Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction
Using Our Senses to Observe
Look around and explore. Little ones use their five senses with some day-to-day activities designed to guide observation and apply STEM strategies. Young scientists learn through comparing/contrasting and...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
How Novel Icefish Genes Can Improve Human Health
Designed to accompany the 13-minute video The Making of the Fittest: The Birth and Death of Genes, this handout serves as both a viewing guide during the video and an analysis of how the adaptations of the icefish might help treat...
NASA
Erosion and Landslides
A professional-quality PowerPoint, which includes links to footage of actual landslides in action, opens this moving lesson. Viewers learn what conditions lead to erosion and land giving way. They simulate landslides with a variety of...
Science Matters
Volcano Models
More than 80 percent of the earth's surface originated from volcanoes. The 16th lesson in a 20-part series introduces the shape and development of volcanoes. It begins with a demonstration using a balloon and flour to illustrate the...
NOAA
Stressed Out!
Are our oceans really suffering due to the choices humans make? The sixth and final installment in the volume of activities challenges research groups to tackle one of six major topics that impact ocean health. After getting to the...
Science 4 Inquiry
"Something Old, Something New..."
Young scientists learn about DNA replication through a video and model creation. They answer analysis questions before exploring the role of mutations and then complete a summative assessment.
California Academy of Science
Building Better Buses: Transportation Design Challenges
Scholars learn about a series of three challenges when they design a bus system for a small town. They determine the bus routes and then figure out the best type of fuel to use before considering the cost of going electric. Learners...
Captain Planet Foundation
P is for Poppies
Explore the way local farming and rationing helped the war effort in World War I with a lesson plan on gardening. After learning about trench warfare, reading "In Flanders' Field" by John McCrae, and studying poppies, kids discuss...
Science 4 Inquiry
A Whole New World: The Search for Water
Scholars find Earth won't support humans much longer and need to identify a planet with water to inhabit. They test four unknown samples and determine which is the closest to water. Then they explain and defend their results.
Science 4 Inquiry
Plant Structures Lab Stations
In China, hibiscus is known as the shoe flower because it is used to polish shoes, while in Hawaii, it is honored as the state flower. Young scientists learn about the structure and function of flowers. They dissect hibiscus...
Curated OER
Exploring Living Science Careers
Young scholars explore a variety of agricultural careers that are available and look into them in terms of the economics and suitability to their interests. In this agriculture careers lesson students research the agriculture...
Curated OER
Science and Natural Philosophy Before the Seventeenth Century
Students complete a worksheet about some of the natural philosophers in history. They use graph paper and create a timeline with the dates of birth and names of a list of natural philosophers. They list four questions concerning life and...
Curated OER
Natural Resource Management Course Outline
Gain skills in ecosystem evaluation including chemical, biological, and physical qualities. Students write a report on a local ecosystem.
Curated OER
The Blue Bottle: An Example of Teacher-Guided Inquiry
Learners 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.
Curated OER
An Eye on Science
Learners investigate the human eye and its parts. They read and discuss various books about eyes and sight, draw a rough draft of an eye diagram, and create a final draft of their eye diagram including labeled parts using Kid Pix...
Curated OER
Showing and Telling What You Know
Students participate in activities to exhibit their knowledge of staying healthy by keeping food safe from harmful bacteria. In this bacteria free food lesson, students view a video and prepare a chart and present to others what...
Curated OER
Where Growth Meets Growth
Students discuss fire risk factors for a property located near a wildland area. In this science lesson plan, students identify, number, and provide reasons for areas of increased risk on a worksheet they think should be changed. Students...
Curated OER
Scimast--The Southwest Consortium for the Improvement of Mat and Science Teaching
This site is devoted to helping teachers and administrators improve the quality of their math and science instruction. There are plenty of resources and ideas for these two areas. There are access centers where teachers can go in certain...
Curated OER
Paper Airplane Science
Fifth graders recognize the need to follow the scientific method carefully and be aware of variables in experiments. In this airplane instructional activity, 5th graders design and test an airplane, and complete a data sheet....
Curated OER
How Hot is that Star?: Astronomy, Sun, Solar Temperature, Science
Students explain sun facts and solar information. They discover how temperature of a star is measured. They investigate the various scales used to measure temperature. They observe images of the sun. They classify stars according to te
Curated OER
Being Resource-ful
Students compare the amount of waste that comes from different bags of equivalent amounts of potato chips and decide which would produce the least amount of waste. They discuss recycling and other ways they can reduce waste.
Curated OER
Translating Science Into Public Policy
Students role-play participants at a panel on climate change. They represent either scientists or policymakers. "Scientists" use the information they've learned in other classes and assignments to present information to "policymakers,"...
Baylor College
How Do We Use Water?
Send youngsters home to survey how they use water in their homes. Then bring them together to discuss which uses are essential for our health and which are not. A helpful video offers teaching tips for this lesson, and a presentation...
Baylor College
How Much Water Is in a Fruit?
Compare the volume of an orange to the volume of liquid that can be extracted out of it. Also compare the mass of an apple before and after it has been dried out. In both of these activities, children find that there is an appreciable...