Story elements such as conflict, character analysis, resolution, and moral are discussed and charted as elementary children read folktales involving animals. An element of science is also introduced as learners discover what a keystone...

More than 80 percent of the earth's surface originated from volcanoes. The 16th lesson in a 20-part series introduces the shape and development of volcanoes. It begins with a demonstration using a balloon and flour to illustrate the...

Photographs and graphics bring the solar system and Earth to life in this presentation. Viewers are taken on a virtual field trip, beginning with the sun and planet placement, and proceeding through both Earth and the moon's movements....

Learners engage in this, the third in a three-part series on ships. The overall lesson plan series is designed to allow students to extend their understanding of floating, sinking, density, and buoyancy and apply it to the design and...

Students extend their understanding of floating, sinking, density, and buoyancy and apply it to the design and testing of ships. students discover that most ships are constructed very similarly-whether they are schooners or destroyers.

If there is a conditional statement, then there is a hypothesis and conclusion. Pupils learn how to identify the parts of conditional statements. Class members continue to work with conditional statements and rewrite them in their many...

In the sixth lesson in a series of 21, scholars use NASA data to graph and interpret albedo seasonally and over the course of multiple years. This allows learners to compare albedo trends to changes in sea ice with connections to the...

Nano-nano! Nanotechnology can seem like it's from another planet! After learning about this tiny technology, collaborative groups experiment with how smaller particles affect chemical reactions. They do this by immersing a whole and a...

An environmenta science unit includes three lessons plus a cumulative project covering the ecosystem. Scholars follow the history of the Ford Rouge Factory from its construction on wetlands and how it destroyed the...

When we think of ocean exploration, many of us have visions of sunken pirate ships full of treasure or mysterious creatures of the deep. What really motivates deep-sea investigation? The first in a series of diverse six-part lessons...

Students try to cure an upset stomach. In this acids and bases in the body lesson, students create a upset stomach with a vinegar and water solution, then use antacids and home remedies to attempt to restore pH balance to the mixture.

Young scientists discover the importance of scientific investigation by observing live crayfish. They carefully observe the patterns of crayfish in different environments. Then they discuss their conclusions and define what all living...

Sixth graders participate in an online, cooperative project researching trees in their local environments for use in an online knowledge game. They take digital pictures of the trees, bark, and leaves. After completing their research,...

The Mammoth Lakes area regularly releases warnings to hikers and skiers to be careful because melting snow releases trapped gases from volcanic vents. The 17th lesson in the 20-part series opens with a demonstration of carbon...

The feedback mechanisms of metabolism of a variety of substances in the human body. Carbohydrates, lipids, amino acids, and their derivatives are explained. The biochemistry required to explain the metabolic balance and feedback controls...

Get your young scientists excited about geology through the study of dinosaur tracks! They will use their power of observation to learn how tracks are made and use critical thinking strategies to suggest a scenario in which they were...

Students discuss rockets and how they work. Students research basic information about the Space Shuttle. Students work in collaborative groups creating "rockets" with empty film canisters. Students launch their "rockets" and record...

Neptune takes 164.8 Earth years to travel around the sun. In the fifth of 22 lessons, young scientists create a travel guide to a planet in our solar system. They provide tips for others on what to bring, what they see, and their...

Did you know scientists can tell the age of an asteroid by looking closely at its craters? This final lesson of a six-part series focuses on two asteroids, Gaspra and Ida, in order to demonstrate the concept of dating asteroids. Scholars...

Send your young life scientists on a plant webquest that has them reading case studies to decide if seeds are seeds and plants are plants. 

If you want scholars to fall in love with bees, this is the unit for you! Celebrate bees with a full week of material—designed for the Next Generation Science Standards—that addresses the importance of pollination and fertilization....

Substances with the same empirical and molecular formula must be differentiated by their structural formula. Part two in a series of 36 has pupils using chemical formulas to calculate how much of a compound is present in a given...

Small groups investigate plots of land to discover how abiotic and biotic factors interact. After recording their findings, scholars share observations with peers and self-reflect on the learning process. 

What do a bird, an egg, a rabbit, and a toad all have in common? This fun-filled resource explains the similarities and differences between cells and how all cells are similar, yet all are different. Learners begin by depicting a...