Curated OER
The Metamorphosis: Multicultural Strategy
Track the changes and developments in Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis with a reading comprehension worksheet. Individuals copy important quotations from each of the book's three parts, record their reactions, and then reflect on the...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Historical Climate Cycles
Scientists use ice core samples to obtain temperatures of the earth from 400,000 years ago! The third of five lessons instructs pupils to interpret historical climate data to see changes over time. In part I, participants interpret...
Science 4 Inquiry
All the Small Things
Scholars use sorting cards to try to define a pure substance versus a mixture. Risk becomes reward as they observe the differences and create a flowchart sorting matter into mixtures and pure substances (elements and compounds).
Serendip
Introduction to Osmosis
A chicken egg is a very large cell—perfect for investigating osmosis! Scholars conduct an experiment with vinegar and eggs that helps them understand the process of osmosis. They follow the activity with an in-depth look at osmosis in...
Cornell University
Atomic Bonding
Explore the connection of surface area to bonding within atoms. Learners complete lab investigations to model changing surface area with different sizes and concentrations of atoms. A flour fireball demonstration follows the labs to...
Curated OER
What Is A Plant?
Students explore plants. In this plant activity, students examine organisms to determine which are plants. During this introductory activity, students explore characteristics of living things.
Curated OER
What To Do After The Hands-Are-On
Middle schoolers perform various demonstrations for each of Newton's Laws, collect data, and write a conclusion for each.
Curated OER
Developing Open-Ended Questions
Students work in groups of two to develop questions and sample answers that are relevant, accurate and use higher level of thinking skills about a literary unit. Students present their questions and answers to the class as a review of...
Curated OER
Properties of Matter
Ninth graders explore the molecular structure of matter and how it can affect the physical characteristics of a specific material. They demonstrate that isotopes of an element have different masses. Students demonstrate that the rates of...
Curated OER
Drugged Out Daphnia
Ninth graders participate in experiments to investigate the the effects of nicotine, caffeine, aspirin, alcohol, and sleeping pills on the heart rates of Daphina. They describe the relationships between common drugs and heart rates....
Curated OER
Multiplying Microbes
Ninth graders investigate the techniques of culturing bacteria. They culture bacteria using agar plates. Students identify and describe some environmental conditions that effect bacteria growth.
Curated OER
Evaluate Ecosystems
Ninth graders conduct an environmental inventory on one ecosystem. They collect data, and write an environmental impact statement on that area. Students explain the interactions between different systems found within an ecosystem....
Curated OER
Fertilizer Frenzy
Ninth graders design and conduct an experiment. They evaluate other's experiments. Students describe relationships between biological systems and the environmental contaminants. They work as a team to solve a problem.
Curated OER
WebQuest: Thrills and Spills- Pick Your Park!
Young scholars participate in a WebQuest in which they must determine which amusement park is the "median priced" park. Students visit park websites to accumulate prices for parking, activities, restaurants, and gift shops.
Kenan Fellows
Determining Stream Health by the Diversity and Types of Benthic Organisms
How diverse are the benthic organisms found in local streams? Using the information learned in previous lessons on identification of macroinvertebrates and on calculating stream index values, groups determine the health of local streams....
Curated OER
Genetics
Students create a checklist of traits common in all of their families. Uisng a table, they compare and contrast their family members to non-family members. They also review dominant and recessive traits and discuss how knowing about...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Bear Factory Probability
By examining a set of dice roll data, statisticians determine the probability of different sums occurring. They visit an interactive website and determine how many different vacation outfits Bobbie Bear will have based on the colored...
Curated OER
LAND USE DEBATE / TOWN MEETING
Ninth graders research, analyze, and orally defend an issue related to the use of geologic resources. They defend their position in written form by composing a letter to an appropriate source.
Teaching Ideas
Investigation Prompts
Get your class started with experimentation and investigation by providing sentence starters. This chart is made up of three columns. The first column lists steps of the scientific process and the second provides sentence starters for...
Curated OER
Photographical Ecology
Students study organisms and the roles they play in nature. In this ecology lesson, students photograph several examples of organisms during a nature walk. Students print out their photos and classify the organisms as plants or animals.
Curated OER
School Lighting Audit Action Plan
Students write a school lighting audit action plan from the data they collected in previous lessons. They develop a presentation that shows the results of the data and their recommendations. They present their action plan to their...
Curated OER
Have a Ball with Bernoulli II
Third graders explore the work of Daniel Bernoulli through experiment and background information. In this Bernoulli lesson, 3rd graders participate in air pressure experiments. Students record their observations of the effects of air...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Watch That Plant Grow
Middle schoolers examine the growth of marigolds in a greenhouse environment. They chart data in spreadsheets showing plant growth over time and under a number of conditions. They record measures of plant height and greenhouse temperature.
Curated OER
Alka-Seltzer Cannons
Fourth graders observe what is happening when an Alka-Seltzer tablet is placed in a clear cup of water. They observe the release of carbon dioxide gas. Pupils answer the question of how much as is released by observing the experiment...