Curated OER
What Do You SUBpose?
Submarines are the fous of this math and science instructional activity. In it, learners explore the world of submarines: how they work, and what they are used for. They engage in hands-on activities, watch video clips, and work in...
Columbus City Schools
Rocking the Cycle!
Time to rock out! Discover the "life" cycle of the average rock using an illustrative stations lab and stimulating pairs game. Roll the dice to determine your fate: will it be melting in magma or chilling out to form igneous rock? The...
Curated OER
Wright Again: 100 Years of Flight
Aspiring aeronautical engineers demonstrate different forces as they construct and test paper airplanes. This lesson plan links you to a website that models the most effective paper airplane design, an animation describing the forces...
Curated OER
Changing Planet: Permafrost Gas Leak
Pair earth scientists up to use an amazing online arctic portal mapping tool and Google Earth to analyze permafrost changes. They compare changes to data on atmospheric concentrations of methane to see if there is a correlation. Then...
PHET
Planet Designer: What’s Trending Hot?
Excite scholars to design their own planet in this first of five lessons. The lesson starts with a pre-activity assessment, a complete lesson plan that is easy to implement, and a post-activity assessment that would look great...
PHET
Planet Designer: Martian Makeover
Mars used to have liquid water, can you make it come back? Use the lesson plan and simulation to understand why Mars lost its magnetic field, why atmosphere is important, and what gravity has to do with it. This is the third...
Curated OER
Making Variables More Concrete
When teaching about the different types of variables, practice is the key.
Field Museum
The Case of Darwin's Finches
One of the most striking pieces of evidence for Darwin's Evolution of Species was his observations of finches and how their beaks differed from island to island, depending on their primary food sources. So what would happen to the theory...
Curated OER
Genetics
Become familiar with the basic concepts of inheritance. Your junior high students work through mulitple examples of crosses and calculate probabilities of trait occurance. The explain the concept that each parent contributes one half of...
Curated OER
The Debate Over Stem Cell Research
Students complete a variety of activities as they examine the ethical issues behind stem cell research and cloning. They make their own ethical decisions on both subjects.
Curated OER
Lords of the Night
Second graders explore bird classification, specifically owls. They dissect their own owl pellet and explain the predetor and prey relationship.
Curated OER
The Physiological Tolerance of Two Species of Protozoans
Students examine the differences in pH tolerance between the two species and relate these differences to their respective niches.
Texas State University
Earth: Deposition and Lithification
Geology geniuses analyze sediment samples with a hand lens and sort according to physical characteristics. They also learn about the processes of cementation, compaction, and lithification within the rock cycle. The lesson plan is...
PHET
Mapping the Ambient Magnetic Field
No GPS allowed! High school scientists continue to explore magnetic fields with a hands-on activity. After mapping the ambient magnetic field in the classroom and completing data analysis, they write about the similarities and...
Curated OER
What are Metamorphic Rocks and How are They Formed?
Even though the student handouts are not included in the write-up, this lesson contains the instructions for terrific activities to use when teaching middle schoolers about metamorphic rocks. First, they compare granite to gneiss and...
NASA
The Invisible Sun: How Hot Is It?
It's getting hot in here! The first in a series of six lessons has learners model nuclear fusion with a simple lab investigation. Groups collect data and analyze results, comparing their models to the actual process along the way.
University of Colorado
Is There Life on Earth?
To find life on another planet, scientists look for gases (atmosphere), water, and temperatures that are not extreme. For this activity, groups of pupils become "Titan-ians," scientists who want to explore Earth for possible life forms....
PHET
Mapping the Field of a Dipole Magnet
High school scientists build their own magnetometer and use it to map the field surrounding a bar magnet. Excellent background resources is included, as well as a diagram of how to build the magnetometer.
PHET
Mapping the Field of Multiple Dipole Magnets
So you built a magnetometer, now what? High school scientists use their magnetometer made in a previous lesson to map the union of magnetic fields of dipole magnets. They experiment with different alignments and draw conclusions about...
PHET
Features of the Sun
There are so many things to discover about the sun! Pupils discuss their knowledge of the sun, explore its features, apply their knowledge by labeling photographs, and then reflect on their learning by working in groups to draw and label...
Curated OER
Sink or Float
Second graders explore floating and sinking and make predictions about whether certain objects are likely to sink or float. They read the story Who Sank the Boat? by Pamela Allen. Pupils loacate rhyming words and discuss the events of...
Curated OER
Kildare, USA: An Environmental Health Simulation
Your biology class plays the role of epidemiologist when a mysterious illness breaks out in Kildare, USA. Using interviews with doctors, patients, and local citizens, maps, the results from different materials sampling, they work to...
Curated OER
Pollution or Prevention?
Students examine potential contamination on the environment due to products and by-products of a new industrial process. Students conduct a lab that explores the economic differences between choices of pollution cleanup and prevention.
NASA
Photons in the Radiative Zone: Which Way Is Out? An A-Maz-ing Model
Can you move like a photon? Young scholars use a maze to reproduce the straight line motion of a photon. The second in a six-part series of lessons on the sun has learners measure angle of incidence and refraction to determine the path...