Curated OER
Shake, Rattle and Roll
Students compare the weathering of different-sized materials. Comparisons are made and data analyzed to reach conclusions about the process of weathering. Applications can be made for the higher grades.
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Dino Hunt
Learners use the Internet to gather information about dinosaurs. They practice navagating through the different websites. They also practice listening to directions and also explore how to fill out a KWL chart.
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Onion Skins
Students explore the structure of a plant cell. They carefully peel a single layer of onion skin from a slice of onion and stain it with methylene blue to observe the structures inside. They use a Digiscope connected to a computer to...
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Magnify It!
Students explain that there are limits to what the eye can see and that a magnifying glass can help extend those limits. They examine an object with the magnifying glass and draw the size and shape of what they see as accurately as they...
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Eek, It leaks!
Middle schoolers construct model landfill liners out of two-inch strips of garbage bags within resource constraints. The challenge is to construct a bag that will hold one cup of water without leaking. This represents similar challenges...
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Testing Battery Combinations
Fourth graders examine the required combinations of plates and predict which combination will generate the most and least current and voltage. They use an ammeter and experiment with combinations of their own testing and record each...
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Community Service
Studen collect trash around the community with trash bag and gloves. They recognize and describe ways that some materials
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Teaching the Kono Salmon Kite
Students complete several student readings involving kite making and kite flying. They analyze how the parts of a system go together and how these parts depend on each other. They comprehend how different environments both provide...
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Creek Restoration Project
Students gather and analyze scientific data from a local creek. Over weeks or months, students observe their local environment, collect water samples, and evaluate test results. Extension activities are suggested for evaluating...
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Doghouse Design
Elementary engineers design a dog house suitable for a large dog according to specific criteria. Students create a design for a doghouse that allows their dog to grow, protects him from the elements, and keeps food and water dishes...
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We're Batty
Students watch a video about bats and compare and contrast them to birds. They identify the specific characteristics that identify bats as mammals and what makes them unique from other mammals.
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Snow Cover By Latitude
Students create graphs comparing the amount of snow cover along selected latitudes using data sets from a NASA website. They create a spreadsheet and a bar graph on the computer, and analyze the data.
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Types of Matter
Students analyze different types of matter according to its general and specific properties. They design an experiment to classify matter. Students are shown cornflakes and raisins. They are asked what type of substance is each...
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The Big Melt
Young scholars experiment with a variety of materials used for insulation by melting ice cubes.
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Observing Fall Migrants
Pupils observe the migration of monarch butterflies. They collect data regarding the number of monarchs they see, the location, the butterflies' behavior, the temperature and the date and time. Then they send their data to a university...
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Chemical or Physical?
Fourth graders make observations of the reactions that happens between calcium carbonate and various liquids. During the experiment the students determine if there is a chemical change, a physical reaction, or no reaction when they mix...
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Solids and Water
Students investigate mixtures made of water and familiar solid materials. They observe and discuss the changes that occur immediately and set the mixtures aside for a day. Finally, students observe the mixtures, note changes, and graph...
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The Mathematics of Space and Place
Students investigate the measurements and geometry of the school grounds. They conduct inquiry while measuring the campus and some of the city blocks. Then students draw a map to scale and categorize property types using a pie graph.
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Protecting the Herd
Students explain how immunizing a significant proportion of a population against a disease prevents epidemics of the disease (herd immunity). They list factors that affect the proportion of a population that must be immunized to prevent...
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Three Dimensional Geology
High schoolers use rocks and fossils to interpret the geology of an area. They use prior knowledge and make recommendations about where to build a subdivision based on the rocks.
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Weather Whys- Cloud Watching Journal
Students examine how natural processes change the earth by identifying their local water cycle. Individual students complete a cloud journal over a specific period of time. They observe clouds daily and take photographs of the clouds...
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Weather Where We Are
Students investigate the reports of local weather. They identify types of weather data and correlate it to the conditions. Using the data students draw a picture of the current weather. They conduct the same investigation for all four...
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Bioremediation
Pupils design and conduct investigations that illustrate the effect bioremediation has on organic matter and determine environmental applications. They, in groups, present their findings to the class.
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Exploring the Celestial Neighborhood
Ninth graders study the origin and organization of the solar system. They investigate the Earth's place in the system and how planetary motions explain natural phenomena observable from Earth.