Curated OER
The Starry Night Time and Day Time
Second graders complete a unit of lessons on the solar system. They complete various art projects inspired by Van Gogh's 'Starry Night,' create a moon phases book, create a moon phase wind chime, develop a timeline of space exploration,...
Curated OER
Pumpkins
Third graders create a pumpkin lantern. They work in groups to illustrate the growth of a pumpkin seed. Students are asked what they think of when they see the color orange. They choice one person from the group to get a piece of...
Curated OER
Fine Motor Skills
Fourth graders discuss what they know about the planets, space, and the solar system including the colors of the planets. They also talk about why the planets are the color that they are. Next, they color cut-outs of the planets using...
Personal Genetics Education Project
Reproductive Genetic Testing: Technology, Access, and Decision Making
Explore the complexities of reproductive genetic testing respectfully in the learning space. Scientists read articles, view a slideshow, and complete a do-now about genetic technologies. A fishbowl activity allows scholars to discuss the...
University of South Carolina
Home Sweet Home
Fifth graders will research a biome (land or aquatic) and create a project (diorama, model or another idea of the student's choosing) which includes the geographic features of that biome as well as plants and animals found there and...
Curated OER
Developing a Local Stratigraphy
Students examine rock strata for the distribution, deposition, and age of sedimentary rock. They describe rock types in a variety of outcrops and construct a regional stratigraphy.
Curated OER
Features and Limits of Aircraft Design
Students identify the desired features of an aircraft and the limits that they, the Wright Brothers, or NASA scientists might face in designing one, and methods to solve these. They review parts of an airplane and what makes it fly. They...
Curated OER
Ben Franklin's Inventions
Students discover the life of Benjamin Franklin by studying his inventions. In this biography lesson, students identify the inventions of Benjamin Franklin and their impact on society today. Students create a commercial in an...
John Lentine
Butterflies and Bugs
Symmetry, line, shape, art, and math are all connected through a fun hands-on craft. Included are instructions to a classic activity, where learners create butterflies to show symmetry in nature and then discuss symmetry in math. It is...
Curated OER
The Origin of Life
In this origin of life worksheet, students write answers to five questions. They describe characteristics of the first life forms and how scientists believe oxygen accumulated in the Earth's atmosphere.
Curated OER
Garden For Life
Students are read a story about a girl their age helping others. They discover they can have a positive impact on others. They decide on a project related to literature that benefits the school or community.
Curated OER
The Man Who Saw the Future: Arthur C. Clarke
Students are introduced to science fiction as an adjunct to learning about science. They tape into their creativity by combining science with aspects of the arts. They research real time data available on the Web about space, and Mars in...
Curated OER
A Brand New Day
Learners locate Maine on a classroom map and discuss if Maine is where the nation's first light is found, where would the nation's last light be seen. They explore the idea of the sun rising in the east and setting in the west.
Curated OER
Planets or Not, Here We Come!
Pupils, working in groups, research planets in terms of the size, temperature, number of moons, and potential for life. They use packets and worksheets as guides for their research. Students may role-play as aliens visiting their...
Museum of Tolerance
Oral History Activity
Oral history has brought a multitude of lessons, stories, and factoids to our current knowledge of the past. Let us continue to use oral history traditions through a lesson that encourages pupils to discover and appreciate...
Curated OER
Go Fly a ( Tetrehedral) Kite!
Students research the tetrahedral kites invented by Alexander Graham Bell. In this components of flight lesson, students examine the kites made by Bell and his team. Students create their own kite and add them together as a class to...
Curated OER
Land Use Change Over Time
Students use historical aerial photographs and current aerial photographs to compare the change over time to the land. In this land changing lesson plan, students analyze, compare, contrast, and list the land change in their own community.
Curated OER
Constructing a Periodic Table of Elements
Students create a periodic table of elements. In this chemistry lesson, students work together to build all of the different elements into a complete mini periodic table. They identify similarity and difference of the elements.
Curated OER
The Universe
Middle schoolers describe what scientists mean by an "expanding universe" in their own words. They explain how scientists comprehend the universie is expanding. Students comprehend the vast scale of the universe. They comprehend how...
Curated OER
Water, Water Everywhere, Even Underground
The "Engage" section of a wetlands lesson plan asks young ecologists to examine a wetlands poster. You can easily find one online and display it using a projector. Pupils immerse a piece of sandstone and a piece of granite in water to...
Curated OER
Gardening in Containers
Students plant a garden. In this gardening lesson plan, students use containers to plant a garden. This lesson plan provides a good source of information for teachers who wish to begin their class's own container garden.
Curated OER
Growing Up (And Around, and Down...) Exploring Plant Growth
Students build plant growing structures. In this plant growth instructional activity, students plant growth structures such as a garden tepee or a crawl through tunnel. They grow plants that are appropriate for the structure.
Curated OER
Extraterrestrial Communication: Can We Talk to Anybody Out There?
Learners examine the possibilities of communication with other living organisms within our solar system through research and hands on activities, as well as observing and analyzing teacher demonstrations.
Curated OER
In a Galaxy Far, Far, Far Away
Sixth graders compare distances between objects in the solar system. They investigate how light years are measured and when using them to measure how distances compare with one another. They write an essay exploring the possibility of...