Curated OER
Our Savage Planet in the News
Young scholars research volcanoes, storms, atmospheric conditions and extreme environments. They collect information and create a simulation of a science newscast. They watch a video and write a letter as an eyewitness to an avalanche.
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Harnessing Wind
Students explore the ways that engineers study and harness the wind. They study the different kinds of winds and how to measure wind direction. In addition, students learn how air pressure creates winds and how engineers build and test...
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Volcanic Panic!
Students begin with an overview of the Earth's interior and how volcanoes form. They learn how engineers predict eruptions. In a class demonstration, students watch and measure a mock volcanic eruption and observe the phases of an...
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Nature Superfish
Learners study the behavior or ocean animals called billfish. In this life science lesson, students create their own documentary about a local animal. They share their videos with the entire school.
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Falling Water
Students drop water from different heights to demonstrate the conversion of water's potential energy to kinetic energy. They see how varying the height from which water is dropped affects the splash size. In seeing how falling water can...
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Hovercraft Racers!
Students gain first-hand experience on how friction affects motion. They build a hovercraft using air from a balloon to levitate a craft made from a compact disk (CD), learning that a bed of air under an object significantly reduces the...
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Climate Change
Students discuss global warming. In this global warming lesson, students read an article about global warming and list five things they learned. Students work in small groups to compare what they wrote. Students illustrate one of the...
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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...
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The Great Grizzly
Students generate questions about grizzly bears and use the Internet to research the answers. As a culminating activity, students create a life-size mural of a grizzly that is annotated with the information they've learned.
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It's Really Heating Up in Here!
Students create and observe a greenhouse effect model and discuss the implications of global warming theory for engineers, themselves and the Earth. They discover that Global warming is becoming an increasing concern as we learn more...
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Design a Reef!
Students explore coral reef ecosystems. In this ecosystems science lesson, students research coral reef ecosystems to determine the major functions the participating organisms must perform. Students construct a miniature...
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Matter Jeopardy
Fourth graders explore science by participating in a Jeopardy style game. In this matter lesson, 4th graders define matter and identify the characteristics and properties of it. Students collaborate in two teams and utilize a SMART board...
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Buildings Have Lives, Too: Disasters and Their Effect on People
Students research natural disasters and their lasting effect on both people and the environment. In this environmental science instructional activity, students complete a group project on a natural disaster of their choosing. Students...
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Creating the "Perfect" Horse
Students examine the relationship between a horse and its rider. In this behavior and interactions lesson students research the Internet to learn about horse behavior and biology then write a paper and present it to the class.
NOAA
What's New?
Biodiversity in some areas is more diverse than one might think. Using a two-day lesson, pupils consider the biodiversity of the Hudson Canyon and the characteristics of one organism. They begin with an analysis of the common earthworm...
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Fabulous Funnels
Students explore what tornados are, how they are created and measured, and what their effects are on communities. They keep a journal of their activities and explorations as part of an ongoing process of learning.
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Pea Soup Ponds
Middle schoolers perform an experiment where they learn how water can be polluted by algal bloom. They grow algae with different concentrations of fertilizers or nutrients and analyze their results.
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Exploring Great Salt Lake Ecosystem
Fourth graders determine the Great Salt Lake is a unique, thriving, and diverse ecosystem. They engage in an actual or a virtual field trip. They record field trip, whether actual or virtual, in science lab book or journal and...
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A Rock Cycle Shower
Students classify rocks as sedimentary, igneous or metamorphic based on physical properties. In this earth science lesson, students recreate the rock cycle using a set of stones placed on labeled shower curtain. They explain the...
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How would an oil spill affect a Marine Sanctuary?
Students explore the concept of environmental stewardship. In this science instructional activity, students discover how scientists assess damages to the environment following oil spills. Students conduct a simulation of a public meeting...
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ENDANGERED SPECIES LESSON
Young scholars, after reading and discussing a science research prompt, gather information about a particular endangered species and present findings to the class, by completing a research workbook and making a realistic sketch of the...
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Puberty/Adolescence Overview
Students inquire about life science by completing a worksheet in class. In this human sexuality instructional activity, students define the physical and emotional changes which occur to male and female students during adolescence and...
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Prosthetic Party
Students examine human anatomy by creating a prosthetic limb. In this medical engineering instructional activity, students view numerous images of prosthetics used in science today and define several medical terms associated with...
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Activity Five: The Horseless Carriage
Students identify features that make an automobile practical for a cross-country trip and then design a 1903 era auto using lessons learned from Horatio's journey.