Working under specific constraints and with designated criteria, groups work together to create a product using an assembly line process. In addition, they work through the entire engineering design process with an excellent graphic to...

A clever lesson plan designed around an apple awaits your learners. Descriptive words are used to explain what they believe is inside a bag while using their five senses. Students read the story The Apple Pie Tree and are introduced to...

Elementary schoolers count and order objects using numbers 1-300. They bring recyclable items from home. Students group the items, skip count by 2's, 3's, and 5's, and arrange the items on a number line. Recyclable plastic bags are put...

Students examine gravity, mass, and friction. In this speed and motion instructional activity, students investigate how straight line motion is impacted by gravity, mass, and fiction as they participate in a hands-on activity.

Many university professors complain incoming scholars struggle with interpreting graphs. A skill builder offers three different types of exercises including calculating slope, interpreting graphs, and extrapolating outside the plotted...

Send youngsters home to survey how they use water in their homes. Then bring them together to discuss which uses are essential for our health and which are not. A helpful video offers teaching tips for this lesson plan, and a...

Third graders investigate the use of lines in different pieces of art by creating their own ink print.  In this art analysis instructional activity, 3rd graders identify the contours and lines of natural objects such as twigs and...

Young scientists learn about plate tectonics and the three different types of faults (normal, reverse, and strike-slip) using foam models. The activity also covers common types of locations where these faults are found.

Note that this instructional activity is best paired with the preceding instructional activity in the unit. In that instructional activity, elementary physical scientists observed that the color coating of M&Ms® candies do not mix...

Magnetic fields might not be a field of dreams but they are useful. Class members observe the reactions of magnetic fields using a compass, iron filings in a paper container, and iron filings suspended in mineral oil. 

Rock out with the second installment of a five-part series on earth materials and processes. Your budding geologists make observations of given rock samples and posit classification systems for rocks. They then learn about the...

In a fun and interactive two-day lesson, learners sort anole lizard pictures by appearance. Next, they watch a video about the anoles and re-sort based on the information in the video. In addition to physical characteristics, budding...

Students construct a fault model using the Fault Model Sheet imbedded in this plan. They create a 3 dimensional model of the Earth, and use dashed lines to illustrate where the fault lies. A discussion of faults follows the completion of...

Fourth graders become aware and comprehend number relationships among those numbers most commonly found in geometric applications. They work in groups, 4th graders arrange themselves in order form the least to the greatest number in...

Do polar opposites attract? After an introduction on the polarity of molecules, pupils are asked to design a self-assembling model using materials with different polarity. The challenge should motivate learners to develop a workable...

Create adorable penguin-themed books and manipulatives with this cool resource. Instructions for use are provided, as are the stars of the show: five warmly dressed penguins who decide to go for a dip.

Harness the awesome power of gravity. Scholars build a zip line to transport a ping-pong ball. The challenge is to get to the finish line in under four seconds. At that speed, individuals better be sure to strap on the harness!

Slide all the way to the bottom. Using the design process, pupils create a carrier for a ping pong ball that will travel down a zip line. Learners test their carriers and determine solutions to issues they encounter to complete the third...

Provide a Hooke for a lesson on elasticity with an activity that has groups investigate a set of springs. They use a set procedure to collect data to calculate the spring constant for each spring using Hooke's Law. The groups...

See what you cannot see by getting a little creative. An intriguing lesson has learners use lasers to explore X-ray diffraction. Given a box with unknown structures, they shine a laser through the box and interpret the results....

Survey the metabolism process from respiration through the production of the ATP molecule with this seven page AP biology activity. Pupils write short answers on the lines provided and label a diagram of the cellular respiration...

The Black Death epidemic is responsible for more than one million deaths in the United Kingdom. An inquiry-based activity has young scholars explore the rate of disease spread. They then analyze graphs showing data from epidemics such as...

Students explore bar and line graphs. In this data collection, graphing, and weather lesson plan, students compare bar and line graphs and discuss which type of graph would be most appropriate for displaying a ten day weather forecast....

Students discuss major causes of earthquakes and identify famous fault lines, access and map information about ten largest earthquakes in world from 1989 to 1998, and theorize about location of these earthquakes as they relate to Earth's...