Curated OER
Magnitude vs Intensity
Students use a zipcode map to locate earthquake experiences based on the Modified Mercalli Scale. They discuss the difference of the magnitude of an earthquake compared to the intensity of the shaking it causes.
Curated OER
Science: Seed by Design
Students, working in groups, create "artificial seeds" for a wind dispersal experiment. After trial runs, they redesign their seeds, and re-test them under the same conditions. Finally, they interpret, compare, and evaluate the original...
Curated OER
What Is Special About Polyethylene Food Storage Bags?
Students participate in an investigation in which they compare a polyethylene bag designed for recycling or disposal with a polyethylene food storage bag. Students use hexane to determine the differences between the low density...
Curated OER
Invertebrate Diversity
Comparative anatomy prevails in the lesson exploring diversity among invertebrates. Biologists examine physical characteristics of an earthworm from phylum annelida and a meal worm from phylum insecta. They also inspect a cricket and a...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Stickleback Evolution Virtual Lab
How quickly do animals evolve? Can comparing different samples of the same fossil answer timeline questions? Scholars use virtual labs to examine fossils and learn about stickleback evolution. They compare pelvic morphology in lakes...
New York State Education Department
TASC Transition Curriculum: Workshop 1
Work out your core, Common Core State Standards, through the first workshop in a series of 15 designed for educators. Inquiry-based activities designed for all content areas and grade levels explore the shifts to new standards,...
Curated OER
Big Fleas Have Little Fleas
A benthic habitat hosts a vast collection of organisms and its structure influences the biodiversity. Middle-school marine biology explorers will discuss how corals impact structure, and therefore diversity, on the ocean floor. They draw...
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
Synthesis of Nickel Nanowires
It's all about the scale—they're not just wires, they're nanowires! The second lesson of the series builds on the oxidation-reduction experiment in the first lesson. Scholars synthesize a sample of nanowires using electrolysis. As they...
CK-12 Foundation
Resistor Simulation
Many scholars struggle to picture electrons traveling in a circuit but understand water going through a pipe. The simulation compares circuits to water pipes. It walks pupils through four levels of questions, allowing them to switch...
Curated OER
Identifying Disease Genes using BLAST
Students navigate the National Center for Biological Information (NCBI) website and BLAST program to conduct a variety of biological assignments.
Curated OER
Mammal Morphology - Bats, People, and Other
In this physical characteristics worksheet, students compare bats and humans by putting a + sign in the chart for whether or not bats and humans have the same characteristics. Students do this for 17 characteristics and answer 3 questions.
Curated OER
Northwest Hawaiian Islands
Students compare and contrast places around the world. Students analyze the effects of human activity on the physical environment and devise plans to address the consequences. Students also focus on geographical topics such as formation...
Curated OER
Observing the Growth of a Maize Root
Students conduct an experiment in order to observe the typical downward growth of a maize root. They become familiar with the root's growth patterns to use as a control for comparison in other experiments.
National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science
Bad Fish, Bad Bird
In an advanced biology lesson, learners see a PowerPoint about biologist Dr. Westwood, a two-time victim of poisoning. Designed to be used with clickers in the classroom, you could modify the lesson by creating a worksheet from the...
Curated OER
Sunspot Classification
Learners study classification schemes for identifying sunspots. They distinguish between sunspot unbrae and penunbrae, measure sunspots, and compare them to the size of the Earth. They complete a worksheet showing classification of...
Science 4 Inquiry
Maintaining Mass
Can you disprove the law of conservation of mass? Pupils observe the teacher weigh each part of a reaction. Then, the teacher weighs the result of the reaction and everyone sees that the products do not equal the reactants. Then they...
Curated OER
The Cell Cycle and Cancer
High schoolers compare and contrast the cell cycle of frog eggs, normal cells, and cancer cells. They watch a video about early development of the frog embryo, generate a hypothesis in small groups, and listen to a teacher-led lecture. ...
Curated OER
DNA Extraction Lab
Students extract DNA and test for its presence from unroasted (raw) wheat germ using a prescribed procedure. They modify the procedure to provide a less expensive, easier method. They also extract DNA from different available plant,...
Curated OER
Can Acid and Bases Remedy the Body?
Students experiment with acids and bases using technology-based "probe-ware", computers, and household products in this exciting biology/chemistry lesson. The lesson was written for an advanced 6th grade class.
Curated OER
Food Chains and Food Webs
Fourth graders investigate food chains. In this living environment lesson, 4th graders begin to understand the interdependence of organisms. Students describe the connections organisms have to the ecosystem. Students research online,...
Curated OER
Cell Discoveries
Students observe, compare and describe cell organelles in terms of their function, structure and operation. They enter and edit information in a database, build and sort a student-designed database and find records in a database.
Curated OER
How Much Water?
Students investigate amount of water available in different countries around the world, compare it to their daily water use, and explore how unequal distribution of water can cause challenges to survival. Students then discuss need to...
Curated OER
Nutrition Track
Students examine the importance of a healthy diet based on the USDA food pyramid. They log their daily food intake in a journal. They create charts to analyze and compare their diets to the USDA recommended allowances.
Curated OER
2.0 "Water Is Life" Global Water Awareness Mini-Unit (Grades3-5)
Students study the amount of potable water on the Earth. In this water activity, students examine the amount of potable water as compared to all the water on the Earth. They discuss why many parts of the world do not have access to good...