Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Inventions Change the World: The Enigma Machine

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders explore WWII by analyzing technological advances. In this invention lesson, 3rd graders discuss the use of the Enigma machine which decoded private German messages that communicated with U-boats. Students utilize a timeline...
Lesson Plan
National Wildlife Federation

Yesterday: Our Energy Needs Over Time

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
How has our relationship to energy changed over time? An engaging exploration challenges learners to create a timeline showing human energy needs and uses over time. Scholars review what timelines are, choose a 50-year period in history...
Lesson Plan
Energy for Keeps

The Energy Times

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Extra! Extra! Read all about past and present energy use in a classroom-made historical newspaper. Useful as a cross-curricular assignment between science, history, and language arts, the project is sure to get young journalists...
Unit Plan
Columbus City Schools

Let’s Get Theoretical About Cells

For Teachers 6th Standards
Get up close and personal with cells in a hands-on journey to discover what makes up living things. Scholars learn valuable microscope skills, delve into the Modern Cell Theory, and gain insight into how cells reproduce. The included lab...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fossils

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students complete a unit on fossils. They read and discuss informational handouts, define key vocabulary terms, answer discussion questions, create a geologic timeline and a timeline of their own life, analyze bones, and create a fossil...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lue Gim Gong and the Development of the Frost Resistant Orange

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders read about Ben Franklin's invention and talk about other inventions they have heard about. They listen to the book about Lue Gim Gong and discuss what he had to go through at first when he came to America and chart the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Extinction and Rediscovery of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker

For Teachers 5th - 8th
An incredibly thorough, and well-designed lesson teaches youngsters about the presumed extinction and rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker in Arkansas. Learners discuss the environmental factors that led to the birds disappearance....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Diseases Are Real

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders research industries that contribute to sanitation and pollution problems. They investigate the direct result of unhygienic practices including disease outbreaks or specific illnesses. They create a Power Point...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lunar Field Trip

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students take a virtual tour on Google Moon of what human life would be like on the moon. In this moon lesson plan, students also compose web diagrams, make charts, make a time line, investigate problems, and more.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Biological Control of Purple Loosestrife

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine the role of Purple Loosestrife in Illinois and Indiana rivers. In groups, they collect a wide variety of plants in a wetland and raise beetles in a controlled environment. They introduce the loosestrife into the...
Handout
Curated OER

National Park Service: Yellowstone National Park Kids Website

For Students Pre-K - 1st
This official Yellowstone National Park Kids Website is filled with activities for children of all ages.
Unit Plan
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Learning Lab: Fossils: Footprints Across Time

For Students 9th - 10th
Smithsonian Education presents "Fossils: Footprints Across Time." Teachers can download this teaching package that introduces students to the study of fossils. Students will discover what fossils can teach us about the Earth as it was...