Curated OER
Weather Watchers
Students identify basic weather instruments and how they are used to record weather data. Students define several vocabulary terms as stated in lesson. Students use basic instruments to record weather data in their area. Students use the...
Curated OER
A Whale of a Story
Does sound travel faster in water or in the air? Put the question to the test with a science experiment. After reviewing a table of data, third and fourth graders decide which statements are true and which ones are false. The bottom of...
Curated OER
Can You Bag It?
Put your class's observational skills to the test with a science experiment about paper and plastic bags. After reading some background knowledge about the materials in plastic grocery bags, third graders interpret a chart to answer a...
PBS
Cloud Clues
It's cloudy with a good chance of learning! An inquiry-based lesson begins with an exploration of transparent, translucent, and opaque materials. Young scientists then connect their learning to the different cloud types as they take the...
Curated OER
Community Action
Fifth graders decide how one uses resources within a particular bioregion. In this decision making lesson, 5th graders consider the biodiversity and complexity of the ecosystem. Students select a resource (water, paper,...
It's About Time
Identifying Matter
High schoolers test wood splints that have been soaked in mystery solutions to identify the different colors it produces when lit. The lesson concludes with a reading passage and analysis questions.
PBS
Season Seeking
It's a time of change. A hands-on activity engages young scientists in a lesson highlighting the change of seasons. They brainstorm indicators of season changes in nature and then look for them. Next, they record observations in a field...
Curated OER
The Scientific Method, Blood Typing, and Antibiotic Resistance
Students are given some components of an experiment, where they are able to identify and fill in missing parts, such as hypothesis, conclusion, results, etc. They form a hypothesis given general scientific facts. Students apply the...
It's About Time
Organic Substances
Host an exciting lab in which learners burn fruit rinds to better understand hydrocarbons. A reading passage and analysis questions wrap up the lesson.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Hand Washing Experiment
An engaging experiment allows scholars to understand why the recommendation is to wash for 20 seconds with soap and water — while making them aware of their own habits!
Discovery Education
Weathering Cubes
Weathering is not necessarily a result of the weather. Scholars conduct an experiment to explore the effect of surface area and volume on the weathering process. They create their own sugar cube rocks using the same number of cubes—but...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Weather or Not
What is the difference between weather and climate? This is the focus question of a lesson plan that takes a deeper look at how weather data helps determine climate in a region. Using weather and climate cards, students decide...
PBS
Predicting/Making a Hypothesis
As an introduction to the hypothesis and testing method of investigation, young history detectives engage in a special investigation of a family artifact. After watching a short video that demonstrates the method, they develop a...
Curated OER
Amelia the Pigeon: What Am I?
Students investigate photos and images both close and far for different types of information.
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
Lines on Paper - Laser Box
See what you cannot see by getting a little creative. An intriguing lesson has learners use lasers to explore X-ray diffraction. Given a box with unknown structures, they shine a laser through the box and interpret the results....
Curated OER
Layers of Rock
Juvenile geologists drill clear plastic straws down into a playdough sedimentary rock model, pulling out sample rock cores. As they analyze their cores, they apply the law of superposition and discover that originally horizontal layers...
Nuffield Foundation
Making a Calibration Curve for Starch Concentration
How well can your class concentrate on solutions? Scholars use colorimeter absorption to explore a starch concentration calibration curve. They add iodine to different starch solutions to see how the concentration of the solution changes.
Curated OER
Bubbles Galore
Students investigate bubbles. In this science lesson, students observe how long bubbles last and graph the results of the experiment.
Exploratorium
Your Sense of Taste
A simple and sweet activity shows students how important smell is in interpreting flavor. Pairs of pupils hold their noses and eat Life Savers®, only to find that they can't identify the flavors until they let go. You will appreciate...
National Gallery of Canada
The Camera Obscura
You can create a camera with even the most unassuming materials. Learners view photographs and talk about the art. Some background information is included about the camera obscura for you to present before individuals make their own...
Dr. Seuss Enterprises
Read Across America
Celebrate the whimsical world of Dr. Seuss on Read Across America Day with a collection of science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics activities, each linked to a popular Dr. Seuss story.
Chicago Botanic Garden
Nature Walk and Ecosystem Introduction
A food web has no organism higher than a tertiary consumer because there wouldn't be enough energy left to sustain them. The fourth installment in a seven-part series begins with a nature walk to get pupils thinking about their...
Curated OER
Physical and Chemical Changes - Making Toffee
Fourth graders make toffee to observe both physical and chemical changes. They determine what types of changes that are caused by the cooking process and which are chemical, and which are physical. In order to do this they follow a...
Curated OER
Moon Observation Sheet
In this moon observation worksheet, students observe the moon for a week, draw their observations, identify the phases of the moon, and indicate the time they observed the moon.