Curated OER
The Atmosphere
Here is a suitable set of slides to use when teaching about the layers of the atmosphere, climate, global winds, and types of clouds. These slides will support a few different lectures. You will probably want to replace the diagrams with...
Curated OER
In the Forecast, a Flurry of Concerns about Snow
Students consider the effects of climate change on snowfall and how a lack of data in snowfall collection impair climate change research. They, in groups, investigate different effects of snowfall and make recommendations to lobbyists.
Curated OER
Dust in the Wind
Students investigate causes and effects of droughts by participating in a simulation 'town hall meeting.' Acting as community members, students make informed decisions to help a town and its surrounding areas suffering effects of a...
Curated OER
Let the River Run
Young scholars explore the environment by reading a story in class. For this water formation lesson, students define environmental terms such as rivers, streams, gulf, oceans and lakes. Young scholars read the story A River Ran Wild and...
Teach Engineering
Ranking the Rocks for Desired Properties
Math rocks! Cavern design teams determine the rankings of rock types based upon desirability points. The points are connected to the properties of the rocks and their usefulness in building a cavern.
Wind Wise Education
What Causes Wind?
Through watching several classic air pressure demonstrations, middle schoolers determine that high pressure areas move toward lower pressure areas, heated air causes a drop in pressure, and forces exist when pressures are unequal....
Teach Engineering
The Challenge Question
A research position becomes a modeling job. The introductory lesson in a series of nine presents the challenge of analyzing a set of bivariate data. The class brainstorms what the data may represent. Pupils must decide what is needed to...
Curated OER
Sand & Water: Arctic in the Sun
Students chill out on a hot day with this outdoor activity. In this early childhood physical education lesson, students have fun experimenting through play with ice and toy animals in water.
Teach Engineering
See the Genes
"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough" - Albert Einstein. The sixth installment of a seven-part series teaches young scientists about the importance of being able to communicate scientific research and...
Illinois State Board of Education
Common Core Teaching and Learning Strategies
Here's a resource that deserves a place in your curriculum library, whether or not your school has adopted the Common Core. Designed for middle and high school language arts classes, the packet is packed with teaching tips, materials,...
Science 4 Inquiry
Deforestation
Young scientists observe deforestation from satellite photos and discuss the importance of forests to the global environment. They then simulate a plot of forest when farmers move into the area over the course of seven years. Finally,...
Discovery Education
Sonar & Echolocation
A well-designed, comprehensive, and attractive slide show supports direct instruction on how sonar and echolocation work. Contained within the slides are links to interactive websites and instructions for using apps on a mobile device to...
Teach Engineering
Incoming Asteroid! What's the Problem?
Oh, no! An asteroid is on a collision course with Earth!. Class members must rise to the challenge of designing a shelter that will protect people from the impact and permit them to live in this shelter for one year. In this first lesson...
California Education Partners
Lashelles Garden
Let knowledge grow bountifully like plants in a garden. Given a diagram of a rectangular garden split into plots, scholars determine the area of the entire garden and the areas of the individual plots. As a culminating activity, they...
Curated OER
It's Magic: Understanding the Roles, Responsibilities, and Requirements of Workers
Fifth graders investigate the world of work in relation to knowledge of self and to make informed career decisions. Then they break into groups to complete the training and education for two careers selected from a listing in the lesson....
Kenan
Respiratory System
Explore the respiratory system with a model. First, pupils build a set of lungs to experiment how they inflate and deflate. Then, they delve deeper into the topic with a web quest to discover new information about the nose, trachea, and...
Curated OER
Transition Words in Writing
Transition words in writing are the focus of the language arts lesson presented here. In it, learners cut out the word-sort cards (embedded in the plan), and put them into four categories: time, examples, space, and summary. They find a...
Teach Engineering
Basically Acidic Ink
If you don't want to drink red cabbage juice, here's another use for it—a decoder! Using vinegar and ammonia-based window cleaning liquids as invisible inks, scholars create designs in the second lesson of the series. Red cabbage juice...
Teach Engineering
Ice, Ice, PV!
Knowing the temperature coefficient allows for the calculation of voltage output at any temperature. Groups conduct an experiment to determine the effects of temperature on the power output of a solar panel. The teams alter the...
Curated OER
The Science and Technology of Food
High schoolers examine the guidelines the United States Department of Agriculture places on food. In groups, they create a list of the foods they consume and discuss the political and environmental implications of purchasing the food. ...
Curated OER
The Mysteries of Twins
Third graders experience reading in the content areas by reading about heredity and practicing summarizing the reading.
Center Science Education
Tracking Hurricane News
Here is a unique twist for your lesson on hurricanes. After examining extreme weather news headlines, your storm chasers view a PowerPoint about hurricanes and then zoom in on Hurricane Irene. They map a timeline of her trek up the East...
Boward County Public Schools
Hoot Activities
If you're looking for engaging, cross-curricular, inquiry-based activities and projects to support your class reading of Carl Hiaasen's Hoot, you've come to the right place!
Curated OER
It's all In the Package
Students examine the concept of reducing solid waste and how it relates to product packaging. They read about and evaluate the packaging decisions of two major U.S. corporations, develop a t-chart comparing the pros and cons of various...