Curated OER
4.2: Exploring Rocks
Students collect and look at rocks and write down information about them in science notebooks. They make comparisons and sort the rocks according to their properties, and then discuss their findings with their classmates and put them on...
Curated OER
Construction of Food Chains and Tracing Energy Changes
If you need a few basic activities for teaching food chains to your emerging ecologists, here they are. Three sheets of organism cards are included for learners to cut out and arrange according to trophic relationships. To make the most...
Curated OER
Tracks along the Trail
Students identify animal tracks outdoors. In this animal life lesson, students go outdoors and find several different animal tracks to identify. Students also discuss how animals must adapt in the winter months.
Curated OER
Who is the Sea Otter Related to?
Students examine the genetic relationships of different organisms. In groups, they discover the importance of genes and how different amino acids show various evolutionary relationships. They use an online database to continue their...
Curated OER
Evolutionary Relationships Based Upon Comparative Genetics
High schoolers investigate the protein cytochrome c in an attempt to use its genetic chemistry to study possible evolutionary relationships between organisms. The activity integrates technology with the use computers to perform DNA...
Curated OER
The Circulatory System - Part II
First graders recognize that the heart muscle requires food. Students observe a Venn Diagram to identify foods that are good for them. Students provide one ingredient to make healthy heart soup.
Curated OER
The Science of Respiration and Blood Circulation
Fifth graders study how respiration and circulation are connected. In this respiratory lesson students complete several activities to better understand heart rate and carbon dioxide in the body.
Curated OER
A Whaling Voyage
Students plot the track of a whaling voyage and relate it to ocean currents. They need to explain and use latitude and longitude to plot ship positions on the globe.
Curated OER
Introduction to Spiders
Students discover various facts about spiders including different species, body parts, and types of webs. In this insect biology lesson, students begin a K-W-L chart about spiders, are read I Love Spiders by John Parker and Amazing...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Get Connected with Ohm's Law
Ideal for your electricity unit, especially with middle schoolers, this lesson plan gets engineers using multimeters in electrical circuits to explore the relationships among voltage, current, and resistance. Older learners may even plot...
National Wildlife Federation
Stifling, Oppressive, Sweltering, Oh My!
Looking for a hot date? Pick any day in August, statistically the hottest month in the United States. The 15th lesson in the series of 21 instructs pupils to investigate the August 2007 heat wave through NASA data, daily temperature...
Science Matters
Volcano Models
More than 80 percent of the earth's surface originated from volcanoes. The 16th lesson in a 20-part series introduces the shape and development of volcanoes. It begins with a demonstration using a balloon and flour to illustrate the...
Global Oneness Project
Learning with Nature
Think outside the box - and think about education beyond the classroom walls - with a resource that has your critical thinkers watching a video about a nursery in Scotland that lets youngsters roam wild in a forest. Viewers reflect on...
Curated OER
Wetlands in Our State
Fifth graders access prior knowledge to create a KWL about the wetlands. For this wetlands lesson, 5th graders research to answer the questions in their KWL.
Curated OER
What Am I?
Students identify various shells. In this oceanography lesson, students create a KWL chart to activate background knowledge on shells. Students read the book Ocean Day and learn about waves, tides, and the seashells that can be found on...
Curated OER
Introduction to Sea Horses
Students identify different types of sea horses. In this sea horse research instructional activity, students learn associated vocabulary and listen as the teacher reads Elaine Landau's, Sea Horses A True Book. They visit assigned...
Curated OER
The Whale Trail
Students research the Gray Whale. In this Gray Whale lesson, students use KWL charts to organize information. Students do Internet research to gain information about the whales. Students get into groups and create a mock news broadcast...
Curated OER
Building Polymer Cup Speakers
Students investigate sound waves and they build audio speakers. In this audio speakers and sound lesson, students explore how to make quality audio speakers. As a team they build their own speakers to have clarity in sound, quality in...
Curated OER
Hearing and Sound
Young scholars construct a model of the ear to learn the parts of the ear. In this ear lesson plan, students build a model and use a poster to determine the structures and functions of each structure in the ear.
Curated OER
Finders Keepers
Students explore the career of beekeeping. In this careers lesson, students examine the importance of the beekeeping industry. Students read stories about beekeepers and write comparisons. Students write a report on beekeepers and the...
Curated OER
The Life Cycle of the Butterfly
First graders, after listening to fictional and non-fictional literature about caterpillars, and observing caterpillars from egg to butterfly, write a "biography" of a caterpillar using appropriate vocabulary and time lines.
Curated OER
Data Analysis and Measurement: Ahead, Above the Clouds
Students explore and discuss hurricanes, and examine how meteorologists, weather officers, and NASA researchers use measurement and data analysis to predict severe weather. They plot points on coordinate map, classify hurricanes...
Curated OER
Stuck On You
Fifth graders, after completing a K-W-L-H Chart on electricity, discuss and illustrate the four ways lightening can move.
Curated OER
Eyeing the Next Einstein
Students complete a KWL chart on Albert Einstein. After they read an article, they discover more about his iconic status and how future scientists view him. In groups, they create trading cards about Einstein and another scientist of...