Crystals form before your very eyes! What sixth grader wouldn't enjoy this lesson on igneous rock formation? Using hot Salol, junior geologists observe the crystal formation process as the material cools. This comprehensive lesson plan...

Many people think they can't observe plate tectonics, but thanks to GPS, we know that Australia moves at a rate of 2.7 inches per year, North America at 1 inches per year, and the Pacific plate at more than 3 inches per year! Scholars...

Students build a device that captures and carries a pet rat safely back to its cage with out "harming" the rat or themselves. They build and experiment with wind-up or battery operated rat cat toys after predicting the outcome of their...

Students design and construct a listening device that will allow them to listen to the sound generated by specific object inside a box.

Become familiar with the basic concepts of inheritance. Your junior high learners work through mulitple examples of crosses and calculate probabilities of trait occurance. The explain the concept that each parent contributes one half of...

Science Students build a pooper scooper tool that helps them clean up after a dog without getting their hands dirty or their noses too close. They research the diseases that can be transported through animal waste and work in teams to...

Students, in groups, use given materials to devise a way to deposit a ping-pong ball into a paper cup that is located in the middle of a 6-foot diameter circle, while standing outside the circle.

Learners will work together in groups to gather information about careers in oceanography. They discover the need to have a diverse group of people on a team and then share their information with the class. Web links and materials are...

Take your class on an out-of-this-world adventure with this fun engineering design instructional activity. Working in small groups, young scientists design, build, and test crew exploration vehicles using some creativity, teamwork,...

Students explore a computer-aided design program. Students chart out roller coaster design, computer graphics and architecture. Students focus on understanding the connections between mathematics, science, technology and innovation.

Students  explore the issues and challenges of cloning.  For this cloning lesson plan, students read about how cloning affects people and the types of cloning, then they prepare a debate either for or against cloning.

If you're searching for a way to keep your class informed of current psychology news, this ongoing assignment is both educational and engaging. Class members locate and read a psychology article of interest, write a psychological...

Review many different types of essays with this presentation. Each slide gives a short description of an essay such as narrative or persuasive. Makes for a good overview of various formats.

Eighth graders examine various maps associated with Hernando de Soto's expedition. By comparing their textbook maps with newer maps, they answer a battery of focus questions. Using Microsoft Word, 8th graders answer the questions...

Explore plants and flowers with this lesson. Learners talk about plants, conduct an experiment with suflowers, and track a plants growth. This is a motivating way to present this concept.

Students interpret possible meanings of works of art by analyzing how specific works are created and how they relate to historical and cultural contexts

Written as an accompaniment to a field trip to the Out of Africa Wildlife Park in Arizona, this is an interdisciplinary, themed lesson on lions. Even if you cannot take your upper-elementary kids to this attraction, there are a few...

Students conduct a simple investigation to explore tooth decay.

Students describe science experience with appropriate attributes, units, and tools. They formulate inquiry question associated with the science experiences and curricular concepts from observations through class brainstorming. Pupils...

Students develop procedures to explore the behavior of fish.  In this scientific experiment lesson students from a hypothesis, write a question, identify different variables and controls in their experiment. 

Students investigate the food chain. They brainstorm questions about the human food chain and explain what would happen to living things in the food chain if organisms or resources were removed. They role-play situations in which the...

Students use the internet to research the amount of natural resources in a specific area on Earth. In groups, they locate the supply of each natural resource on a map in that area and what can be done to reduce their usage. They also...

Students investigate the mixing of light. They form a hypotheses to reason why color changes occur and they write conclusions and ask new questions arising from the investigation. Students identify the primary and complementary colors of...

Pupils investigate the parts and functions of a compound microscope. They explore various websites, label the parts of a microscope on a worksheet, view prepared slides, and create drawings of the prepared slides.