Chicago Botanic Garden
Calculating Your Carbon Footprint
Unplugging from technology for one day per week will decrease your carbon footprint—are you up to the challenge? Part two in a series of three allows individuals to explore their personal carbon footprints. By first taking a quiz at home...
Curated OER
Clowning Around: Drawing
Kids create a clown out of shapes. They work to show emotions while practicing their drawing skills. Pupils use circles, triangles, squares, oil pastels, and their imagination to draw, color, and decorate a sad or happy clown. Tip: Have...
Curated OER
Rooftop Gardens
Second graders investigate how to help a city building remain cooler on the inside. They create a rooftop garden in order to shield the building and lower the internal temperature. The garden is meant to replace the black tar paper that...
Curated OER
Our Natural Resources
Your class will learn about natural resources and man-made items and differentiate between them. They chart resources from seven pictures and explain how each natural resource is used.
PBS
Star Power
Let there be light—or maybe not. Pupils learn about light pollution with an investigation of constellations. They create constellation boxes and experiment with different levels of light. Observations are then made about the lighting in...
Curated OER
Sharing Responsibility
Students brainstorm ideas for a project that would benefit the community. They need to examine the role that government and community volunteers would play in the project. They present the different ideas to the class and decide on a...
Curated OER
Conservation in Small Places - Composting
A fabulous lesson introduces the art of composting to your gardeners. In it, youngsters learn about the composting process and how it actually works. They discuss the environmental benefits of composting, and use the "lasagna" method...
PBS
Cloud Clues
It's cloudy with a good chance of learning! An inquiry-based lesson begins with an exploration of transparent, translucent, and opaque materials. Young scientists then connect their learning to the different cloud types as they take the...
California Academy of Science
Fresh Solutions: Design Thinking Challenge
How do people transport fresh water long distances to ensure everyone has access to it? The final activity in the 10-part Fresh Solutions unit encourages individuals to design their own solution, or solutions, to that very problem....
Curated OER
AZTEC TILES
Pupils observe the shapes and lines that make up Aztec sculpture, study Pre-Columbian art as they discover the Aztecs, Mayans and Incas. They create a small-scale Aztec tile using pasta. Creative, clever and engaging.
Curated OER
Self-Promotion
Learners create "assemblage boxes" displaying representations of themselves and the importance they see in their own lives. This middle school level lesson emphasizes the art of American artist Sarah Goodridge who has success in the...
Curated OER
Mystery Word Wall Game
Practice using words found on the classroom word wall, in vocabulary lists, or on spelling lists with your class. Young readers use clues to find the mystery word in the room. They can tally the points earned from identifying words...
Curated OER
Filling Up-Gasoline
In this fuel sources worksheet, students calculate the E85 alternative fuel costs per gallon compared to the cost of gasoline. Students complete a table to show the comparison prices. They create a triple line graph to show the...
Curated OER
Third Grade Science
In this science worksheet, 3rd graders answer multiple choice questions about measurement, plants, water, fossils, and more. Students complete 25 questions.
Curated OER
Water Cycle Reading and Writing
After listening to a story about the water cycle, learners create their own versions of this tale. This is a great way to have your class review the concepts of evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and runoff.
National Park Service
Reduce Our Carbon Footprint, Let’s Compost!
Roll up your sleeves and get a little dirty with this elementary and middle school compost lesson plan. All you need is a large plastic container, a couple old newspapers, some organic waste, and a few hundred worms and you're ready...
National Gardening Association
The Water Cycle
Use this as a pop quiz when covering the water cycle with your elementary earth scientists. There are five blanks to fill in, including the three main steps (evaporation, condensation, and precipitation), and also transpiration and...
Science Friday
Wind Power
Blow away the competition with a lesson about wind power and turbines. Groups build windmills to test how the size of blades affect the amount of work done. The scholars build a variety of blades and collect data on how each type...
French Teacher
Signs Quiz
Quiz your class on their reading comprehension! Provided here are 50 signs that your class has to translate. Examples include: Roulez Lentement, Ne Touchez Pas, and Tirez. An answer sheet is provided.
Curated OER
Fabric Scrap Flower Garden
Crafting is fun, it increases eye-hand coordination, and it is a great way to accent any lesson. Celebrate Earth Day by creating scrap fabric flowers for a pop-stick flower garden. Children of all ages will love gluing, cutting, and...
Kenan Fellows
The Newton Challenge
Make Newton proud. Scholars apply their understanding of forces and energy to an engineering design challenge. They learn about simple machines, create a presentation on Newton's laws, and develop a balloon-powered car.
Curated OER
Role of Masks in African Cultures
Students explore ancient tradition and craft of mask making, examine role or function of masks in African culture, create instruments, and participate in class projects.
Curated OER
Water Cycle Reading and Writing
Here is a great way to get pupils to express a scientific concept in a fun way. After hearing the story of Walter the Water drop and learning facts about the water cycle, the class will write a creative expository piece describing what...
Curated OER
Dinnertime for Animals
Is a deer an herbivore? What about a spider? Experiment with the food chain in an interactive science experiment. After listing the herbivores from a selection of animals, third and fourth graders compare the skulls and teeth of...