Lesson Plan
California Academy of Science

Kinesthetic Astronomy: The Meaning of a Year

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
How many times have you traveled around the sun? Aspiring astronomers grasp what a year is and they differentiate between orbit and rotation by walking around the sun right within your classroom. Place a lamp in the center of the room to...
Lesson Plan
3
3
California Academy of Science

Kinesthetic Astronomy: Moon Phases

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
We are the world! Each of your class members models Earth and holds a styrofoam ball to see its phases. Thorough teacher background information and a detailed lesson plan will make this a cinch to teach. If you do not want to purchase...
Lesson Plan
California Academy of Science

Kinesthetic Astronomy: Mars Opposition Dance

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Your class will watch as one child orbits the sun as Earth, while another orbits as Mars. If the timing is right, they will see the repetitive dance between the two planets and discover how often they are opposite from each other. For...
Lesson Plan
3
3
Baylor College

Pre-Assessment: The Brain

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Break your class in to the general structure and function of the brain. Brainiacs discuss what they know about it and create personalized brain development timelines. They also take a true-false, pre-assessment quiz to get them thinking...
Lesson Plan
Baylor College

What Is the Water Cycle?

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Small groups place sand and ice in a covered box, place the box in the sunlight, then observe as evaporation, condensation, and precipitation occur. These models serve as miniature water cycles and demonstrations of the three phases of...
Lesson Plan
Baylor College

Can Nutrients in Water Cause Harm?

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Ecology candidates culture pond water organisms over a few days time, then they experiment to find out how increasing nutrients affects the population. As part of a unit on water, this exploration gives your class an understanding of how...
Lesson Plan
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Toxic Popcorn Design Challenge

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Engineering enthusiasts are sure to explode in understanding as they practice the engineering design process (EDP). A container of "toxic popcorn" is placed in the classroom. Teams must work together to devise a method for removing it...
Lesson Plan
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Exploring at the Nanoscale

For Teachers 3rd - 9th Standards
Nano-nano! Nanotechnology can seem like it's from another planet! After learning about this tiny technology, collaborative groups experiment with how smaller particles affect chemical reactions. They do this by immersing a whole and a...
Lesson Plan
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Filtration Investigation

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
Scholars build a simple filtration system to remove impurities from muddy water and rate the filtered water to a grade of clarity scale. The focus is on teamwork and problem solving. This instructional activity would be effective in your...
Lesson Plan
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Telescoping Periscope

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
Ahoy, matey! Here is an engineering expedition that mini mariners are sure to be swept away by! After reading a brief description and history of periscopes, they work in crews to construct one. Use this activity to enhance a lesson on...
Lesson Plan
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Nano Waterproofing

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
This activity will make an impact, especially on scientist-athletes who may have an interest in waterproof clothing! Acting as materials engineers, they work collaboratively on waterproofing pieces of cotton fabric. This challenge is...
Lesson Plan
1
1
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Got Lactase? The Co-Evolution of Genes and Culture

For Teachers 8th - 12th Standards
Does the human body evolve as quickly as human culture? With a stellar 15-minute video, explore the trait of lactose intolerance. Only about 1/3 of human adults seem to still have the enzyme lactase and therefore, the ability to digest...
Lesson Plan
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Sugar Crystal Challenge

For Teachers 3rd - 9th Standards
Blow your learners' minds with a sweet lesson on nanotechnology that uses sugar to demonstrate the difference nanoscale surface area makes in dissolving and crystal formation. Plenty of supportive background information is read to...
Lesson Plan
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Tinkering with Tops

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
Get kids' heads spinning by challenging them to design a top that will rotate for a minimum of 10 seconds without leaving a 30-cm circle. Groups of learners collaborate through a planning stage, testing stage, and evaluation stage. Some...
Lesson Plan
1
1
Curated OER

Areas of Geometric Shapes with the Same Perimeter

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
A triangle, square, hexagon, and circle all have a perimeter of one unit. Eighth graders must attempt to find the area of each and arrange them in order from least to greatest areas. A terrific task for applying four different...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Partitioning a Hexagon

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
The task at hand is to partition a hexagon into two, four, and eight congruent figures. Make sure to give your wizards a sheet of triangle grid paper on which to decompose the hexagons. Have them explain which rotations, reflections, or...
Lesson Plan
1
1
Curated OER

Flower Vases

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
Which vase holds more water: a cylinder, sphere, or cone? Figure out which should be used for your sister's birthday bouquet with this practical word problem.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Distances on the Number Line 2

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Simple tasks are presented for your seventh grade math masters. They are to determine whether two numbers on a number line are equidistant from zero and what the two added together would be.
Lesson Plan
1
1
Curated OER

Estimating the Mean State Area

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Seventh grade statisticians randomly select five states and then determine the mean area. The class then works together to create a dot plot of their results. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

7.RP Music Companies, Variation 1

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
We've got the beat! And your musically-minded mathematicians will tap their toes as they determine which music company would be getting a better deal based on their offers to buy out TunesTown. The topic is extended in an additional...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

7.RP Music Companies, Variation 2

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Real-world multiple-step proportion problems are sometimes hard to find for your math class. Here is one designed specifically to meet that need. Learners use proportional relationships to determine price per share in the acquisition of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Fast is Usain Bolt?

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Revisit the 2012 Summer Olympics by having seventh graders calculate the unit rate sprinting speed of the 100-meter gold medal winner. 
Lesson Plan
1
1
Illustrative Mathematics

Oakland Coliseum

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Help algebra learners relate a real-life function that happens at the Oakland Coliseum every time the Raiders play. The resource states that the revenue of the Oakland Raiders home games is a function of the number of seats sold and the...
Lesson Plan10:25
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

The Making of the Fittest: Natural Selection and Adaptation

For Students 8th - Higher Ed Standards
The pocket mouse can be light brown like the sands of the desert, or dark brown like the volcanic lava flows that are interspersed throughout New Mexico's Valley of Fire. It seems that predators have weeded out light colored mice in this...

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