Curated OER
Animals Up!
Young scholars design and build a pedestal or platform that holds a toy animal. In this building activity, students use knowledge from a prior activity as they build a platform or pedestal for a toy animal using on index cards. They...
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Alexander Calder: Master of Balance
Young scholars build simple mobiles. In this equilibrium lesson, students investigate the functions of three types of levers as they analyze artwork by Alexander Calder. Young scholars then create their own simplified mobiles.
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Deep Jungle: New Frontiers
Students watch a series of videos and observe the different plants and animals found in the rainforests. In this ecology lesson plan, students discuss how technology helped scientists study the jungle. They create 3D maps of Borneo...
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Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
Students explore how PCR works through various activities. In this biology lesson plan, students explain how PCR generate copies of DNA. They simulate the process using an online interactive website.
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Hydrologic Cycle Scavenger Hunt
Students explore the water cycle using educational resources. In this water cycle lesson, students use a global climate DVD to complete a scavenger hunt on the hydrologic (water) cycle.
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Making Waves, Making Music, Making Noise
Students construct "talking cans" and instruments to explain how vibration of objects produces various sounds.
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Biodiversity
Students investigate the diversity of temperate forests and tropical rainforests. They catch and observe local insects, sort leaves and insects on a chart, listen to the book "A Walk in the Rainforest," and create a class bar graph that...
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Deducing Induction
Students examine how changing magnetic fields induce currents in
loops and coils, determine orientation and magnitude of magnetic field,
describe Michael Faraday's experiments that led to conclusion that changing
magnetic force induces...
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Designing Machines
Young scholars explore simple and compound machines. In groups of four students, they design a compound machine using K'NEX that has a stated purpose and consists of at least two simple machines.
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Matter for Minors
Students use streaming videos, web sites, and hands on activities students to explore matter. They focus on how temperature affects matter and what the particles look like in the states of matter.
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Let's Outrage the Bull
Students study kinetic and potential energy. In this energy lesson, students in grades K-2 understand the differences between kinetic and potential energy. Students in grades 3-5 demonstrate that kinetic and potential energy. Students in...
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What is a Gas?
Students develop a scientific model of gas behavior. In this gas lesson plan, students observe different balloons filled with different densities of gases. They complete an activity where they model the behavior of gases using marbles, a...
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Create a Butterfly Mobile
Learners construct a butterfly mobile. In this visual arts lesson, students use rice paper, watercolors, a coat hanger, and wax paper to create a unique butterfly mobile. Learners use photographs of butterflies to construct a realistic...
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Forces and Energy Study Guide
Sixth graders use prior knowledge to create a tri-fold study guide using Microsoft Publisher (if available). They include real world examples that show balanced and unbalanced forces, kinetic and potential energy, and vocabulary. The...
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Catapults!
Students work together to discover the relationship between the angle of catapults and the flight of different objects. They discover the heavier the object the more force is needed. They examine how engineers use this information to...
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Simple Machines - Inclined Plane
Students learn the fundamentals and daily applications of simple machines.
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Asteroids
Students examine a potential asteroid impact site. They describe evidence and theories for extinction events.
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Wind Power for Educators
Students explore wind power as a renewable resource. In this wind power instructional activity students build models of wind turbines and experiment with different changes to see if it increases efficiency.
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The Miracle Fish: Learning to Design an Experiment
Students develop procedures to explore the behavior of fish. In this scientific experiment lesson students from a hypothesis, write a question, identify different variables and controls in their experiment.
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Help Wanted: A Lighting Engineer For Popular Rock Group
Students are assigned to groups, and determine each member's role in the group. They will design an experiment to determine a way to produce the three primary and five secondary colors. Students discuss color and mood. They listen to a...
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Shake, Rattle and Roll
Students compare the weathering of different-sized materials. Comparisons are made and data analyzed to reach conclusions about the process of weathering. Applications can be made for the higher grades.
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What is electrical energy?
Learners distinguish between items with and without energy. In this energy lesson, students understand that natural resources power electrical apparatus and that energy needs to be saved.
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Trimmed Aircraft
Students, after reading an explanation from a NASA Web-based textbook, demonstrate an understanding of the text by applying it to the calculations involving the motion of an airplane.
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Investigating and Using Biomass Gases
Students examine the definitions of biomas gasification and generate their own biomass gas. In this renewable energy lesson plan students collect gases and roast a marshmallow.