process?
Pupils are introduced to the relationship between light and vision. In groups, they participate in experiments to discover how different wavelengths are divided in the visible spectrum. They record their answers and discuss their...
Curated OER
Why Are Plants Green?
Students smash plant parts and wait for visibility of chlorophyl to show why plants turn green. In this green plants lesson plan, students use acetone and filter paper for this experiment.
Curated OER
Bycatch
Bycatch is the unwanted and discarded marine life caught during commercial fishing. Young marine scientists review bycatch litigation and analyze graphs of bycatch data and answer questions about it. This raises awareness while...
Curated OER
Buoyancy: Who Sank the Boat?
Students examine whether objects will sink or float. In this buoyancy lesson students bring in objects and experiment to see if they sink or float.