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Summer Bummers
Brainstorm popular summer activities and their risks after having your class read an article. They will discover the risks of sun overexposure and in groups develop public service announcements for young people. They also propose a media...
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The Making of a Star
Students create schematic diagrams of the new Russian space station module. They compose an imaginary yet realistic series of diary entries from the point of view of an astronaut living on board the completed space station.
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Protecting Holy Cows
Students study the interrelationships of organisms and their environments. They study ecological communities and determine what is necessary for survival. Students discuss and answer questions concerning a group's biome, habitat, food...
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INSECTS AROUND US
Learners identify characteristics of insects and if insects help or harm us. They describe the stages of metamorphosis.
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Next Stop, the Watsonville Wetlands
Middle schoolers study bird migrations and the importance of wetlands. In this migration lesson students play a game and complete a computer activity.
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Harriman and Plant Identification
Students observe and record botanical details from the plant specimens. They identify plants using sorting key and field guide and classify specimens for preservation and display purposes.
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Healthy Hearts
Students focus on advanced technologies used to treat disease impacting the cardiopulmonary system; they then reflect on the experiences of having and overcoming illnesses.
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Testing Bangladesh's Waters
Students assess the causes and effects of massive arsenic contamination in the water supplies of 43 of Bangladesh's 64 districts. They evaluate why this contamination occurred, and how it affects the population of Bangladesh.
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Doctors as Detectives
Learners consider the investigative and detective work that goes into disease control. They research specific diseases and simulate a doctor-patient diagnosis situation.
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Know Bones About It!
Students make a model of a major skeletal muscle group. They consider how their life might change if they didn't have, or lack use of, this particular muscle group.
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Boning Up on Fossil Features
Students investigate a specific dinosaur; produce a poster relating what is known or speculated about where and how the dinosaur lived to the physical features of the dinosaur.
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"One Giant Leap for Mankind"
Students explore the significance of the Apollo 11 lunar landing by interviewing an adult for memories of the mission. They incorporate their interviews into news articles as 'journalists' in July 1969 to document this historic 'step for...
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Is Anybody Out There?
Students focus on the tremendous public interest in the potential of extraterrestrial life. They read and discuss an article about the search for alien life. They divide into small groups and discuss the issues and implications of this...
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Pet-agogy
Students explore interesting animal behaviors and adaptations. They create information sheets about an animal residing in a fictional sanctuary and assess the animal's likelihood of being a good pet.
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Fifth graders participate in a variety of math and language arts activities based on chocolate.
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Mission Discovery
Young scholars examine the changes to the space shuttle Discovery and its history by creating a classroom exhibition about NASA's space shuttle program. They create an informative and attractive invitation about the gallery for outside...
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The World's Water Woes
Students discuss their community's water sources and assess the factors affecting the water availability and quality. They research water disputes around the world and explain common factors among them.
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A Prescription for Drug Success
Students explore criticisms of the pharmaceutical drug industry. They also become aware of the difficult and lengthy process of testing new drugs by inventing fictional drugs and testing plans.
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Is It Slimy? Does It Have Fur? Is It Really a Bird?
Sixth graders identify the different types of vertebrate animals based upon their major characteristics, as they create collages in groups. Collages show pictures of vertebrate animals labeled with the appropriate structural...
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The Blue Bottle: An Example of Teacher-Guided Inquiry
Students observe a demonstration in which a bottle containing a colorless solution is mixed, turns blue, then becomes colorless again. They record observations, form and discuss hypotheses, and draw a conclusion based on the evidence.
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The Facts of Life
Students explore the different ways scientists gather information about extinct animals. They utilize these methods to create illustrated story books about a particular extinct animal.
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The ABC's of DNA
Students describe genetics as if they were explaining it to a young child. After reading an article, they discover new discoveries in the human genome project. Using the internet, they research a pair of genetic terms and develop a...
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Reptiles
Students investigate reptiles and reptile habitats. They listen to books, cut out magazine pictures of reptiles from National Geographic, sort plastic animals into the categories of mammal, reptile, or amphibian, watch a National...
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The Dose makes the Poison
Students investigate the effect of a chemical (they choose) on the germination of seeds. They calculate % chemical concentrations in water, form a hypothesis, and discuss the ethics of using animals in biomedical research.