Curated OER
Newton's First Law of Motion with a Yo-Yo
Fourth graders are introduced to, summarize, analyze and memorize Newton's First Law of Motion and experiment demonstrating the theory with a yo-yo. They state, sing, draw, or enact Newton's First Law of Motion several times and with...
Science Matters
Wave Watching
Seismologists use the direction and arrival times of p waves and s waves to determine the distance to the source of an earthquake. The engaging lesson has students line up to form human waves. Through different movements when attached,...
Curated OER
Gadget Anatomy
Sure to be a hit with your charges, here is a science lesson that has lots of hands-on activities packed into it. The focus is simple machines, and how they help us perform work. After a discussion and demonstration session, groups of...
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
Pesky Plastics: The Problem with Plastic
What can happen to the environment if plastic continues to pollute it? Learners read about the implications of plastic on health, water, and nature in a two-page reading passage. After they finish reading, they work on six comprehension...
Curated OER
Fault Features
Students discuss the different kinds of faults in the earth's crust and examine photos of the San Adreas Fault. Working in groups, they experiment with fault making by placing fabric in a pan and filling the inside with wet dirt. When...
National Wildlife Federation
Massive Migrations
Turn your students into flocks of migratory birds for this fun lesson on animal migration. Prior to the activity, the teacher creates four different migration routes in the classroom or any available open space, labeling nesting...
Starry Night Education
The Year and Seasons
Turn your classroom into a live demonstration of how the earth and sun interact to create the four seasons. Using a globe, a light source, and a series of constellation cards, super scientists discover how the...
Curriculum Corner
My Book of Poems
Copy all pages to create a book of poems during a poetry study. From alliteration to cinquain to acrostic poem, your class won't run out of templates for writing poems! Each sheet serves as a template for an entire book of poems. Other...
Science Matters
Peanut Energy
How do humans get energy since they aren't mechanical and can't photosynthesize? Learners explore this question by relating potential energy in food to human energy levels. Scholars measure the change in mass and a change in...
Curated OER
Canine Companions
How do you make a pet’s transition into your family a smooth one? Preparing for a pet and learning how to keep it safe is the focus of this research lesson. After searching the Internet for tips on animal care, pet owners and potential...
Curated OER
The Importance of Rules
No rules...awesome! Or is it? It's tough for young learners to think about what would happen if a rule didn't exist, but understanding the rules and where they come from helps keep everyone safe. Youngsters write a rule on the front of...
Curated OER
Sentence Starters
Make your learners' stories the best they can be. Use this resource to help them identify and discuss the importance of an engaging opening for their stories. This presentation goes through a series of tips and examples to help make this...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Puff, the Magic Dragon (Yarrow and Lipton)
Puff the Magic Dragon remains a childhood landmark for budding readers (and singers), but did you know it also makes an excellent vocabulary study? By focusing on several in-text words (in this case: billow, cease, fearless,...
Exploratorium
Touch the Spring
Concave mirrors and the images they produce are traditional topics in the physics classroom. This resource explains how to set up an investigation of them, and it provides you with the explanation of concepts.
Discovering Gifts In Middle School
Multiple Intelligences Checklist
Invite your pupils to discover their strengths with a multiple intelligences assessment. They read through several pages of activities and check off the items that apply. Learners then tally up their scores to determine which of the...
Charleston School District
Graphs of Linear Functions
What does a slope of 2/3 mean? Develop an understanding of the key features of a linear function. Pupils graph the linear functions and explain the meaning of the slope and intercepts of the graphs.
Perkins School for the Blind
Capture the Treasure
Did you ever play capture the flag? I did, and it was so much fun! Your learners with special needs, physical handicaps, or visual impairments can play a classic and highly engaging game with a few minor adaptations. The best part is,...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Carbon, Greenhouse Gases, and Climate
Climate models mathematically represent the interactions of the atmosphere, oceans, land, sun, surface, and ice. Part two in the series of four lessons looks at the role greenhouse gases play in keeping Earth warm and has participants...
Curated OER
Velocity and Acceleration
Twelfth graders look at local speed limits and traffic controls and see if they are reasonable. They plot the displacement and time to represent velocity, develop a plan for improving the current system, and organize experimental...
Curated OER
Be forceful!
Didn't some scientist develop rules about force and motion? Youngsters can experience physical science as they determine which picture shows the force of pushing or pulling. Tip: Ask learners if they can think of any unseen forces that...
Curated OER
Crash Test Dummies
Fifth graders are introduced to Newton's First Law of Motion. In groups, they describe the differences between balanced and unbalanced forces. They participate in experiments that demonstrate how equal and opposite forces act upon...
Curated OER
Forces and Motion
Fourth graders study straight line motion and the forces that affect motion, including the terms force, gravity, and speed. They determine that gravity, weight, and other forces have an effect on speed and motion.
Curated OER
Energy: Light -- Spinning Color Wheel
Second graders make spinning color wheels to determine how energy effects what colors look like. They paint or color a color wheel with the seven colors of the spectrum. Next, the spin the wheel to determine what happens. In order to...
Curated OER
Angular Momentum (Automaticity)
Second graders experience practicing with a wide variety of vocabulary terms that relate to the Vista/Module "Angular Momentum:" momentum, inertia, force; motion, direction, centripetal force; angular momentum, gyroscope, resist. They...