Curated OER
Hazardous Waste Issues in the News
Students work together to research hazardous waste in the news. They discover how large the hazardous waste issue is. They complete an experiment and discuss how the issues affect their community.
Curated OER
Science in the News
Students explore science in the news through articles, magazines, and internet news sites. They select articles, read them and summarize them to identify the audience that would care about their topics. As they present their articles...
Curated OER
What's in the News?
In this analysing articles worksheet, middle schoolers read two newspaper articles about the issue of radon and answer six questions that allow students to reflect on how the articles were written and what is left unknown to the readers.
Curated OER
What's in the News?
Young scholars discuss any news article or video about the environment. They develop their own questions relating to radon and how it effects people and the environment. They answer each others questions to end the lesson.
NASA
The Big Climate Change Experiment Lesson 1: Pre-Exploration
Most have heard of climate change, but what does it really mean? Scholars first answer a set of pre-assessment questions about climate change to help instructors gauge how much they know. They listen to a video lecture, watch a news...
Curated OER
Hill of Fire
Students examine Paricutin eruptions. In this science lesson, students locate Paricutin on a map and take a virtual tour of volcanoes around the world. Students email questions to a geologist and create a news report on the original...
Polar Trec
How Much Data is Enough?
The next time you read a magazine or watch the news, make note of how many graphs you see because they are everywhere! Here, scholars collect, enter, and graph data using computers. The graphs are then analyzed to aid in discussion of...
Curated OER
Images of Science
Students discover that science is part of everyday life. In this science instructional activity, students create a science collage, draw a scientist, and write about science in the news.
Curated OER
Visual Learning: A Slow, Press-ious Process
Students observe a photograph and make inferences. In this investigative lesson students study how to find facts in pictures and draw inferences from them.
Curated OER
You Are What You Eat
Students identify healthy food choices from the food groups on the USDA food pyramid. In this nutrition and health lesson, students identify and name examples of each food group displayed on the food pyramid. Students cut out healthy...
Curated OER
Cloud in the Classroom
Students describe the relationship between animals and humans. In this biology lesson, students research about the history of horses in America. They present a mock news broadcast about their research.
Curated OER
Discover the science of archaeology
Students research archaeology. In this archaeology lesson, students conduct research about archaeology and one ancient culture. Students write a magazine article about an archaeological dig.
Curated OER
What Lies Beneath the Upper Crust?
Students discover if information in an article is accurate and current. In this science lesson, students read the story carefully and decide on what the subject of the article is. Students search the Internet to see more information...
Curated OER
Current Events and Fish
Fifth graders examine current events impacting aquatic life in their communities. They search for newspaper, magazine and television reports for information about aquatic life in local bodies of water. Students can write letters to...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Survival of the Fittest - Variations in the Clam Species Clamys sweetus
It's not often that you come across a clever laboratory activity that is both imaginative and comprehensive! Using M&M's and Reese's peanut butter candies to represent two different clam species, young biologists test for "relative...
National Research Center for Career and Technical Education
STEM: Lou-Vee Air Car
A comprehensive lesson on acceleration awaits your physicists and engineers! Two YouTube videos pique their interest, then sample F=ma problems are worked and graphed. The highlight of the lesson is the building of a Lou-Vee air car!...
Curated OER
Dinosaurs In Argentina
Learners study the fossils in Argentina and why it is a good place to find them. In this dinosaurs lesson students learn about the recent dinosaur excavations.
National Research Center for Career and Technical Education
Hospitality and Tourism 1: Safety and Sanitation
Math and science come alive in this career-related lesson on sanitation. Along the way, learners explore bacterial growth rates using exponential notation and graphs. A link to a very brief, but vivid video shows just how quickly these...
Curated OER
Window Treatments for Energy Savings
Students investigate energy-saving window treatments. In this environmental lesson plan, students research how energy-saving windows work by conducting an experiment using a thermometer and graphing data. Students identify why...
Curated OER
Science vs. Science Fiction
Students acknowledge the difference between science and science fiction through a compare/contrast activity. They discuss their reading materials together. Students identify characteristics specific to science fiction.
Curated OER
Who Ever Heard of the Big Bang?
Students examine the theories that attempt to explain the origins of the Universe. Some theories are based on scientific facts. Others find their source in folklore. The variety of beliefs systems are discussed as a motivating factor for...
Curated OER
What is a Medicine?
Students brainstorm ideas about what makes a substance a "medicine" to determine their preconceptions about medicines. They evaluate whether certain substances should be defined as "medicines' and examine various systems of medicine.
Curated OER
Estuary Interviews
Students role play as newscasters to highlight the lives of estuary animals. In this estuary animal instructional activity, students watch local new shows to examine how interviews take place. They research the lives of animals that live...
Curated OER
Food Webs
Learners produce a newspaper covering topics related to food webs. They use print and electronic sources to gather information about specific animals. They share their information with the class.