Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bridging the Gaps Between the Three Worlds of Chemistry

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Young scholars examine the observed world, molecular world, and the symbolic world of chemistry. They observe a demonstration of the conductivity of solutions, describe the properties of acids and bases, and predict the outcome of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Hot Cans and Cold Cans

For Teachers 6th - 7th
Students investigate the physics of heating and cooling through conduction, convection, and radiation. Working in groups, they determine the best way to cool a can of water and warm a can of water. Temperature is taken at five minute...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Hydrologic Cycle Scavenger Hunt

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students explore the water cycle using educational resources. In this water cycle lesson, students use a global climate DVD to complete a scavenger hunt on the hydrologic (water) cycle.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Chocolate Asphalt Cookies

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students make no-bake cookies to learn basic engineering principles, road construction and material science. They experience properties and changes in matter.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Introduction to Friction

For Teachers 11th - Higher Ed
Students study the properties of the frictional force between two surfaces in contact. They inspect various phenomena in nature where friction plays an important role and demonstrate
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sweet Candy Comets

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders use candy to make a comet. In this lesson, 4th graders examine the role comets have played throughout history, students watch NASA videos about comets and complete the lesson by making an edible model of a comet. This...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Water, Water Everywhere (Pond Animals)

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders examine the characteristics of animals who live in a pond environment. In groups, they describe the various stages in the life of a frog and identify the characteristics of other pond animals. Using this information,...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Minerals Prime

For Students 7th - 10th
In this minerals worksheet, students answer fifteen multiple choice questions about mineral formation, volcano and mountain formation, mineral tests and properties of minerals.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Fraction of the Possibilities

For Teachers 12th - Higher Ed
Students review the conversion of fractions to decimals, develop strategies to compare fractions perform complex calculations using ratio techniques similar to the construction of fractions.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Great Grizzly

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students generate questions about grizzly bears and use the Internet to research the answers. As a culminating activity, students create a life-size mural of a grizzly that is annotated with the information they've learned.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Animal Alphabet

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders identify animals with each letter of the alphabet. In groups, they create a PowerPoint presentation which shows the information they have collected about each one. Using all of this information, they create an animal...
Interactive
Curated OER

Polymer Basics

For Teachers 7th - 10th
In this polymer worksheet, students use an on line site to complete sentences about plastics, their chemical make-up, their uses, their history and information about recycling plastics.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What is the Attraction?

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders investigate the law of polarity. In this magnets lesson, 2nd graders discover how magnets are used in everyday life and which objects in our environment are magnetic. Students experiment with bar magnets and record...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pack Your Bags: Explore South Carolina

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders investigate different counties in South Carolina. In this geography instructional activity, 3rd graders are assigned a county in South Carolina to research and identify important facts about the county. Students create a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Frosty the Snowman Meets His Demise: An Analogy to Carbon Dating

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners read and discuss an article about carbon dating, then participate in a hands-on lab to discover how carbon dating works. Students also write a letter to a friend explaining the process, and how archeologists use the process to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jr. Chef Club Super Snacks Lesson 6

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Students explore healthy snacks. In this nutrition and cooking lesson, students observe and identify food groups on USDA's MyPyramid food guide. Students discuss how fiber helps our digestive system and follow a recipe using yeast to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Physics of Hummingbirds: Magic in the Air

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students study hummingbirds and how they use Newton's law.  In this motion lesson students complete several activities and view videos of hummingbirds. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What About Cantaloupes?

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders investigate the physical properties of cantaloupe using their senses. For this life science lesson, 2nd graders estimate the weight of their sample. They get it's actual weight and compare it with their estimate.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Energy and Control

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders construct a lunch box that maintains functional temperature zones and does not allow heat transfer between the zones. They examine the transfer of heat, the capacity of certain materials to hold heat, and how the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What's in the Soil?

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders examine soil to find its contents, and how much water and air they can measure.  In this soil composition lesson, 4th graders perform three experiments and record their results.  In one experiment they examine...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Different Minerals

For Teachers 7th - 9th
In this minerals worksheet, learners read about the relationship between elements, rocks and minerals. They experiment using 6 different colored gumdrops to represent 6 common elements. Students construct gumdrop and toothpick models of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Living and Nonliving Things

For Teachers Pre-K - 5th
Students photograph five objects from a bag and five objects from the outdoors. Students categorize things by living and non-living and by properties such as color, size, structure and needs. Students draw conclusions about the basic...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Liquids Have Differnt Viscosities

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Young scholars explore visosity of matter. They run tests of various liquid substances to observe and compare rates of flow of different substances. In addition, they relate viscosity to distance travelled by sample substances.
Handout
National Institute of Open Schooling

Atomic Structure

For Students 7th - 12th Standards
Learners explain historical findings such as Rutherford and Bohr's contributions, explain wave particle duality, and formulate Heinsenberg's uncertainty principle. They also draw s, p, and d orbitals, explain more historical findings,...