Curated OER
Identifying Birds
Eighth graders identify and name birds in their school yard by comparing and contrasting pictures of 12 common birds in the Phoenix metro area using the Ecology Explorers Protocol. They formulate questions based on observations that lead...
Bonneville
Setting Expectations for Science and Engineering Projects
What is science? Sitting in a whole group discussion, scholars first share their ideas on science and how to conduct investigations. They learn about the steps for scientific inquiry and experimentation. Once finished, individuals then...
Aquarium of the Pacific
Think Like a Scientist
Scholars watch a video and meet a scientist who is studying sharks as she explains her observations about the sharks and provides her hypothesis to explain their behavior. Learners then act like a scientist as they watch an aquarium...
Bonneville
Solar Powered Water Pumping
Here's the perfect lesson plan for those who think the world needs faster pumps. Building on the previous activity, scholars work to make the pumps function faster in transferring water between containers. They try adding an additional...
Curated OER
Predicting: Making a Hypothesis
Students analyze information from various sources to create a hypothesis about the origin of a family artifact. Students create a hypothesis about the origin of the item and write a paragraph explaining why they believe the hypothesis is...
Curated OER
The Great Jellybean Hunt
Young scholars explore natural selection and its influence on the populations to fine tune traits and characteristics. The acquisition of traits developed out of need is examined through a game played in class.
Curated OER
Interpreting Data and Building Hypothesis
High schoolers define the term species, and graph species data together with previously collected data at the National Zoo. They interpret graphed data and recognize patterns in the streamside quadrant versus hillside quadrant. Students...
Curated OER
Invent on the Spot
The best inventions come from a problem that needs to be solved! Given a container with holes in...
Curated OER
Diffusion of Molecules
Young scholars conduct a series of experiments to observe factors that impact molecular movement. In this molecular chemistry lesson, students drop food coloring in water with different properties (hot, with ice, with alcohol) and...
Curated OER
Munching Insects
Students design an experiment to discover what types of plants particular insects prefer. They comprehend that insects eat only specific plants and that this has particular implications for noxious weeds. Students observe and collect...
Curated OER
The Scientists’ Way
Students summarize the steps of the scientific method. For this life science lesson, students explain the importance of varying only one variable at a time. They analyze possible flaws in their experiment.
National First Ladies' Library
A Blessing in Disguise
Young scholars study the history of polio as well as a history of modern medicine, the history of alternative medicine and the role of the scientific method in each of these histories. They review the scientific method and research...
Curated OER
Bird Ecology Unit
Tenth graders conduct various activities utilizing the scientific method to formulate a hypothesis, conduct a controlled experiment, collect and analyze the data and communicate their results through a poster. They also identify...
Curated OER
Coal Science Fair Ideas
Learners select one of the ideas for a science project reflecting their knowledge about coal. They then choose a catchy title to spark interest that describes their project. They use the scientific method to explain the process.
Curated OER
Can't Wait - Gotta Migrate:The Monarch Butterfly
Students study the migratory behavior of the monarch butterfly and to carefully develop a scientific method for answering one question concerning their behavior. They perform many meaningful tasks which help them explain the Monarch...
Curated OER
How Toxic Is It?
Students participate in an activity in which they investigate the scientific method and seed germination as well as practice graphing and metric measuring skills. Students examine toxicity by exposing Wisconsin Fast Plants seeds to toxic...
Curated OER
What's Your Favorite Color?
Pupils investigate the psychology behind color choices using two sites on the Internet. They complete a worksheet and construct an Inspiration file with the data from the charts. Then they form a hypothesis and test it using the...
Curated OER
Natural Dyeing with Plants - Scientific Method
Students study the components of scientific investigation by planning and carrying out an experiment in natural dyeing, seeing if different kinds of metal dye pots affect the color one gets from the same plant material.
Curated OER
Bungee Man Lab
Students explore the motion of a toy bungee jumper using the scientific method. They view a video of a bungee jumper and discuss what can be measured about a bungee jump. Students discuss the scientific mehtod and how to design an...
Curated OER
Scientific Method in Action
High schoolers investigate the current environmental movement by cleaning up their own campus. In this environmental care lesson, students practice cleaning their "environment" by picking up trash on their campus and decrease...
Curated OER
It's a Matter of Space
Students explore matter. In this physical science lesson, students role play the 3 states of matter forming "liquid" molecules and "solid" molecules with teammates. Students perform an experiment in which the result illustrates that two...
Curated OER
The Working of Scientists
Students define and explain the basic concepts of experimental design. In this scientific method lesson students complete a hands on activity, develop and present proposals to test their explanations.
Curated OER
Destructive Decay
Students determine the destructive nature of plaque acid in their mouths. They use the scientific method for proving a hypothesis.
Virginia Department of Education
The Germ Theory and Koch’s Postulates
Explore the history of cholera and its effect on society with your biology class. Young biologists will then proceed to grow their own germs, prepared from live cultures, and follow the steps of the scientific method to generate data....