Curated OER
Air Pressure
Learners participate in a series of demonstrations about Bernoulli's principle. They explain how air pressure varies with air speed. They write a detailed lab report about the activity. This is a great way to explore this concept.
Curated OER
Series or Parallel?
Emerging electricians extend mental models of light bulbs and resistors in series and or in parallel circuits to include the connection of photovoltaic cells in arrays. They investigate open circuits, using a DC voltmeter, a light...
Curated OER
Exposure!
Students investigate that chemicals may affect different people in different ways. They also realize that their perceptions of dangerous materials may not be realistic and that the news media may not provide all the information needed to...
Curated OER
Sources of Potential Groundwater Contamination
Learners construct models that demonstrate potential sources of contamination. Students select one type of contamination model (septic system, sinkhole, landfill, disposal lagoon, leaky barrels, oil spill, agricultural contamination) to...
Curated OER
The Five Classes of Vertebrates
What a terrific lesson! Learners discuss the animal kingdom, and classify them as vertebrates and invertebrates. They also identify them as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. There is even a taxonomic breakdown of popular...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Food for Thought: Climate Change and Trophic Cascades
Learners examines the arctic food web with a short video about polar bears and an article about bears and warming temperatures. They design an arctic food web and discuss the trophic cascade that could come from climate...
Curated OER
Strum Along
Students engage in a instructional activity which takes something constructed by the class, that would be normally classified as just sound, then work together to make what can be perceived to be music. Students construct a basic...
Curated OER
The Parachute
Students discuss parachutes and write a procedure to determine the effect of different size parachutes and different masses on the time it takes the masses to fall. They record all their data from their experiment then write three...
Curated OER
German Energy Conversations
Learners identify and interpret the current German energy mix and trends, as well as to make comparisons and contrasts to that of their own country. They write a two paragraph description of including its likely position in the future...
National Wildlife Federation
An Energy Mix: Renewable and Nonrenewable Resources
What did the windmill say about renewable energy? I'm a BIG fan! Lesson three in the series of 12 has classes discuss potential and kinetic energy and then, in pairs, they complete a web quest over the different types of energy...
Curated OER
Coal Formation
Learners perform an in-depth study of coal - one of most important fossil fuels. Over a three-week period of time, they become familiar with how coal is formed underground, and will create a "fossil" right there in the classroom in order...
Curated OER
Water Cycle
Identify and interpret the earth's different water sources. Third and fourth graders describe and demonstrate the process of the water cycle, make a model of its two main parts, and predict and infer to answer questions about the...
Curated OER
Considerations in Heating a Home
Emerging engineers discover how important it is to conserve energy as fossil fuel supplies are being diminished. This is accomplished by working through a handout that explains energy requirements for heating a home during the winter....
Curated OER
Water Pressure Blaster
Third graders complete an experiment to introduce them to the concept of water pressure. In this water pressure lesson plan, 3rd graders create pressure in a water bottle and observe the force of water that is created.
University of Southern California
What Is The Ocean?
Go on a tour of the ocean through the lens of a scientist. Learners read maps of the ocean floor, study tide behavior, examine wave motion, and analyze components of soil. Each lesson incorporates a hands-on component.
NOAA
How Do We Know?: Make Additional Weather Sensors; Set Up a Home Weather Station
Viewers learn about three different weather measurement tools in installment five of the 10-part Discover Your Changing World series. They build weather vanes to collect data on wind speed, barometers to determine air pressure, and...
NOAA
What's a CTD?
Why are the properties of the water important when exploring the ocean? Young scientists discover the tools and technology used in deep sea exploration in the fourth installment in a five-part series. Groups work together to...
Curated OER
Over and Through Information Sheet
Eager earth scientists practice using vocabulary related to landforms and bodies of water. On the first page they categorize the terms and form sentences with them. Then, they test their knowledge with twenty-five multiple-choice...
Curated OER
The Landfill Loafers Meet the Wise Buys
Students discover recyclable materials and the proper disposal of those items through Internet research. Working in groups of four, they search the Internet for uses of recyclable materials. After research is complete, they participate...
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
Space Travel Guide
Looking to take a trip? Why not go to space? Here, scholars take on the role as travel agent to create a guide to their favorite planet including travel tips and sightseeing recommendations.
University of Colorado
Space Travel Guide
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...
University of Colorado
Is There Life on Earth?
To find life on another planet, scientists look for gases (atmosphere), water, and temperatures that are not extreme. For this activity, groups of pupils become "Titan-ians," scientists who want to explore Earth for possible life forms....
University of Colorado
Distance = Rate x Time
Every year, the moon moves 3.8 cm farther from Earth. In the 11th part of 22, classes use the distance formula. They determine the distance to the moon based upon given data and then graph Galileo spacecraft data to determine its movement.
University of Colorado
Are All Asteroids' Surfaces the Same Age?
There are more than 600,000 asteroids in our solar system. Pupils analyze images of two asteroids in order to determine if they are the same age. They count craters for each asteroid and compare numbers.