Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Floating and Falling Flows

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students discover fluid dynamics related to buoyancy through experimentation and optional photography. Using one set of fluids, they make light fluids rise through denser fluids. Using another set, they make dense fluids sink through a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Kidney Filtering

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students investigate how kidneys function. They discuss how a dialysis machine works, and conduct an experiment in which they filter different substances through a plastic window screen, various sizes of hardware cloth, and poultry...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Make Your Own Recycled Paper

For Teachers K - 2nd
Paper Lesson Plan - Students discover how paper is made. Working together, they make their own paper. This activity introduces students to recycling; what it is and its importance. Students study the process of how paper is made, and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Modeling an Oil Reserve

For Teachers 8th - 12th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mosquito Life Cycles

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students gather mosquito eggs to record the mosquito life cycle using drawings, descriptions, and any other appropriate means. In small groups, they analyze and describe the process of complete metamorphosis. They classify mosquitoes...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Who's Down the Well?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students identify several sources of contaminants to groundwater. They discuss the movement of possible contaminants through that groundwater from outside sources. They describe how environmental engineers analyze contaminants to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Miracle Fish: Learning to Design an Experiment

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students develop procedures to explore the behavior of fish.  In this scientific experiment activity students from a hypothesis, write a question, identify different variables and controls in their experiment. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Science: Making Career Connections

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students explore careers in oceanography. They compare and contrast requirements for careers in the field, and determine what high school courses would help to prepare them. Finally, they create a computer-based project related to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Why Don't Whales Have Legs?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students are given a variety of materials and are asked to design a heat loss experiment that results in a reasonable explanation of "Why don't whales have legs?" students work with the theory of natural selection.
Handout
ProCon

Milk

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Milk: It does a body good ... or does it? Using the provided website, scholars sort through information to answer the question. They review a chart demonstrating lactose intolerance by ethnicity and region, and they also compare the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Full is Full?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students examine porosity and permeability and relate these concepts to groundwater flow. They use simple materials to conduct a porosity experiment and use the information to understand how environmental engineers decide on the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Wetland Wonders

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Students study the characteristics of wetlands, and their importance to humans and wildlife.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Spin Your Turbines

For Teachers 8th - 11th
Students relate electrical power and how it works to math. In this geometry lesson, students analyze how a hydroelectric plant works and calculate the amount of electricity that is produced by a typical generator. This lesson uses...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Animal Adaptations: Focus on Bird Beaks

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders explore bird beaks as animal adaptation. In this bird adaptation lesson, 6th graders conduct an experiment to determine the connection between the shape of a bird's beak and the food it eats.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Soil Microbiology- Nitrogen cycle

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students take a virtual trip to a Catfish Aquaculture Pond and analyze soil bacteria to determine how many nitrogen cycle bacteria are present. They graph the number of colonies present and use data to determine ammonium levels in the soil.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Acid Attack

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students explore the effect of chemical erosion on statues and monuments. They use chalk to see what happens when limestone is placed in liquids with different pH values. They also discover several things that engineers are doing to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Design a Service Learning Activity

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students work together to design a service learning activity for their community that would benefit the Tijuana estuary. Using the internet, they research the elements of a service learning project and plan their's accordingly. They...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Seed Diversity

For Teachers 1st - 4th
Students explore agriculture by researching different seeds. In this seed identification lesson, students collaborate in small groups to analyze a package of different seeds. Students utilize a magnifying glass to examine each seed...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fun With Fish Forms

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Learners explore fish adaptations and anatomy. For this science lesson, students discuss various adaptations of fish and how those adaptations help them.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Not Just a Fish Tank

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students learn about a specific species of fish, study the effects of outside substances on the reproductive development of a fish, and explore the process of a wastewater treatment facility.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Estuaries, Estuarine Habitats, and Adaptations

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers conduct research on estuaries. They design and construct an estuary, describe the physical characteristics of an estuary, and create a diagram illustrating an estuarine food web.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring Hawaii's Beaches

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders  search the shore and find objects on the beaches of Hawaii.  In this exploring Hawaii's beaches lesson, 4th graders play "I Spy" with objected collected at the beach.  Students compare biotic and abiotic...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Chew on This

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders explore and demonstrate the seven steps of the scientific method. They predict how much sugar is in chewing gum and test, analyze, and calculate the sugar content of gum.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Evaporation Marathon

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students review the steps of the scientific method and participate in a three day experiment. They observe water evaporation over time.