Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Whale or Fish?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers explain the difference between a whale and a fish. After working through this themselves, they process the differences in a more meaningful pattern that overflows into long-term memory.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring With Photograms

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students observe the interaction between energy absorbed, reflected or transmitted through an object in a photochemical process with a classroom demonstration.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

U.S. History: de Soto's Alternate Route

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders examine various maps associated with Hernando de Soto's expedition. By comparing their textbook maps with newer maps, they answer a battery of focus questions. Using Microsoft Word, 8th graders answer the questions...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Classifying Living Things

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Young scholars identify how to classify living things. They classify various concepts including family members, kinds of clothing, numbers, shapes, and vocabulary words. They discuss how to classify various concepts and classify...
Organizer
Curated OER

The Biosphere

For Students 7th - 9th
In this biosphere worksheet, students identify the different levels of organization that ecologists study. Students complete charts, sentences, and answer short answer questions.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ten Important Hardwoods

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students discuss ten important Pennsylvania hardwood trees, examine characteristics of each tree species, evaluate economic and ecological importance of hardwood trees, and recognize at least two characteristics of each species.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Animal Groups

For Teachers K - 5th
Students explore animal groups. In this animal science lesson, students use pictures from magazines and classify the animals into five categories. Students share why they categorized the animals the way they did.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Groundwater Realities

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students review the components of the scientific inquiry method. In groups, they use the internet to research the sustainability of water resources in their community. They examine an environmental impact study, answer questions and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bird Populations

For Teachers 7th - 12th
students study bird migratory patterns and the methods that researchers use to study them. Students are introduced to the concepts of the study of bird movements.The skill of scientific questioning is used to find results.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Detection Detective

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students describe what each detection method uses and rank the wavelengths of each if appropriate. They answer questions about absorption, importance of materials and explain differences. Students make sure they describe diagnostic uses...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Watershed Awareness

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students investigate the relationship between upstream influences in their watershed and the watershed's estuary. They apply the scientific process to test a hypothesis while examining the impact of upland activities on estuaries.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Seeds and Similarities

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students use the scientific inquiry method to identify the changes in a plant's life cycle. In groups, they plant different types of plants and use a chart to compare and contrast their growth rates. They share their conclusions with...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What was Newton's Idea of Science?

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students form logical foundations for analysis of observations. They improve analytic reading abilities through practice. Students investigate the foundations of scientific thought processes and how to apply them.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Does It Eat?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars, working in research teams, investigate the eating habits of crickets. They collect and record data and compare their methods and results with other groups by making tables or graphs. They sumarize their findings with...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

SIM Ecosystem

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students identify and interpret the concept of an ecosystem and the potential impact humans have on ecosystems. They also proficient in organized and methodical Internet searches. Finally, students become proficient with public...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

From Molecules to Mole Day Do's

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students recognize methods used to define the mole. After converting various quantities to the mole, students provide a context for understanding the usefulness of scientific notation and the mole.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Where's the Water?

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders conduct an investigation into water purification during a role play situation in an Amazon Rainforest. They design a scientific experiment for cleaning and filtering water.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Science: Trouble in the Troposphere

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students research a NASA Website and record information about an assigned city's tropospheric ozone residual monthly climate. In groups, they graph the information for the past year. They form new groups and compare their city's...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Illinois' Habitats Happening

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students use the scientific inquiry method to examine the ecosystems and biomes in Illinois. Using the characteristics of a local habitat, they identify the best conditions for an ecosystem to survive and how a slight change can damage...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

An Introduction to Thermal Spray Technology

For Teachers 11th - Higher Ed
Students discuss difference between kinetic and thermal energy, develop and demonstrate understanding of key concepts and characteristics underlying thermal spray techniques, list items used in their daily lives that are coated, examine...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Separation of Unknowns in a Liquid

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students identify chromatography as method of separating the components of a liquid. Students discover that dyes are composed of more than one component in achieving a particular color in these lessons on paper chromatography.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Investigating How Pollutants Travel Through Groundwater

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers determine how pollutants can travel though sediment and explore methods of pollutant removal. They conduct an experiment on porosity and permeability of soils and simulate an EPA "pump and treat" method for removing...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Plants Under Attack

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders will identify the four needs for plant survival and gain skills and confidence in using scientific measurement tools, probes as well as the spreadsheets and graphing capacity of a computer to represent and analyze data.They...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Interior of the Earth

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders identify and describe the composition and physical properties of the layers of the Earth. They also explain how scientists used the scientific process to know about the center of the Earth. Finally, 6th graders read a...