Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mellowing With Age, A Closer Look

For Teachers K - 5th
Students realize that aging is a "natural, continuous process" and develop sensitivity to the needs, desires, and capabilities of the elderly by interviewing elderly community members and photographing age related things.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Desert Xeriscaping

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners recognize native species of desert vegetation while examining the need for water conservation. They design and create a xeriscape landscape using a variety of materials.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Insect Biodiversity

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students observe the process of transect sampling using insect nets, to get a chance to compare the presence of different species and populations in various vegetational areas. They study the different specimens caught and compare their...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Activity 1: The Effect of Cold on Characteristics Important to Fishes

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Students explore how organisms are adapted to live in the ultimate of extreme environments. They discuss the reasons for the similarities and differences between them, themselves, and the more familiar organisms around them. Students are...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Heat of Vaporization of Liquid Nitrogen

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
Students determine the heat energy needed to vaporize (boil) one gram of liquid nitrogen.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Build A "Bug"

For Teachers K - 6th
Students brainstorm different adaptations that bug would need to live in aquatic environment, and watch presentation where classmate is dressed up in costume to represent adaptations necessary for macroinvertebrate to survive in water.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Taking Care of Me

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students brainstorm on the effects of stress on the body. In this health science lesson, students write journals three times a week about how they feel. They determine strategies to cope with stress.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rock Sorting

For Teachers 1st
First graders observe rocks, record their observations about the rocks and classify them according to their observations. As a class, 1st graders create a list of observable characteristics of rocks. They sort a group of rocks...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sun and Shade

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students explore the ways that plants adapt to their environments. They examine plants that thrive in the shade, versus plants that thrive in direct sunlight. Special attention is devoted to the shape of leaves on respective sun and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Water Careers

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explore a variety of water-related careers. They compare specific jobs and the the education required, the training needed, salary, and job descriptions. Students research a chosen water-related career and interview a person in...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Flood Control Project

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine the reasons why dams were built in Nebraska. They identify factors that need to be considered when building a dam. They create a dam of their own.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Human Skeletal System: Inside and Out

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Young scholars study bone size, structure and shape. They use various geometrical shapes to make a skeleton and produce a poster depicting the skeletal system and its functions. They arrange the pictures into the five sections, glue on...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How the Brain Learns

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students identify the  basic function of the lobes in the brain.  In this memory lesson students complete a lab activity on how fast they can react. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Boston Harbor Cruise: A Shoreline Survey

For Teachers K - 6th
The students take a harbor cruise, photograph, and draw shore line features attending to evidence of human impact/consequences, and its cost on marine/land animal habitats vegetation, weather patterns, signs of erosion, and the water...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sunflower Sundance

For Teachers 1st
First graders study sunflower plants and identify its parts. They plant sunflower seeds and watch them grow and make sunflowers out of paper plates and colored paper. They watch videos and visit websites about sunflowers.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Hatching Chickens

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Students observe and care for eggs and chickens. In this life cycles lesson, students recall facts about chickens and how they hatch. Students read the article Hatching Eggs in the Classroom and observe the life cycle of the chicken in a...
Lesson Plan
Nemours KidsHealth

Asthma: Grades K-2

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students explore asthma.  In this respiratory system and asthma lesson plan, students identify the body parts related to the respiratory system and explain each part's function. Students construct a 3-D replica of the respiratory...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Electricity and Energy

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students demonstrate that electricity can flow in a circuit. They demonstrate safe practices during lab investigations.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Prairie Restoration and Prairie Ecology

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students collect data as they identify and classify native prairie plants and insects. They create their own population study using a variety of sampling techniques to determine the population density of various species. Students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Physics of the Planets: How 16th and 17th Century Physicist Helped Us Understand Our Solar System

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders draw the paths of the planets in the solar system. In this astronomy lesson, 8th graders calculate speed of objects using distance and time information. They research about the work of scientists in the 16th and 17th century.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tobacco and Organisms

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Young scholars work in teams to design and carry out experiments which show the effects of tobacco / nicotine on organisms. They write reports which are submitted to "The Company" and prepare oral reports which are presented to the class.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Deaf and Diverse

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students examine deaf culture and the role that American Sign Language plays in forging a sense of community.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Aquatic Environment

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders focus on the various types of fish living in different water environments. In groups, they research the different methods used to fish and participate in experiments to determine the effects of mercury on fish, the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Crystals in the World around Us

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students grow a number of crystals, ask questions and experiment. They have a display showing their crystals in various stages of development. Additionally, they have models of crystals to take home. They study the forces that shape...