Curated OER
Does Mother Nature Know Best?
Investigate herbal medicine in the science or health classroom with this lesson from the New York Times. After a discussion about class members beliefs about and experiences with herbal medicines, pupils read an article that might...
Curated OER
How Does Your Garden Grow? Discovering How Weather Patterns Affect Natural Cycles
For the warm-up in this cool climate lesson, you will need to click on "Mapping" and then "US Mapping" once you arrive at NOAA's "US Climate at a Glance" page. Earth science explorers realize that 2012 was a warm winter for us. They read...
Virginia Department of Education
Electricity and Magnetism
Take charge of your class and provide them with an electrical experience! Individuals investigate the basic principles of electricity and magnetism by creating a model to test electric current and the amount of electricity generated....
Virginia Department of Education
Determining Absolute Age
How can radioactive decay help date old objects? Learners explore half-life and radioactive decay by conducting an experiment using pennies to represent atoms. Young scientists graph data from the experiment to identify radioactive decay...
Curated OER
It's a Gas! Or is it?
Oceanography enthusiasts are given a series of thought experiments to consider in order to relate the solubility of gases and solids to underwater volcanoes. It is not particularly engaging to perform these thought experiments. Choose...
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Genes Come in Pairs
Mendel was the first to look at individual traits within a species. Step in his shoes as an interactive lesson takes users through his journey. An animation describes the design of his experiments and how he isolated individual traits to...
Chymist
Visualizing pH
Why are acids and bases important in our daily lives? Lead the class in answering this question, among others, as they experiment with pH paper and classify where various substances belong on the pH scale. They also taste common acids...
Virginia Department of Education
Energy and ATP
Take charge of your biology class by using this exciting analogy to relate the ATP process with batteries. Pupils use batteries and rubber bands to simulate the phosphate bonds between molecules in the body. They measure the distance in...
Australian Government
The Great Artesian Basin
Covering 23% of the continent and holding 64,900 cubic kilometers of water, the Great Artesian Basin is the primary source of water for much of inland Australia. Using detailed student worksheets, experiments, and case studies,...
NOAA
Subduction Zones
Sink into an interactive learning experience about subduction zones! Junior oceanographers examine the earth-shaking and earth-making effects of subduction in the fourth installment in a 13-part series. Hands-on activities include...
National Museum of Nuclear Science & History
Nuclear Popcorn
Make your instructional activity on radioactive decay pop with this lab exercise. Using popcorn kernels spread over a tabletop, participants pick up all of those that point toward the back of the room, that is, those that represent...
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
No Fossils in This Fuel
Yeast and sugar go beyond the pantry and into a fuel experiment. Use these common baking ingredients to assist your class in creating ethanol, a natural fuel. Pupils observe the process and gather information to elaborate...
Curated OER
Hedgerows
Hedgerows prevent soil erosion, capture pollutants running off fields, store carbon to help combat climate change, and provide homes for predators of many pest species. The biodiversity lesson begins with an activity that...
NOAA
Watch the Screen!
Can a sponge cure cancer? Life science pupils visit the drugstore under the sea in the fifth instructional activity of six. Working groups research the topic then get hands-on experience by testing the inhibiting effects of several...
Virginia Department of Education
Metals, Nonmetals, and Metalloids
How can one easily classify metals, nonmetals, and metalloids? Pupils answer this question as they experiment with unknown substances and perform tests on conductivity, brittleness, and malleability to determine...
Curated OER
Science Experiments - The Low-down
Third graders discover the process thinking about science experiments, and why they are important. They work in small groups using incline planes and a small toy car to design one scientific question that can be answered through...
Curated OER
The Nature of Chemical Change: Acting Out an Example
Students identify the signs that a chemical reaction took place. In this chemistry lesson, students role play the movement of different molecules of matter. They classify matter according to their properties.
Curated OER
It's a Gas - Natural Gas
Students use plastic bottles, water, and condiment packets to simulate how natural gas comes from decaying ocean plants and animals. In this natural gas lesson plan, students also fill out lab packets and answer exit questions.
Curated OER
Naturally Disastrous!
Students explore, research and examine the causes of natural disasters and how to survive them. They research on the internet world climate, recent disasters, how they happen, what to do if one occurs and what preventive measures to take...
Curated OER
Our Disastrous World
Students explore natural disasters around the world from the experiences of other students, friends and families. They collaborate with countries such as Japan, China, India, Australia, Russia, Great Britain as well as from the United...
Curated OER
Science: Seed by Design
Young scholars, working in groups, create "artificial seeds" for a wind dispersal experiment. After trial runs, they redesign their seeds, and re-test them under the same conditions. Finally, they interpret, compare, and evaluate the...
Curated OER
Investigation of Crystallinity in Polymeric Materials
A kaleidoscope is constructed using polarizing polymer paper and then low-density polyethylene, high-density polyethylene, and polypropylene are all melted onto individual glass slides and examined through a microscope. The intent is to...
NASA
Gravitational Waves
Young scientists participate in a hands-on experiment to explore Einstein's theory of relativity in a creative manner. They investigate various waves and compare their characteristics as they discuss how each wave is created....
Curated OER
Land Plan Challenge
Links to two different versions of this mapping activity are available. In "The Small Version," youngsters design a town, keeping the water supply in mind. In "The Large Version," they also design a town, but they consider services and...