Curated OER
Warm Thoughts About the Cold
“What do you think life is like at the South Pole?” After responding to this journal prompt, class members read and discuss the New York Times article, “At South Pole, New Home for a New Era.” Using resources available from the Times’...
Take the challenge
Connecting with Natural/Open Spaces
Get your class outside, away from the television, and maybe even learning something about nature while they're at it. Individuals will chose an open, natural space to spend time in for several days. Each day they will complete a page in...
Curated OER
Ocean Life
Mini-marine biologists use Scholastic Explorers website to learn about declining numbers of leatherback sea turtles and dusky dolphins. They fill out a K-W-L chart and observation journal worksheet, which are both provided in the lesson...
Curated OER
One Grain of Rice
Upper graders read the story One Grain of Rice, and use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast topics found in the story to current event topics today. Groups of three learners work together to create their diagram. The topics they must...
Curated OER
Don't Believe the Hype
Are hand sanitizers good for you? What about the environment? Research the science behind commonly used cold medicines. The class reads an article, creates a product poster, and conducts independent research on product claims made by...
Polar Trec
Playground Profiling—Topographic Profile Mapping
The Kuril islands stretch from Japan to Russia, and the ongoing dispute about their jurisdiction prevents many scientific research studies. Scholars learn to create a topographic profile of a specific area around their schools. Then they...
Curated OER
Tables, Charts and Graphs
Students examine a science journal to develop an understanding of graphs in science. In this data analysis lesson plan, students read an article from the Natural Inquirer and discuss the meaning of the included graph....
Curated OER
Thinking About Science and the Environment
Students read 3 or 4 Science articles and complete a chart. In this scientific thought concept lesson, students play a game using their chart to reinforce their ideas and concepts. Students make a list of the bigger ideas...
Curated OER
Interview with Meriwether Lewis
Young scholars ask questions and prepare responses to Meriwether Lewis and his expedition. In this journal instructional activity students present their questions to the class.
Curated OER
Jack and the Beanstalk: Plant a Bean and Watch It Grow
Students plant bean seeds, watch them grow, and measure them with non-standard objects. They describe the bean's growth in a journal and record the growth on a calendar.
Teach Engineering
The Keepers of the Gate Challenge
Help your class make a connection between salt water and nanoscience. In the introductory lesson of a seven-part unit, the class explores why salt water helps a sore throat feel better. Pupils conduct preliminary research about the...
Curated OER
What's The Weather?
Students explore the role that remote sensing plays in predicting our weather. Students investigate weather websites, and read about the three kinds of clouds. Students record and draw their observations in science journals.
Curated OER
The Hat
Honing reading and communication skills through the theme of farm animals is the focus of this lesson. Students read a book about Scandinavian farm animals and complete prediction journal activities. They complete a worksheet about the...
Curated OER
This is Your Life
Middle or high-school pupils choose a scientist to research. They collect biographical information and explore their contributions to scientific understanding. With all that they compile, they create a scrapbook of the scientists' life....
Curated OER
A Tour Down the Hudson River
High schoolers discuss how the Hudson River is an ecosystem made up of both biotic and abiotic factors. They view the PowerPoint the Journal Down the Hudson River. Students become aware of where the Hudson River begins and ends, the...
Curated OER
To Whom It May Concern! Writing for a Variety of Audiences
Elementary learners write friendly letters with the same subject to two contrasting readers or audiences. They choose words and phrases that will be the most effective for the audience they are trying to reach. They read both letters and...
Curated OER
Natural Inquirer Ecosystem Article Lesson
Young scholars discover new ways to preserve the ecosystem by completing graphic organizers. In this environmental lesson, students read an article from the Natural Inquirer in small groups and fill out a graphic organizer based on...
Curated OER
I Wonder What An Important Observation Is...
Students discover the importance of descriptions and detail in their writing. They write in their scientific journals and are evaluated by the teacher. They write a descriptive piece and evaluate their own writing as well.
Novelinks
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry: Question Answer Response Strategy
Readers of Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry are introduced to the Question Answer Response Strategy (QAR) as a way to increase their engagement in and comprehension of the novel.
Centers for Ocean Sciences
Ocean and Great Lakes Literacy: Principle 7
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to take your class on an underwater adventure. The final installment in a seven-part series involving salt and freshwater bodies takes junior oceanographers below the surface in...
Curated OER
One Giant Leap
Students brainstorm important scientific advancements of the twentieth century. They examine the implications of the completion of the first rough draft of the human genome on society. They research a selected scientific advancement of...
Curated OER
Walking on Thin Ice
Students examine scientific evidence of changes in the Arctic ice cover. They participate in a simulation of an international conference and debate the relationship between global warming and changes in the arctic ice cover.
Curated OER
Fun With Food
Students participate in hands-on scientific experiments relying solely on household kitchen materials.
Curated OER
Shades of Gray
Students examine their own strengths and weaknesses and try to determine if it is a result of nature, nuture or both. After reading an article, they discuss how gender may or may not account for differences in intelligence. They...