Curated OER
The Hunger Games
Enjoy this exciting novel with your students, and bring the games to life in your classroom!
NASA
Taking Apart the Light
Break down light into spectra. Scholars learn how atoms emit and absorb photons and come to understand how this process allows scientists to identify different atoms based on either absorption lines or emission lines. Learners then...
Curated OER
Identify Genre, Subgenre, and Author's Purpose
Explore genre, subgenre, and author's purpose in this helpful worksheet. Middle schoolers read several summaries of books and short stories, and identify the genre and subgenre. They also determine if the author's purpose is to...
Curated OER
Science-Related Field Trips That Won’t Break the Bank
Try some of these tips to put a new spin on the old field trip favorites.
Space Awareness
Ocean Acidification
Learn the science behind ocean acidification and its effects on ocean wildlife. Young scientists conduct a laboratory investigation that monitors the acidity level of water. While burning a candle, learners capture the carbon dioxide in...
Space Awareness
Transforming Water Into Acid ... And Back
Greenhouse gases affect marine wildlife in life-threatening ways. Through experimentation, your classes explore the acidification of water from the main greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. As they introduce carbon dioxide to water, a pH...
Space Awareness
The Climate in Numbers and Graphs
Weather versus climate: weather relates to short time periods while climate averages the weather of a period of many years. Scholars learn about average temperature and precipitation in various climate zones and then apply statistics...
Space Awareness
Valleys Deep and Mountains High
Sometimes the best view is from the farthest distance. Satellite imaging makes it possible to create altitude maps from far above the earth. A three-part activity has your young scientists play the role of the satellite and then use...
Curated OER
Our Home in the Milky Way
Students gain appreciation of the vastness of our galaxy by viewing an applet about the Milky Way. Students hypothesize about how long it would take to get from Earth to Pluto.
Curated OER
Ellipses and Kepler's First Law
The class examines graphs in the form r = F(¿¿) in polar coordinates (r, ¿¿), in particular with the circle, ellipse and other conic sections. They determine the nature of an ellipse by studying the role of the semimajor axis and...
Curated OER
Lotto or Life: What Are the Chances?
Though the website does not seem to have the mentioned video, a reding and lottery style games simulate the chances of finding intelligent life somewhere other than Earth. Without the video, this lesson is short, but it can be a useful...
Curated OER
Too Bright at Night?
Students reflect upon the causes and effects of light pollution in the night skies. First, they read articles provided and then do worksheets that are provided. They work in groups to discuss their conclusions.
Curated OER
Too Bright At Night?
Students explain what causes light pollution and how it can be curtailed. They consider the negative consequences of nighttime lighting, enabled by the invention of electric lights at the close of the 19th Century.
Curated OER
The Solar System
Students research origin of solar system, discuss theories they have found, and create paper mache solar system models.
Curated OER
Practical Illustrations of Astronomical Concepts Relating to the Solar System
Eighth graders are introduced to concepts related to the Solar System. In groups, they participate in an experiment in which they must describe a ray of light and how it travels. They draw a diagram of the electromagnetic spectrum and...
Curated OER
See the Stars
Students explore the nighttime sky. In this space science lesson, students read the book Maria's Comet and and investigate the sky using their naked eyes. Students compare the view of their naked eyes to the view of a telescope.
Curated OER
Sweet Candy Comets
Fourth graders use candy to make a comet. In this lesson, 4th graders examine the role comets have played throughout history, students watch NASA videos about comets and complete the lesson by making an edible model of a comet. This...
Curated OER
Coordinates
In this coordinates worksheet, 6th graders solve ten multiple choice questions by using their knowledge of coordinates on a grid. This is an interactive worksheet.
Curated OER
Starquest
Young scholars study the history and cultural interpretation of a celestial body or constellation. They create technology based presentations of the information.
Curated OER
Time Travel to the Edge of the Universe and Back!
Learners analyze the size of the universe and calculate the time to travel to near and distant destinations.
Curated OER
The Sun
Young scholars draw diagram of sun and its layers, including photosphere, chromosphere, corona, convection and radiative zones, and core. Students then describe each layer in their own words, define sun spot cycle, and describe solar...
Curated OER
Adopt A Constellation
In this space science worksheet, learners discover and write the name of their favorite constellation. Then they describe the history of it and draw a diagram, labeling the major stars and providing lines to show its shape.
Curated OER
Adopt a Constellation
Young scholars adopt a constellation and find detailed information about their constellation. In this constellation lesson plan, students use the web to find information about a constellation of their choice. They identify the history of...
Curated OER
The Ancient Maya
Students explore the culture of the Mayans through a variety of activities. In this instructional activity about Maya, students analyze pictures in books and on websites, produce scale models of Maya architecture, and create Maya...