American Chemical Society
Combustion and Burning
On Earth, a candle flame points up, but on the International Space Station, it forms a sphere. Young scientists practice their skills by recording observations before, during, and after a candle burns. Chemical and physical changes...
Curated OER
Health Physics: The Effects of Radiation on Living Things
A mix of scientific details and background information about the well-known sites of radiation attacks or accidents. This topic may open up details that you may consider as sensitive, and could be upsetting to some pupils. This is a...
Batesville Community School Corporation
Electrostatics Presentation
Energize young scientists with this introductory presentation on the electromagnetic force. From learning about basic topics like protons and electrons, to more in-depth concepts like Coulomb's law and electric dipoles, physics students...
Purdue University
Garden Surprise
View vegetables a little differently. A hands-on instructional activity begins by examining different vegetables and identifying the part of the plant they come from. Learners then create exploding seed balls they take home to grow their...
Chymist
Landfills and Recycling
Examine the nature of landfills through experimentation. Scholars build miniature landfills and monitor changes over a six-week period. Observations allow individuals to draw conclusions about the different types of trash and their...
Curated OER
Crash Test Physics
Students design and test balsa cars. In this crash tet activity, students design and build their own cars to specifications. They explore the physics of motion and vehicle crash safety.
Curated OER
Life Cycle of the Plant - The Pumpkin
First graders access prior knowledge about pumpkins and read the story Pumpkin, Pumpkin. They will sequence the life cycle of the pumpkin through the use of picture cards and then sing a song about the life cycle of the pumpkin and plant...
Curated OER
The Legendary Raptors
How are raptors and airplanes alike? Combine science and language arts in this fun and interactive project. Young scientists research the animal in order to design their own aircraft, and compete in a contest for farthest, fastest, and...
Curated OER
Nature and Nurture
Pupils look into the role both nature and nurture play in determining an individual's traits. They examine how genes and the environment affect personality
PHET
The Dynamic Nature of the Sun
In this second lesson plan of the series, pupils learn to observe similarities and differences in photos of the sun and record them in a Venn diagram. Then, small groups practice the same skill on unique images before presenting their...
PHET
Science and Engineering Conference
Young scientists present their experimental designs from the previous experiment. The ninth lesson in the series outlines what learners should present, what class discussions should happen, and the solution NASA came up with for the same...
Curated OER
Water Conservation
Open learners' eyes to the challenge of finding safe drinking water – something we often take for granted in our country. The PowerPoint presentation includes images, graphs, diagrams, and even a video to stimulate discussion on how we...
Curated OER
Life Cycle of Trees
Turn your students into young tree-tectives with this fun science investigation into the life of trees. To begin, a class volunteer gets dressed up in a tree costume as the different parts of trees are introduced. Then, the class learns...
Rivanna Regional Stormwater Education Partnership
Invisible Passengers
How does water pollution affect the organisms living in the water? Use three science experiments to examine how erosion and other pollutants can affect water quality. Each experiment focuses on a different aspect of pollution and...
Curated OER
Week 7: Animal Adaptations - Bird Beaks
Learners use tools to represent bird beaks and pick up different types of food with them in order to discover which beak would help the bird survive depending on their food type.
National Wildlife Federation
Sensory Discovery Walk
Let your senses be your lead. Pairs of pupils blindfold their partners and then lead them around nature areas. They use their senses to find landmarks and create maps with their findings. Once they create their maps, they go back to the...
National Park Service
Glaciers and Water
Explore the amazing power of glaciers with a hands-on earth science experiment! After first learning basic background information, learners go on to create their very own chunks of frozen water and gravel in order to observe first-hand...
Curated OER
Simple Harmonic Motion
Back and forth, and back again. A presentation on harmonic motion would make a great backdrop for a directed instruction lesson in Honors Physics. It includes diagrams, formulas, graphs, and a few sample problems.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Patterns in the Distribution of Lactase Persistence
We all drink milk as babies, so why can't we all drink it as adults? Examine the trend in lactase production on the world-wide scale as science scholars analyze and interpret data. Groups create pie charts from the data, place them on a...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Sorting Finch Species
Don't just tell your class about Darwin's finches ... show them! Sort some of science's most famous birds using an interactive lesson. Learners try their hand at classifying finches using song, sonogram, and beak appearance, as well as...
Curated OER
Elements for Disaster Reporting
Students identify the elements of natural disasters and gain an understanding on how the media influences people's responses to disasters. In this natural disaster lesson plan, students study the impact of natural disasters, and the...
Curated OER
Surviving the Conditions
Students explore Earth science by participating in an environmental care activity. In this natural resources lesson, students discuss ways to protect themselves from the environment if they are ever in need of shelter in the wilderness....
Curated OER
Whodunnit?
Want to create an exciting mystery activity? Investigators will identify the elements of a mystery, review mystery stories, then write their own mysteries. They engage in forensic science experiments related to mysteries and learn to ask...
Curated OER
Fossil Fuels (Part III), The Geology of Coal
Do not overlook this set of lessons just because your school does not have a data analysis system. There is plenty of material here to administer a complete mini unit on the formation, distribution, and properties of coal. Since it...