Chicago Botanic Garden
Climate Change Around the World
Look at climate change around the world using graphical representations and a hands-on learning simulation specified to particular cities around the world. Using an interactive website, young scientists follow the provided...
Utah Education Network (UEN)
Utah Open Textbook: 4th Grade Science
How does weather affect Earth? Learners understand the characteristics of water and make predictions about weather patterns. They recognize how water and weather affect rocks and minerals through erosion. They also learn about fossils...
Curated OER
Reflection and Refraction
What is a prism? A place for light waves that commit minor refractions! The thorough resource includes three hands-on investigations covering light reflection and refraction; mirrors, lenses, and images; and optical systems. Subject...
Curated OER
Steps of the Scientific Method
Steps of the scientific method are summarized, and then an example experiment is presented to allow practice identifying the steps. The graphics and animations are a little blurry, but this otherwise well-formulated presentation will...
Las Cumbres Observatory
Astronaut Training: Taste
Gravity isn't the only thing astronauts lose in space. Learners investigate why astronauts complain about a loss of taste while in space in a hands-on activity. They taste test foods while limiting their other senses and rate each food...
Curated OER
Oil Changes Everything
Students participate in a hands on activity simulating an oil spill. In this oil spill lesson plan, students conduct an experiment about an oil spill, discuss how it would affect the environment and provide solutions to prevent oil spills.
Perkins School for the Blind
Building an Organic Molecule
Glucose is a simple sugar and a molecule that can be illustrated through modeling. Scientific investigators with visual impairments use hands-on models to reconstruct the process of bonding molecules. The tools used in this activity are...
Curated OER
Look on the Bright Side!
Students explore solar eclipses by participating in a number of hands-on activities. In class, students work in teams using tennis balls, grapes and flashlights to model partial and total solar eclipses.
K-State Research and Extensions
The Crusty Earth
Geology rocks — literally! A geology chapter offers eleven activities at four different levels. Scholars enjoy completing hands-on experiments before applying critical thinking skills following a share, process, generalize, apply,...
NOAA
Watch the Screen!
Can a sponge cure cancer? Life science pupils visit the drugstore under the sea in the fifth lesson of six. Working groups research the topic then get hands-on experience by testing the inhibiting effects of several plant extracts...
American Chemical Society
Powder Particulars
By both demonstration and hands-on investigation, physical science fanatics come to know that some materials react when they come together. Adding vinegar to both baking soda and to baking powder, the difference between the two is clear....
Beyond Benign
Essential Oil Extraction Using Liquid CO2
When life hands you lemons ... experiment on them! Green chemistry gurus compare extraction methods for essential oils through a lab activity. Lab groups use traditional distillation and liquid carbon dioxide extraction...
SeaWorld
Animal Migrations
Here is a fabulous set of activities for your young scientists. Each lesson contains map, hands-on, and game activities that will help the class understand why and how animals migrate from one place to another. First they'll examine the...
Odyssey of the Mind
Odyssey of the Mind Curriculum Activity: Playing the Float
Got a rainy day and need a few fabulous activities to foster creative thinking skills? The class works to understand the three types of human power; direct, indirect, and stored. They do this by first creating a parade float like the...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Human Feet Are Strange
Feet are neat! So, if you've already walked the path of examining animal footprints with your class, put them in the shoes of early humans! A well-designed lesson incorporates video, discussion, and hands-on learning to demonstrate how...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Tinkering with Tops
Get kids' heads spinning by challenging them to design a top that will rotate for a minimum of 10 seconds without leaving a 30-cm circle. Groups of learners collaborate through a planning stage, testing stage, and evaluation stage. Some...
PHET
The Greenhouse Effect
How do greenhouse gases impact temperature? Have your classes use the interactive software to explore different concentrations of greenhouse gases and their effect on climate. Learners can recreate different atmospheric concentrations...
University of Minnesota
Blind Spot
Your eyes each work independently, so how do we only see one image? The quick hands-on experiment encourages young scientists to test their blind spots on each eye individually. After learning where the blind spot is and why it exists,...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Nature: Friend and Foe: Challenge Activities (Theme 6)
The teacher doesn't always have to be the expert in the classroom. The first in a series of three supplementary activities Nature: Friend or Foe uses hands-on research tasks and projects to enhance readers' understanding of non-fiction...
Lawrence Hall of Science
HowtoSmile
Access countless activities to use in STEM curriculum. This app is a collection of science, technology, engineering, math, and even art ideas are cataloged by topic and easily accessed from one spot.
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Basic Electric Transformers
Life as we know it would not be possible without electric transformers, so there are fewer more pertinent topics for your eager young engineers. An astounding amount of background information is provided to help you develop a lecture on...
Colorado State University
How Can You Demonstrate the Different Efficiencies of Different Light Bulbs?
Need a bright idea for an engaging lab? Watch your class light up as they explore the difference in efficiency between incandescent and LED bulbs! The resource makes use of simple materials and encourages learners to infer what's...
Space Awareness
Meet Our Neighbors: Sun
The sun isn't just a ball of yellow! Young scientists learn about the features of the sun using a hands-on modeling activity. They build models of the sun using common household items to represent sunspots, solar prominence, and the...
Teach Engineering
Designing a Spectroscopy Mission
In this mind-bending activity, young engineers explore this question of whether or not light actually bends. Using holographic diffraction gratings, groups design and build a spectrograph. The groups then move on research a problem...