Students conduct an experiment.  In this oil and natural gas lesson plan, students learn how geoscientists identify and explore reserves of petroleum.  Students make a model of an oil reserve, record how much it would cost to...

Students explain how Daniell cells work. In this electrochemistry lesson, students conduct a variety of experiments to explore the different types of cells. They create a model of Daniell cell.

Fourth graders explore Newton's second law of motion, testing and identifying the characteristics of objects that makes them easier or harder to push. They identify what types of objects are the hardest to move, then test a variety of...

In this life sciences review or quiz worksheet, 5th graders use recall of knowledge to answer multiple choice questions. Students answer 20 questions.

Create a neuron frenzy as your pupils play the part of the neurons. An engaging lesson plan creates a human chain of neurons that pass cotton balls posing as neurotransmitters. Scholars learn about pre- and post-synapses as they...

Mid-ocean ridges, rift valleys, island arcs, mountain ranges, earthquakes, volcanoes ... there are so many features associated with plate tectonics. The 14th installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography...

Calcareous ooze ... what an interesting name! The 15th installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program focuses on sediments found on the ocean floor. After viewing the slideshow lecture,...

Students gain an understanding of how the powers of 10 and scientific notation can be used to represent the scale of things in the universe. They relate the number of stars in the universe to the number of grains of sand on Earth's beaches.

Explore optics using an inquiry-based experimental approach! Young scholars use a set of materials to design and build a unit capable of focusing a beam of light. They experiment with different lenses to determine the best approach to...

The San Andreas Fault is the largest earthquake-producing fault in California. In the seventh lesson in the 20 part series, pupils create maps of California, focusing on the San Andreas Fault system. The comparison of where...

Drop a perfect project into your lesson plans. Groups use different building materials to create models of parachutes for food drops. After testing out their prototypes, they make improvements to their designs.

Why do some stars in a constellation appear brighter than others? Using a get-up-and-move astronomy activity, scholars explore perspective and the appearance of constellations in the sky while developing an understanding of the...

Why does Earth experience summer, fall, winter, and spring? Using an informative demonstration, learners see how the angle of the sun on Earth and the rotation of Earth determine the seasons. Scholars work in pairs to learn that the...

The sun isn't just a ball of yellow! Young scientists learn about the features of the sun using a hands-on modeling activity. They build models of the sun using common household items to represent sunspots, solar prominence, and the...

Dive into the power of the sun with a two-part lesson. Budding scientists model the greenhouse effect in a hands-on activity, and then participate in a skit that explores the earth's energy balances and what really occurs in the...

After learning about P waves and S waves, fifth graders view the intensity of earthquakes by examining seismographs and images of earthquake damage. Young scientists then forecasting future quakes by analyzing data about...

How do viruses hijack our cells to produce more viral particles? Junior immunologists model how viral RNA integrates into a host cell's DNA using pop beads and use interactive tools to explore a virus' genome. The teacher's guide...

Young seismologists learn more about plate tectonics with a set of pre-lab, lab, and post-lab lessons plans on earthquakes. After exploring how waves travel through various materials, sixth graders record their observations and...

The greenhouse effect is important, for without it, life on Earth would not exist. An activity that includes modeling the greenhouse effect and acting out the Earth's energy balance makes up the first part in a series of seven...

Before a cell replicates, its DNA must replicate. Take advantage of a hands-on guided lesson to teach budding scientists how this happens. Using a set of nucleotide cards, learners become the DNA and work to create matching strands...

Students collect height versus time data of a bouncing ball using the CBR 2™ data collection device. Using a quadratic equation they graph scatter plots, graph and interpret a quadratic function, apply the vertex form of a quadratic...

Use science to solve the mystery of the Poplar murder. Pupils use forensic botany to determine if a suspect could be the killer. By analyzing images from a Transmission Electron Microscope, learners determine if the material found on the...

Could you determine longitude based on measuring time? Early explorers used a longitude clock to do just that. Scholars learn about early exploration and the importance of the invention of the clock. Then pupils build their own longitude...

After cutting down a forest to make a farm, how long would it take the environment to turn an abandoned farm back into a forest? Scholars study this exact scenario while they interpret many charts and graphs of the changing ecosystems as...