Lesson Plan
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Planets in Balance

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students study the solar system by researching the planets.  In this exploratory lesson students divide into teams and create mobiles.
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Hunting for galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students examine Hubble Deep Field images. In this galaxy classification lesson, students research galaxy classification. Students view and classify Hubble Deep field images of galaxies.
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Islands, Reefs, and a Hotspot

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students describe eight stages in the formation of islands in the Hawaiian archipelago. They examine the movement of tectonic plates in the Hawaiian archipelago region, and describe how plate movement produced the Hawaiian archipelago.
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A Walk in the Woods

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders observe and identify the different levels of the forest.  In this forest zones lesson students observe, identify and name a variety of forest components and describe how humans impact the forest ecosystem. 
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Dino Hunt

For Teachers 1st - 5th
Students use the Internet to gather information about dinosaurs. They practice navagating through the different websites. They also practice listening to directions and also explore how to fill out a KWL chart.
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Radical Raptors

For Teachers 4th - 9th
Students study the lifestyles and habitats of raptors that live in Minnesota. They play games associated with their study.
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Ecology and the St. Lawrence River

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders complete a unit of lessons on ecosystems, organism interactions, and energy flow. They create a key for known species of fish, diagram the movement of energy through an ecosystem, and create and present food chains and food...
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Bats

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students model how the bones in a bat wing are organized. They develop questions about bat body parts based on photographs. They hypothesize how bats locate their food.
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Properties of Matter: "Sink or Swim"

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders recognize that different materials have different properties which can be observed such as texture and bouyancy, and compare and contrast, through observation, ability of some objects to float because of action of...
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How Structure Can Affect Properties Through Phase Changes

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers discuss how changing the structure of atoms and molecules can change the properties of a substance. They brainstorm and review their own examples of phase change with the help of a phase change diagram. Students describe...
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Aerodynamic Design

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students research aerodynamic design. In this aerodynamic design lesson, students investigate wind resistance on a car. Students explore the reasons necessary for aerodynamic design.
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What If We Run Out?

For Teachers 3rd - 7th
Students explore the consequences of shrinking habitats and the human impact on wildlife populations. They participate in a game to study the consequences and describe the preservation of animal habitats.
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Earth Matters

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Young scholars identify Earth's equator, prime meridian, lines of latitude, lines of longitude, parallels, and meridians.
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Riding the Gravity Wave

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students write a sketch of an artist or athlete that has pushed the limits on gravity. They explore concepts of rhythm, balance and friction. They examine how engineers design sports equipment.
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Art and Anatomy: The Vitruvian Teen

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students are introduced to the history of showing the human anatomy. In groups, they measure their height and arm spans to create a graph and determine if their measurements support Vitruvius' work. Individually, they make their own...
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Does the Distance Between the Earth and Sun Cause the seasons?

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Young scholars reflect upon the concepts of seasons. The concepts are taught using a variety of different teaching approaches. A activities lead to a reflection that will help students to make a cognitive transfer of information form...
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What are Rocks and Minerals? How can they help us?

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders investigate the difference between rocks and minerals. They name the three kinds of rocks (sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic) and know the differences between them.
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Pollution Solution!

For Teachers K - 7th
Students listen to the story "Clean Air, Dirty Air" by Lynne Patchett and discover the main types of pollution and how these affect their bodies. In this pollution lesson, students work in small groups to create a machine to prevent...
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Air and Water in the Environment

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders participate in a three part lesson in which they identify and describe forms of moisture in the environment. Part one of the lesson involves the three stages of the water cycle, part two focuses on creating humidity by...
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Permafrost: Permanently Frozen Ground

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Students explore permafrost.  In this 3 states of matter lesson, students identify characteristics of solids and liquids.  Students observe water and soil melting and freezing at various temperatures.  Students make...
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Living With the Heat: The Ring of Fire

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students investigate the planet Earth's infamous ring of fire and the life that thrives from it.  In this ocean environment lesson, students investigate hydrothermal vents and how organisms thrive off their heat.  Students...
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Butterfly Life Cycle

For Teachers K
Students read books about animals and describe their structures, how they grow and change, and their life cycles. In this animals lesson plan, students also make animals out of pasta.
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Biomes of The World

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Learners research different biomes, using links from global pen pal letters.
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Gravity Lesson

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders study the effects of mass on gravity. In this gravity instructional activity, 5th graders make model parachutes and helicopters in order to apply the scientific process and find out the effects of mass on drops of the 2...