California Academy of Science
Plants: Hanging Tough
Learning about the rainforest can be more fun than you think. The class discusses vocabulary-in-context as they cut cardboard boxes, destined to become part of a rainforest model. Small groups of children color, cut, and construct...
California Academy of Science
The Emperor Penguin's Egg
Here is a game intended for use at home that could easily be adapted to the school environment. The class reads an informational story about emperor penguins and then they watch a clip from the film, March of the Penguins. They focus on...
California Academy of Science
Coral Reef Habitat Match
Different animals live in different habitats, and each animal has specifically adaptive traits that make them tailor-made for their environments. This is true on land and in the ocean. Little ones examine how various marine animals have...
California Academy of Science
A Day inthe Life of a San Francisco Native Animal
Although the lesson plan is specifically about the San Francisco Bay area, it's good enough to be adapted to any local region. Children research what the landscape in San Francisco was like prior to settlement, they consider the types of...
California Academy of Science
Discovering Rainforest Locations
How many rainforests are there, where are they, and do global factors effect their locations? These are great questions that have great answers. Children in grades four through eight use several different maps to determine why...
California Academy of Science
Parts of an Antelope
There are so many wonderful parts to an animal: fur, antlers, tails, and legs, to name a few. A large diagram of an antelope is used to start a matching game, where the class matches body parts made of the same material. They discuss...
NOAA
A Laboratory Simulation of Ocean Surface Currents
Stimulate interest in ocean currents with a simulation. The first installment of a five-part middle school series teaches future oceanographers about the forces that interact to cause ocean currents. A simulation shows how wind and...
NOAA
Ground-truthing Satellite Imagery with Drifting Buoy Data
Ground-truthing ... is it even a word? The last installment of a five-part series analyzes how scientists collect sea surface temperature data. Scholars use government websites to compare temperature data collected directly from buoys...
University of Connecticut
More Than Just Dust Bunnies
Teenagers will never complain about cleaning their rooms after this activity. In the first activity of a four-part series, budding scientists collect samples of dust, chalk, and other particulates from various areas of the...
Rainforest Alliance
The Carbon Cycle
Scholars learn about the carbon cycle, play a carbon cycle game, and then write a story based on their role as a carbon atom during the game. After the writings, pupils analyze the carbon cycle by leading a class discussion on the material.
Beyond Benign
The Green Zine
It's time for your class to advertise what they've learned! The culminating lesson in the 24-part series asks scholars to use their newfound chemistry knowledge to create advertisements. Their magazine advertisements describe the health...
Nuffield Foundation
Microscale Investigations of Catalase Activity in Plant Extracts
Use indirect measurements to monitor metabolic activity in plant cells. Scholars understand that cells with a higher metabolic rate have a higher concentration of catalase enzyme. They use this information to compare metabolic rates of...
Nuffield Foundation
Going up in Smoke
Don't let all your hard work go up in smoke. Pupils conduct an experiment to see the harmful effects of cigarette smoke. They observe how smoke changes the color of white wool and an indicator solution.
NASA
Climate Change Inquiry Lab
With global temperatures on the rise faster than ever recorded, the effects of a heating planet could be devastating. Allow learners to discover just what the world is in store for if the warming continues through a series of videos, a...
Curated OER
Water in the Atmosphere
A slide show serves as the backdrop for a lesson on the moisture in Earth's atmosphere. Through it, mini meteorologists learn about the attributes of the atmosphere and actually use data-collecting weather tools to make observations and...
Cornell University
Bacteria Take Over and Down
Bacteria outnumber all other forms of life on Earth. Scholars observe the growth of bacteria in petri dishes to understand their role in maintaining good health. Then, they observe the growth of bacteria after they introduce...