National Wildlife Federation
What's Your Habitat?
How are third graders like rabbits? They both live in habitats and require food, water, and shelter to survive! An educational science instructional activity encourages your learners to think about their own habitats and survival needs,...
PBS
The Ocean and Climate: Heat Redistribution
Here on Earth, heat goes with the flow! Young climatologists dive in to the connection between ocean currents and heat distribution during a science lesson. Scholars work with interactive and print resources to create a thorough...
California Academy of Science
A Day in the Life of a San Francisco Native Animal
Before Google, before Sillicon Valley, before the Gold Rush, the San Francisco landscape was a biome filled with grizzly bears, mule deer, tule elk, coyotes, gray fox, gophers, and moles. To explore the early days of yesteryear, kids...
Education Outside
Life Cycle of Compost
As part of a study of the life cycle of compost, class members examine the differences between green waste disposal and backyard composting.
Curated OER
The Life Cycle of Butterflies, Day 1
Describe each stage in the life cycle of a butterfly. Second graders will identify the stages of the life cycle of the butterfly, using correct vocabulary. They will also share their new understandings about the stages of the life cycle...
Curated OER
Science Lessons for Grade 7
Seventh graders construct a food chain based on pictures shown on the board. In this biology activity, 7th graders describe the motion of particles as energy is changed. They explain how pH changes during neutralization.
Baylor College
Fuel for Living Things
During a three-part lesson, learners make a cabbage juice pH indicator and use it to analyze the waste products of yeast after feeding them with sugar. The intent is to demonstrate how living organisms produce carbon dioxide, which is...
Baylor College
Infectious Disease Case Study
Small groups of life science learners look at Allison's symptoms and discuss a diagnosis. They use a chart of illnesses and draw symptom clues from an envelope to determine what illness she has. A lesson like this gives children an...
Steve Spangler Science
Halloween Dry Ice Secrets
Want to use dry ice in your classroom this Halloween but you're not sure how? A thorough packet of 13 dry ice activities showcases engaging ways to bring chemistry to life this October.
Curated OER
Lesson Plan: Humans and the Land
Art acts as inspiration for a conversation about human impact on the environment and creative writing. The class examines three pieces, looking for evidence of human impact on the landscape. They then write a first-person narrative, from...
Curated OER
Unit 1: Water is Life: The Heart and Science Behind this Phrase
Water, water, everywhere — but will there be enough to drink? Check out these detailed lesson plans to meet NGSS water cycle and CCSS literacy standards in your science classroom. Learners do a close reading of a challenging, poetic text...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Life Vest Challenge
After reading about the history and science of personal floatation devices, patents, and intellectual property, engineering teams design a life vest for a can of soup. To evaluate which groups considered the need for waterproofing, hold...
NASA
Is It Alive?
Determining whether or not something is living can be more difficult than it seems. Put your young scientists to work defining their own criteria to identify life, then work with three samples to see if they are alive or...
Curated OER
Genome: The Secret of How Life Works
What do you have in common with a fruit fly? About 60 percent of your DNA. The resource, divided into two units, is intended for grades four to eight and another for high schoolers. Both units include eight lessons covering the...
NOAA
A Day in the Life of an Ocean Explorer
What's life like aboard an ocean exploration vessel? Junior oceanographers examine the important role of communication in ocean research in lesson two of a five-part series from NOAA. The materials introduce the class to life on...
Curated OER
Vocabulary: Types of Ecosystems
Pupils practice using vocabulary words from life science. They will investigate the ecosystem and the terms that are associated with it. In addition, they will complete a fill-in-the-blank exam using the vocabulary words.
Curated OER
The Dragonflies of Summer
The best thing about dragonflies is that they make great topics for informational texts. Get those readers excited with a fun and interesting insect-related text passage that can help them increase their comprehension skills. As children...
Core Knowledge Foundation
A Time for All Seasons - Fall
The weather is cooling down and the leaves are starting to change color; fall is right around the corner. Celebrate this special time of year with this earth and life science lesson series that teaches children about the...
Curated OER
WET Science Lesson #5: Pass the Salt Please! (How Road Salt Affects Wetlands)
As an anticipatory set, biologists listen to the story of Ruth Patrick, a scientist who used algae to detect water quality. They observe a demonstration of osmosis and diffusion. In their lab groups, they place Elodea stalks in...
Baylor College
Energy for Life (Energy from Food)
Energy comes in many forms, but how do living things get the energy they need to survive and thrive? In a simple, controlled experiment with yeast, water, and sugar, groups make observations about how yeast reacts with water alone, then...
National Park Service
Glaciers and Water
Explore the amazing power of glaciers with a hands-on earth science experiment! After first learning basic background information, learners go on to create their very own chunks of frozen water and gravel in order to...
University of Waikato
Build a Marine Food Web
Dive into a lesson on marine ecosystem interactions. Individuals learn about and devise a marine food web. The resource provides organism cards and pupils use article resources to discover interactions before modeling them in a food web.
Utah Education Network (UEN)
Utah Open Textbook: 7th Grade Science
Physical and biological factors affect everyday living. Scholars explore electromagnetic forces, motion, the rock cycle, and geological changes. They examine cells as the building blocks of life and how organisms reproduce using images...
Curated OER
Earth Science Lesson Plans on Geologic Time
Springboard your fourth and fifth graders into the study geologic time. They will complete 7 activities to learn about geologic time and the topics most often associated with it: astronomy, creation, planet formation, volcanology,...