Break hearts with this lesson plan: chicken or sheep hearts, that is! Your class examines the external and internal structure of the heart with a dissection activity. A handy anatomy resource provides the necessary materials for...

The threat posed by super volcanoes is explored in a short video that reviews the destruction caused by Mount Tambora in 1815 and by Peru's Huaynaputina in 1600. Think it can't happen again? The narrator contends that the explosive...

How do you read a nutritional label? Help high schoolers practice reading nutritional labels on foods so they can calculate the calories in different types of foods. They will also examine the effects of fat on the body and the link to...

How did the 2017 eclipse look in Los Angeles—or Chicago? Experience both views, plus many more, using a lesson from PBS's Space series for middle schoolers. Scholars follow the movements of the sun, moon, and Earth during the most recent...

Explore ocean habitats with a lesson plan that showcases the home of manatees and loggerhead turtles in Belize. Here, pupils compare and contrast the homes of ocean animals to those of humans, listen to an original short story...

Circulate this news: the heart is a pump containing one-way valves! Following the previous lesson on the external structure of the heart, learners now take a look at the inside. They use a three-color diagram to label a black-and-white...

Celebrate the whimsical world of Dr. Seuss with a lesson that features the memorable tale of The Lorax. After listening to a riveting read-aloud, scholars take part in a grand conversation about the story and environment. Then...

What happens when ice melts? Well ... water happens. When that melting ice is a glacier, the amount of water that results produces change throughout the world. Middle school science sleuths uncover the truth about global...

When the sun's rays can't reach the producers in a food web, where does all the energy come from? Extreme environments call for extreme food sources. Young scientists investigate creatures that appear to get their energy from methane...

Can a coral cure cancer? Take seventh and eighth grade science sleuths to the underwater drugstore for an investigation into emerging pharmaceutical research. The fifth installment in a series of six has classmates research the wealth of...

What's it like to be a deep-sea explorer? Tap into the imaginations of your fifth and sixth graders with a vivid lesson, the second part of a six-part adventure. Learners close their eyes and submerge themselves in an expedition aboard...

Are you ready for the biggest astronomical event of the year? More importantly ... are you ready to share it with your scholars? Use a presentation filled with facts and diagrams to make sure everyone in class understands the importance...

Aspiring anatomists label a photograph of a human heart by comparing it to a colored diagram on the same page. The video that is mentioned in the procedure does not seem to be available, but the overview provides plentiful background...

Why is there more daylight in June than in December if you live above the equator? How does the angle of sunlight shift throughout the year? Answer these questions and more with an interactive article about the sun, its path through the...

Humans are quickly depleting Earth's fossil fuels and locating them is becoming increasingly difficult! Layered muffins are used for models as young geologists take core samples in order to determine the presence of oil. Consider first...

As part of a unit on the chemistry of the brain, thinkers learn how chemicals work to transmit messages between individual neurons and how controlled substances impact the synaptic cleft. They do so by playing a dice-and-card game in...

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...

In cooperative groups, middle schoolers contemplate the probability of 18 different situations occurring. After they make predictions, they compare them to the actual risk factors. This eye-opening exercise demonstrates that the odds of...

Looking for an interesting text to share the world of microbes with your middle school classroom? The edition contains explanations, worksheets, experiments, discussions, and links to outside sources for a true and complete...

Can a sponge cure cancer? Life science pupils visit the drugstore under the sea in the fifth activity of six. Working groups research the topic then get hands-on experience by testing the inhibiting effects of several plant extracts...

Students examine the economic, health and environmental risks of being a one-crop country. They explain the risks of relying on one crop. They also identify the factors that resist change.

If you feel like you're standing still, you're wrong! The Earth is constantly rotating and orbiting under our feet. Demonstrate the Earth's movement within the solar system with a collaborative activity. With a candle or lamp in the...

Teach your class about colony collapse disorder and foster discussion about causes and solutions for the honeybee problem. Class members read and discuss an article and participate in one of two detailed activities about pollination and...

The 2016-2017 protests over the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) motivated Camille Seaman to create "We Are Still Here," a photo essay featuring portraits of contemporary Native Americans who protested the pipeline. This eight-page...