Curated OER
Your Own El Nino
Learners conduct an experiment. In this El Nino lesson plan, students learn where El Nino storms come from, what they consist of and what effects they have. Learners also complete an experiment where they create a miniature...
Curated OER
Melt Away
Students explore objects before and after heating using their senses. In this matter and energy lesson, students experiment with a variety of objects and use their senses (except taste) to make predictions and record observations...
Curated OER
Sunlight and Warm Air
Students examine the different ways heat can be felt. In this radiation and conduction lesson plan, students recognize that the sun radiates heat. Students conduct three experiments to find how the sun warms the Earth and how that...
Curated OER
Barge Building: What Floats Your Boat?
Students construct aluminum foil boats that float while holding the greatest number of pennies. They investigate the concept of water displacement, record their results, and watch a Bill Nye video on buoyancy.
Curated OER
Water Pollution Lesson Plan: All Messed Up
Students map and calculate the area of the school parking lot and then the volume of water falling on the school parking lot. They map the route surface runoff will take to the nearest water body and describe the roles that human...
Curated OER
Introduction to Severe Weather Patterns
Students review basic weather concepts and terminology, and explore weather modeling tools.
University of Georgia
Energy Content of Foods
Why do athletes load up on carbohydrates the evening before a competition? The lesson helps answer this question as it relates the type of food to the amount of energy it contains. After a discussion, scholars perform an experiment...
Curated OER
Project Geode
Young geologists attempt to predict the appearnace of a geode's internal structure based on how it looks from the outside, its mass, and its physical characteristics. In this geologly lesson, learners use scientific equipment to collect...
Curated OER
The Mathematics of Convection: Nature's Model for Energy Production
High schoolers conduct a series of experiments to investigate density, buoyancy and climate. In this math lesson plan, pupils design and build a hot air balloon to demonstrate convection. They research and write a paper about solar...
Curated OER
Busted Bubbles
Using the scientific method, and bubble gum, learners conduct a motivating experiment. After conducting a series of tests involving bubble gum, they graph and analyze their results. This is the type of activity everyone loves.
LABScI
Freezing Point Depression: Why Don’t Oceans Freeze?
Can you go ice fishing in the ocean? Learners examine the freezing point of different saltwater solutions. Each solution has a different concentration of salt. By comparing the freezing points graphically, they make conclusions...
Curated OER
The Reason for the Seasons
Students compare graphs of their data that was generated on a NASA website. In this seasons lesson students complete a lab activity.
Virginia Department of Education
Heat and Thermal Energy Transfer
How does radiation affect our daily lives? Answer that question and others with a lesson that discusses radiation and its use in thermal energy transfer through electromagnetic waves. Pupils investigate vaporization and...
Curated OER
Weather Instruments
Third graders practice making predictions about weather from conditions they observe on weather instruments and weather reports. Learners are introduced to the most basic weather reporting instruments: the thermometer, the wind vane, the...
Science 4 Inquiry
The Yin and Yang of Photosynthesis: Day vs. Night
Floating fragments of elodea can grow even without roots. Young scientists use eldoea plants to observe the oxygen production from photosynthesis. They study the difference between having access to high amounts of light and low amounts...
Office of the New Jersey State Climatologist
Play Ball! – Or Not…Making a Decision Using Weather Data
Should the game go on or not? An engaging lesson asks small groups to make a decision using weather data. After analyzing a map, an updated forecast, and radar information, groups have to decide whether to cancel a baseball game. They...
University of Texas
Lives of Stars
Stars exist from a few million years to over 10 billion years, depending on their mass. Scholars perform a play acting as stars to learn about their different life cycles. They develop an understanding of many of the fundamental concepts...
Curated OER
Liquid Rainbow
Students develop their own techniques for drawing a small sample of solutions into a straw. They hypothesize ways to increase the density of water, and discuss how salt-free rainwater tends to float on top of salty seawater.
Teach Engineering
Biomes and Population Dynamics - Balance Within Natural Systems
How large can a population become? The fifth installment of a nine-part unit teaches young ecologists about limiting factors that determine the carrying capacity of species in the Sonoran Desert. Here is a PowerPoint to help present this...
Council for Economic Education
GDP Data: Is the Economy Healthy?
Does the economy needs a check-up? Scholars analyze the gross domestic product (GDP) to determine the overall health of the current economy. They use a short video clip as well as economic data to determine the current growth of the...
Curated OER
CO2 and You
Students study the scientific evidence about carbon dioxide emissions. They learn to calculate the amount of energy used by different appliances. They complete a worksheet which analyzes the amount of energy that their home uses.
Curated OER
Investigating the Effect of Salinity on the Density and Stability of Water
Water with varying amounts of dissolved salt are dyed and then used to compare densities. The objective is to discover the effect of salinity, and therefore density, on ocean water on the stability of the ocean. Many branches of science...
Curated OER
Chemistry 1 Practice Exam
Thirty multiple-choice questions and their answers are provided in this resource. It was written for a general chemistry course and queries test takers on scientific notation, mixtures, chemical symbols, electric charges, Dalton's atomic...
Curated OER
Solubility Product of a Hydroxide
Students determine the solubility product constant and the concentration of a hydroxide. In this solubility product lesson plan, students use a solution of calcium hydroxide to neutralize a known concentration of hydrochloric acid. They...