Curated OER
Sinkholes in a Cup
Students create sinkholes and learn about the formation of sinkholes by using water, a foam cup, sugar, sand, and a sponge. In this sinkholes lesson plan, students also answer short answer questions.
NOAA
Ground-truthing Satellite Imagery with Drifting Buoy Data
Ground-truthing ... is it even a word? The last installment of a five-part series analyzes how scientists collect sea surface temperature data. Scholars use government websites to compare temperature data collected directly from buoys...
McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center
Global Warming in a Jar
This well-organized lab activity introduces earth science pupils to the greenhouse effect. They will set up two experiments to monitor temperatures in an open jar, a closed jar, and a closed jar containing water. Ideally, you would have...
Curated OER
Is the Hudson River Too Salty to Drink?
Students explore reasons for varied salinity in bodies of water. In this geographical inquiry activity, students use a variety of visual and written information including maps, data tables, and graphs, to form a hypothesis as to why the...
Curated OER
Pollution is Not a Solution
Students explore the environment by completing science worksheets in class. In this water conservation lesson, students identify ways water is used in our society and how we abuse the privilege. Students discuss methods to reduce water...
Curated OER
Are You a Trend Setter?
Learners are introduced to the periodic table of elements. They devise and perform and experiment in which they determine the density of specific elements. They use their results to predict the density of other elements in the same group.
Curated OER
THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY
Students describe the movement of water within the water cycle and identify the states of water as it moves through the water cycle.
Curated OER
Fishy Physics
Learners explore how fish are able to move easily from one depth to another in water. In this fish lesson students create their own balloon fish.
Curated OER
Aquifer Model
Students, after researching and brainstorming about aquifers and locating aquifer maps of Texas, participate in the building of a model of an aquifer complete with a pumping station. They also answer a variety of questions at the...
Curated OER
Devising a Set of Experiments to Test Water for Dissolved Substances
High schoolers work together to test water samples for pollutants. They design data tables to collect and record their observations. They complete discussion questions to end the lesson.
NASA
Launch Altitude Tracker
Using PVC pipe and aquarium tubing, build an altitude tracker. Pupils then use the altitude tracker, along with a tangent table, to calculate the altitude of a launched rocket using the included data collection sheet.
NOAA
Importance of Deep-Sea Ecosystems – How Diverse is That?
When judging diversity of an ecosystem, both species evenness and species richness must contribute. After a discussion of diversity and a guided example using the Shannon-Weaver function, scholars use the same function on two other...
Curated OER
Go Jump In The Lake!
Middle schoolers experiment with local lake water to determine the health of the lake waters. They explore the human impact on the lake water, hypothesize and share inferences in a scientific report.
Curated OER
Aquatic Field Data
Learners use laptops and sensors to measure water quality and graph their results. In this aquatics lesson students post their results to a website or email.
Curated OER
Dynamic Earth
Students show how earthquakes affect sea waves. In this tidal waves lesson students use a rubber mallet on a table to create waves in a box on top of the table. They experiment with striking the mallet in different locations on the...
Curated OER
Its OK To Be a Clod
Middle schoolers describe factors that affect the solubility of a chemical substance in seawater. In this sea environment instructional activity, student explain how information on the solubility of a substance can be used to measure...
Curated OER
Fossil Fuels (Part I), The Geology of Oil
Junior geologists work through three mini-lessons that familiarize them with the formation and location of fossil fuels. Part one involves reading about petroleum and where it comes from via a thorough set of handouts. A lab activity...
Curated OER
Solar Kit Lesson #7 - Positioning Solar Panels I: Explorations with Tracking
In this first part of a two-part lesson, learners track and record the sun's azimuth using a solar panel. They graph and analyze the data to identify relationships among the time of day, the altitude and azimuth of the sun, and the...
Curated OER
Erosion Lab
Eighth graders explore variables that influence the rate of erosion due to the 4 major agents. They work as a group and practice conducting experiments according to the scientific method. Students comprehend that communicating ideas...
Curated OER
Wind Effects- A Case Study
Students explore hurricanes. In this weather data interpretation lesson, students draw conclusions about the impact of Hurricane Floyd as it related to weather conditions. Students read and interpret a tide data table, a barometric...
Perkins School for the Blind
Conductors of Heat - Hot Spoons
Why is the end of a spoon hot when it's not all the way in the hot water? A great question deserves a great answer, and learners with visual impairments will use their auditory and tactile senses to get that answer. A talking...
Science Matters
Ring of Fire
Over a period of 35 years, earthquakes and volcanoes combined only accounted for 1.5 percent of the deaths from natural disasters in the United States. The 15th lesson in a 20-part series connects the locations of earthquakes and...
Curated OER
On the Surface
Students draw and label the 15 major rivers in Texas. They then draw and label another map with the major lakes and reservioirs of Texas. Students use the maps and locate and label the location of the following major Texas cities:...
Curated OER
Sediment Deposition Lab
Pupils set up a stream table, observe erosion, and record data on where various sizes of sediments settle. They draw conclusions as to what kind of sedimentary rock form in what locations.