Curated OER
Field Guide to Schoolyard Insects and Their Relatives
Sometimes all you need to complete your perfect lesson plan is an awesome hands-on learning experience. Here is an extension activity that is sure to excite your learners. They'll head outside to observe the local insect community. When...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Weather or Not
What is the difference between weather and climate? This is the focus question of a lesson that takes a deeper look at how weather data helps determine climate in a region. Using weather and climate cards, students decide...
Curated OER
Unit Conversions
Eighth graders identify the different types of measurements and the instruments used to measure each type. After taking notes, they complete a bubble chart to examine the conversion between the units. To end the instructional activity,...
Curated OER
Science and Careers
Students investigate how knowledge of science influences people in their daily lives, specifically in their careers. Students conduct interviews with an individual in a science or technology career as part of their research on the impact...
Captain Planet Foundation
Worm Your Way Out of This
How can you provide healthy soil for your garden? Study worms, bacteria, and other microorganisms in a lesson about decomposition and organic compost. After discussing what you know about worms and watching a video, watch what worms do...
Cornell University
Shedding a "Little" Light on Cancer Surgery
Many types of cancer treatments now depend on nanotechnology—a big "little" discovery. Scholars begin by removing "malignant" tissue from simulated brains, one using fluorescent markers thanks to nanotechnology and one without. This...
Curated OER
Super Science Sleuths Explain It All: Circumnavigating the Circulatory System
Students access prior knowledge of the circulatory system. In this circulatory system lesson plan, students participate in experiments related to the circulatory system and film for a podcast. Students work in pairs to create...
Curated OER
Benjamin Franklin - Master of Electricity The Kite Experiment and the Invention of the Lightning Rod
Students study Benjamin Franklin including who he was, what he invented and his experiment. In this inventive lesson students follow the steps of Ben Franklin and build a Leyden jar.
Curated OER
Matter: Solids Liquids and Gases
Students participate in a science experiment to understand that matter takes up space. In this matter lesson, students experiment with solids, liquids and gases to recognize that matter is everywhere. Students make observations and...
Curated OER
Compact Fluorescent Lamp Experiments
Learners conduct a series of experiment on incandescent and fluorescent bulbs. In this physics lesson, students explain how they operate. They compare the efficiency and power rating of both bulbs.
Curated OER
Science: Motion Commotion
Young scholars examine Newton's three laws of motion to discover what causes it and how it changes. They conduct motion experiments by building catapults and constructing balloon rockets. Finally, they conduct peer studies correlating...
Curated OER
High Performance in Agriculture Science: Graduates Outperform Others
Students plan for their future by exploring occupational experience programs.In this career lesson students list activities that they will participate in in the future and complete a career exploration project.
Curated OER
Slingshot Characterization Experiment
Students set up and conduct a scientific experiment to demonstrate data collection. In this scientific process lesson, students complete an activity with the specific objective of using a slingshot to fire a t-shirt into the crowd at a...
Curated OER
Science Safety is Elementary
Third graders are introduced to the importance of science safety. As a class, they role play through different safety procedures and decide which senses need to be protected for different scenerios. They discuss how to avoid hazardous...
Curated OER
The Science of Sleep and Daily Rhythms: Sleeping in Space
Students write about strange places that they have slept. In this sleep science lesson students read about astronauts sleeping experience in space. They reflect on unusual places that they have slept and write about it.
Curated OER
Phineas Gage: Assessment Strategy
Close up your study of Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science with a letter-writing assignment. Pupils prepare by journaling and sharing with a partner. They then compose letters that focus on a big idea from the...
Curated OER
Science: Teddy Bear Nation
Students sort teddy bears according to types and then graph the results. They each bring a bear to class and then discuss their similarities and differences. Once the bears have been sorted into groups according to size and color,...
Curated OER
Using a Controlled Experiment to Identify Two Unknown Plasmids
Student demonstrate knowledge of recombinant DNA techniques (restriction enzyme digest, gel electrophoresis, and staining gel). They demonstrate skills needed to complete a gel electrophoresis and interpret a stained gel. Pupils solve...
American Chemical Society
Investigating the Line
Note that this lesson is best paired with the preceding lesson in the unit. In that lesson, elementary physical scientists observed that the color coating of M&Ms® candies do not mix when dissolved off of the chocolate surface. Now...
American Chemical Society
M&M's in Different Sugar Solutions
To conclude a mini unit on the dissolving of M&Ms® candy coating, this lesson investigates whether or not the concentration of sugar in the solvent affects the dissolving rate. Consider having older science learners write their own...
Museum of Tolerance
Disenfranchised People of the New Nation
Why are some immigrant groups in the United States embraced while others become disenfranchised? To answer this question, teams investigate why groups emigrated to the US, why some of these these peoples were...
Curated OER
Just Plain Buggy: Art and Science
Budding artists explore the shapes and parts that make insects so fascinating to study, then use what they see to create original insect inspired designs. They use wax, dye, and fabric to create their designs.
American Chemical Society
Developing Tests to Distinguish Between Similar-Looking Liquids
Each group talks about how to test unknown liquids based on their findings in the previous experiment. In this second of four activities, they test unknowns on wax paper, newspaper, and construction paper. As a stand-alone, this lesson...
Virginia Department of Education
Work and Power
Assist your class with correctly calculating the values for force, work, and power as they determine the amount various activities require. They gather data and participate in a group discussion to compare results upon conclusion of the...