Curated OER
Predicting the Greening of Spring With Red Emperor Tulips
Learners examine seasonal changes by watching tulip plant growth across the continent utilizing the Journey North website. They develop hypotheses as to why the plants emerge and grow where they do.
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Life in Streams and Ponds
Students collect microorganisms, demonstrate correct laboratory/Gram stain procedure, and design and construct tables to organize data.
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Cosmic Ray Momentum
Students describe how cosmic rays achieve high kinetic energy via conservation of momentum.
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Lightning It's Shocking, It's Frightening, It's Lightning!
Third graders decide what they want to explore lightning, how to go about finding the answers, and deciding what skills they need to further study some of their questions.
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DNA Sequencing Model Lab
Students pretend they are each genetic engineers with a test tube of unknown DNA (PCR'd) possibly taken from blood cells of someone with a genetic condition.
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Lenses and Mirrors
Learners investigate lenses and mirrors showing how they bend and reflect light waves.
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Field Trip to San Bruno
Students contrast a weedy annual grassland of introduced species with an undisturbed, ancient plant community of native bunchgrasses and wildflowers.
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Zigzag Seeds
Students observe the effects of gravity on seeds. Students place seeds in various orientations and record their growth to determine how gravity affects the seeds' growth.
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Extraction of Allicin: The Active Ingredient in Garlic
Students conduct research to determine the structural formula for Allicin, a component of garlic. They participate in a lab to extract Allicin from garlic and complete a set of questions about their work.
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Measuring Elevation
Learners practice measuring elevation, one of the key coordinates used by astronomers. They describe how the elevation of an object is measured.
and combine compass directions and elevation to find celestial objects.
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Glaciers and Ice Wedging
Fourth graders observe buckling sidewalks and potholes before attempting to determine how these things are caused. They freeze water filled plastic cups that have been covered. As the water freezes, the students observe what happens to...
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WorldWatcher Activity: What Happens to Sunlight?
Learners examine a set of data to try to determine the amount of cloud cover. In groups, they make a list of items that reflect light in the atmosphere and how different amounts of it can change the temperature. Using WorldWatcher,...
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Getting To Know You:learning the Aza Ssp Terminology
Students discover the role zoos play in conservation of animals. They research the captive breeding programs that are in place at the Minnesota Zoo. They use the zoo's website to find the American Zoo and Aquarium Associations criteria...
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Newton's Third Law of Motion
Seventh graders are introduced to Newton's Third Law of Motion. In this physics lesson plan students examine the concept of thrust as one of the forces acting on aircraft.
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Trash Disposal Choices
Students investigate the use of landfills. In this landfill use and recycling lesson, students discuss what happens to trash and junk. They review the types of trash before categorizing a list of items they throw away each day. They...
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What is Temperature?
Students study the effects of temperature and air expansion. In this temperature lesson, students discuss temperature and participate in a role play of low energy and high energy molecules. Students then discuss their activity and...
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The Good, the Bad and the Nasty Tasting
Pupils examine the effect of chemicals from marine plants or animals on predator's preferences. In this ecology lesson, students conduct taste tests and collect necessary data. They write their conclusion after analyzing...
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The Lifecycle of a Butterfly
Students study the life cycle of the butterfly. In this butterfly life cycle lesson, students examine and discuss a large diagram of the four stages of the butterfly life cycle. They read books and access web sites that extend their...
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Letters from the Japanese American Internment
Students examine letters of Japanese-American children during internment in World War II. They discover what it was like in the camps and how they were treated once they were released. They also view photographs of the camps.
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Brief Encounters (Building Bridges)
Students participate in a simulation that explores how groups of two radically different cultures might interact. They, in groups, represent the different cultures and, after interacting, describe the opposite group's cultural norms and...
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Action-Reaction! Rocket
Students construct a rocket from a balloon propelled along a guide string. They use this model to learn about Newton's three laws of motion, examining the effect of different forces on the motion of the rocket. They measure the distance...
Teach Engineering
Light Up Your Life
How do lighting types affect energy efficiency? Explore different types of lighting and the energy they use. Pupils learn about types of lights and calculate the energy used during a typical school year. They discover that being...
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Grouping Buttons
Looking for a good lesson on counting and sorting? This lesson is worth a look! In this classification lesson, learners sort buttons by color, shape, shiny verses not shiny, or number of holes.
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Brief Encounter (Looking at Ourselves and Others)
Students participate in a simulation game in which they realize what it is like to be from another culture. They observe and describe different behaviors. They also examine values from other cultures.