Intended as a follow up to the Protecting Your Drinking Water activity, young environmentalists use their assessment of the a hypothetical town's water supply to debate the installation of underground chemical storage tanks. With...

Are our oceans really suffering due to the choices humans make? The sixth and final installment in the volume of activities challenges research groups to tackle one of six major topics that impact ocean health. After getting to the...

If I want to build up my heart, where should I start? Science scholars use statistics in a sports physiology setting during an insightful experiment. Groups measure resting and active heart rates and develop a scatter plot that shows the...

Discuss personal ideas about science and how a filmmaker can employ the arts to promote science. After reading an article, young scientists will discover how James Cameron is trying to interest people in the oceans. In groups, they will...

What a festive way to examine what happens to the heart in different gravitational situations! Small groups place a water-filled balloon in different locations (on a table top, in a tub of water, and held in a vertical position), drawing...

What are characteristics of a planet? With this plan, learners investigate the characteristics of the planets in our solar system. They gather research of the nine planets by using the Internet and other research tools. Then they create...

Discuss how diseases have impacted human history. Divide your class into groups and assign each group one of the following: tuberculosis, malaria, plague, cholera, smallpox, and AIDS. They read up on, complete a concept map, and present...

Did you know that horses have two sets of teeth?  There is much to learn about horses, of course, and those interested in equine science will learn much from a 10-lesson agricultural science course that covers not only equine dental...

Mini microbiologists play a card game in which they group microorganisms by groups: virus, fungus, protist, or bacteria. Then they identify the roles different microbes play in the natural world and explore how humans effectively use...

Groups discover physics as they take an assigned scenario, perform research about different aspects of the subject matter, and present their findings to the class. From the presentations, learners must develop and support a point of view...

There can be a steep learning curve when teaching about exponential growth, but the lesson plan helps kids make sense out of the concept. When talking about exponential growth of viruses, learners may not be very interested, but when you...

Students focus on the tremendous public interest in the potential of extraterrestrial life. They read and discuss an article about the search for alien life. They divide into small groups and discuss the issues and implications of this...

The six instructional shifts in this workshop definitely move math and science teachers' understanding of instruction. The workshop, 13th out of a series of 15, asks participants to examine sample tests and to look at how the six...

Here is an interesting activity on the manatee for your upper graders or middle schoolers. A game is played where learners work together to complete a successful manatee migration. It's a board game, and all of the game components are...

Students complete activities surrounding the study of groundwater movement, energy resources, wind energy, and riparian areas. They debate/role-play the viewpoints of different interest groups in considering whether the black-footed...

Life science learners read a set of six short Discovery Readings that describe historical events in the field of microbiology. For each, they identify clues about when the event occurred and then they try to arrange events in...

By examining harmful health and hygiene practices, teens will be able to determine what is best for their body. Advertisers for health/hygiene products will also be evaluated for "best interest" criteria. The class will begin by...

Young biologists discuss the reasons behind the current use of the plant identification system. They get into groups and identify the characteristics of each species of plant which is described. The keys needed for groups to make...

What would it take to live on the lunar surface? Small groups build model rockets in order to simulate launching a habitat into space and rebuilding it. Divide the class into groups to design and build a model of a lunar habitat. The...

Introduce learners to the concept of Boolean Algebra. In groups, they are given real life situations in statements and make conclusions. They will use the statements to form compound statements. To end the lesson, they use the compound...

What can I use in space? The three-lesson unit has groups research what man-made or natural resources would be available during space exploration or habitation. Team members think of ways that resources can be reclaimed or reused in...

In this weather report worksheet, students complete a weather report on their favorite season in a group. Students observe and evaluate, complete a table for the report, and present it in a group.

Students' are given a research sheet to complete in small groups. They are to select a planet or moon to research using the Internet. With this research and their completed form, each group defends their planet or moon in a debate...

Students investigate animal injuries caused by humans. They present their findings to various neighborhood groups.