Teach Engineering
Design a Flying Machine
Wrap up the unit in one final design. Pairs use their knowledge of aviation to design new flying machines and record how their designs take into consideration the forces that act upon airplanes. The pupils determine whether their designs...
American Museum of Natural History
Fascinating Fish
A fish is not just a fish. So many fish in remote places have unique characteristics. Take a trip with an ichthyologist to the Congo River to discover the species of one of the most diverse fish populations in the world. The online...
American Museum of Natural History
Journey to Deep Sea Vents
Take a deep dive into oceanography. The online interactive allows for learners to board a submersible to dive to the bottom of the ocean to investigate sea vents. On the way down, individuals see different marine life at different...
University of Chicago
Exercise in Conflict Resolution
How do major religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, differ in how they view the role of individual freedoms within society, the definition of morality, and the importance of politically satisfying the greater...
Research Parent
Universe Cards
A 9-page packet comes with 24 cards that have pictures and informational text about each object in the universe. From nebulae to dwarf planets, objects we see—or don't see—are represented in the cards through pictures and words.
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Stop and Go
It's "Green light, go!" with this lesson! STEM classes are illuminated with the history of traffic signals and how the engineering design has improved over time. They also learn about patents for new inventions. Finally, they research in...
Curated OER
Phineas Gage: Questioning Strategy
Focus on chapter two of Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science with a questioning activity. After teaching and modeling several types of questions, learners work with partners and then independently to answer and...
Chymist
An Experiment in Alchemy: Copper to Silver to Gold
Use chemistry to change pennies into gold coins! The experimental procedure leads learners through the process of changing copper pennies to silver and then to gold. They record the mass of each coin through every step of the experiment.
American Museum of Natural History
Pterosaurs: The Card Game
Piecing together the past is a challenging endeavor. Learners get a taste of that challenge as they play a game that incorporates several components such as trophic levels, geological time periods, and catastrophic events. Pairs work to...
Intel
Starquest
Almost every ancient culture observed the stars and saw pictures in the patterns. Studying stars allowed them to guide travelers, determine when to plant crops, when to harvest food, and the stories surrounding the images include some of...
Curated OER
Settlement Exploration: Then and Now
NASA has crafted an imaginative and memorable series of lessons, "NASA and Jamestown Education Module." This lesson is one of the five components. In it, middle schoolers connect history and science by comparing the settlement of...
NASA
Things Are Not Always What They Seem
Science is magic that works. Magical color-changing beads and a coffee can that follows voice commands are just two examples of magic tricks that rely on science. After completing a hands-on activity and an experiment investigating the...
Curated OER
Ping!
Using "mystery bathymetry" shoeboxes, young explorers simulate sonar action to map out the topography of an un-viewable landscape. This classic activity helps physical oceanography learners understand how sonar works. It would be...
Agriculture in the Classroom
A Holiday Tradition: Which Christmas Tree Will You Choose?
Different varieties of Christmas trees provide an interesting way to combine social studies, science, math, and technology. Class members not only research the history of the Christmas tree holiday tradition, they compare and...
Curated OER
Artificial Selection
The second lesson in the series begins with a starter activity discussing wild versus domesticated animals. Then, scholars play a card game, with optional variations, to emphasize artificial selection. Next, they attend a field trip to a...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Historical Climate Cycles
What better way to make predictions about future weather and climate patterns than with actual climate data from the past? Young climatologists analyze data from 400,000 to 10,000 years ago to determine if climate has changed over...
NASA
Hurricanes and Hot Towers with TRMM
Take cover because a wild presentation on hurricanes is about to make landfall in your classroom! An outstanding PowerPoint presentation is the centerpiece of this lesson. Not only does it provide information and photographs, but several...
MOST
What Are Cells?
What's in a cell, anyway? Kids read informational text on what makes up both animal and plant cells, including a page of vocabulary terms they will need to be familiar with (cytoplasm, ribosomes, vacuoles, etc.). Full-color images...
Curated OER
History of Saturn Discoveries
Learners interpret how scientists have explored Saturn. In this NASA based astronomy instructional activity, students create a timeline depicting the study of Saturn from 1610 until 2010. Each student will write a letter to Galileo...
Curated OER
Never Say Die: The CLock of Life
Young scholars explore ways to turn back the genetic clock. They explore cells and mitosis. Students participate in an activity to create a flip book that will animate the process of mitosis. They explain each stage of mitosis.
Curated OER
History of Immigration through the 1850's
Students research the history of Immigration. In this World History lesson, students explore European immigration then specifically focus on ways African Immigration was different. Students then divide into small groups and...
Curated OER
The Declaration of War Against Japan and Just War Theory
Learners examine the attack on Pearl Harbor and how it changed the history of the United States. After watching a video from "The War", they discuss the characteristics of a "just war" and identify the laws in international warfare. ...
Curated OER
The Arthropod Story
Students learn a number of evolutionary concepts by following the long history of the arthropods and have opportunities to think about arthropod evolution in terms of both opportunities and constraints.
Curated OER
The Use of Myths in Science
Students examine folk tales to determine the basis for scientific myths. They demonstrate through the discussion of the folk tales that the perception of the world has changed as new information is gained. They write their own folk...