University of Minnesota
Sheep Brain Dissection
Bored with frog and earthworm dissections? Had your fill of fetal pigs? Anatomy young scholars will be intrigued by the sheep's brain, and you will be prepared with guiding questions, extension activities, and pictures as they dissect...
Nuffield Foundation
Observing Osmosis, Plasmolysis, and Turgor in Plant Cells
Create the perfect conditions for osmosis. Young scholars use a microscope to observe plant cells exposed to distilled water or sodium chloride. They observe how osmosis creates turgid or plasmolyzed cells.
Curated OER
Apple Observation
In this apple observation worksheet, students identify with the importance of observations and respond to the questions that follow the activity. They describe the image they see when they think of a red apple, including its texture and...
Curated OER
Exploration of 'pill bugs'
Fifth graders define words. They create a dichotomous key. After carefully examining pill bugs, 5th graders record observations. They compare and contrast habitats of pillbugs.
Curated OER
Outdoor Observations
Fifth graders attain data using their senses. They record information. They develop observation skills and explore how to investigate. They gain appreciation for nature through their observations.
Curated OER
Observing Weather
Students investigate the weather by reading children stories. In this weather observation instructional activity, students read Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and several other stories about weather before they create a KWL chart....
Curated OER
Creeping and Crawling Observing Mealworms and Earthworms
Young scholars observe the inherited traits in earthworms and mealworms. In this organisms lesson, students view a live mealworm and earthworm on a tray and identify the body parts. Young scholars measure the worms and observe the...
Michigan State University
All About Insects
Insects are the focus of an activity that looks deep into the anatomy and metamorphosis of everyday bugs. Two worksheets reinforce knowledge obtained through a teacher-guided grand conversation and insect observation.
Curated OER
Transparent Shoebox Dig
Take this simulated archaeological dig one layer at a time with your young pupils to encourage observation, critical thinking, and careful attention. Using a transparent box full of layers of sand and artifacts, pupils examine the...
Towson University
Looking Into Lactase: Structured Inquiry
Why is lactase important? Biology scholars explore enzyme function in a structured inquiry lab. The activity tasks lab groups with observing how temperature and pH affect enzyme activity, as well as determining which milk products...
PBS
Blow the Roof Off!
Blow the minds of young scientists with this collection of inquiry-based investigations. Based on a series of eight videos, these "hands-on, minds-on" science lessons engage young learners in exploring a wide range of topics from making...
Royal Society of Chemistry
Some Reactions of Carbon Dioxide—Microscale Chemistry
Precipitation reactions are always interesting. How about one that forms a precipitate using a gas? Chemists of any age will enjoy this twist on a standard solubility lab. Partners observe the lack of interaction between sodium hydroxide...
Royal Society of Chemistry
Electrolysis Using a Microscale Hoffman Apparatus—Microscale Chemistry
Get big results out of a small-scale lab! Young chemists observe the electrolysis of sodium sulfate using a microscale experiment. A colorful indicator solution combined with the production of gas bubbles yields a variety of observations...
Virginia Department of Education
Metamorphic Rocks
Rocks can bend? Pupils investigate how heat and pressure produce metamorphic rocks by modeling them using clay, and then categorize samples based on observable characteristics. The lesson ends with a metamorphic rock identification...
NOAA
Microfriends
Is there medicine found in the organisms that live deep below the surface of the ocean? The fifth lesson in a six-part series has learners team up to research bacteria and the relationship it has with nearly every living thing on Earth....
Curated OER
Observation Skills
First graders observe a spider and write sentences about what they see the spider doing. For this writing lesson plan, 1st graders draw what they see, then make an edible spider out of marshmallows and twizzlers. A fun, delicious lesson...
Curated OER
Observations and Inferences
Students examine coral skeletons. For this science lesson, view real coral skeletons. Students explain the differences between an observation and an inference. Students draw a coral skeleton.
Curated OER
Observation Challenge
Fourth graders, in groups, use observation skills at 12 stations and describe what they see.
Curated OER
I Wonder...
Students review information they have gathered from previous lessons. They create their own experiments and carry them out. They reflect on the project as a whole.
Curated OER
Environmental Studies: The Environment Rocks!
Rock exploration, so exciting! After reading the book Everybody Needs a Rock, the class makes sandwiches to better understand that the Earth is made in layers. They then use a description of the 3 types of rock to conduct an observation...
Curated OER
Investigate Pine Creek!
Students are invited to become detectives in this Web-Integrated Science Environment (WISE) as they explore a local creek, its environment and ongoing status. Students participate in field trips, acquisition of data through water testing...
Curated OER
Planetary Surface Evolution and Resurfacing
Students are provided with drawings of planet surfaces in order to investigate different types of planetary terrain. They make observations for each planet and discuss the characteristics observed. The instructional activity includes...
Curated OER
Bioethics
Students are introduced to the issues surrounding bioethics and begin to discover how some of these values can influence decision making. The exciting part of this lesson is the constructivist method used to engage students of all...