Earth Day Network
Conserving Water Through Art!
Having fresh, clean drinking water is a privilege many people take for granted. Help raise awareness about the scarcity of water and the importance of conservation by discussing different ways water is used in everyday life. Brainstorm...
Curated OER
Combining Clouds and Art in the Classroom
Get your head in the clouds before teaching cloud types to your mini-meteorologists. The instructional activity opens with a beautiful PowerPoint presentation of clouds portrayed in different artists' paintings. After viewing artistic...
Curated OER
Soft Sculpture Birds
Art can mimic life, and animals are always interesting subjects. Learners create large soft sculptures (stuffed) birds using paper, paint, and other basic collage materials. They view images of birds, and discuss bird traits and shapes....
Channel Islands Film
Island Rotation: Lesson Plan 1
How do scientists provide evidence to support the theories they put forth? What clues do they put together to create these theories? After watching West of the West's documentary Island Rotation class members engage in a series of...
Chicago Children's Museum
Simple Machines: Force and Motion
Get things moving with this elementary science unit on simple machines. Through a series of nine lessons including teacher demonstrations, hands-on activities, and science experiments, young scientists learn about forces, motion,...
Lerner Publishing
Living or Nonliving
It's alive! Or is it? Through a series of shared readings, whole class activities, and independent exercises children explore the difference between living and non-living things, creating a pair of printable books...
Curated OER
Start at the Very Beginning
Students explore ocean ecosystems. In this cross curriculum art and oceans lesson, students create a collage featuring three-finger algae using sand paper, tissue paper, and construction paper.
Curated OER
Monet's Magical Garden
Students study classic paintings by masters like Monet. In this art history lesson, students listen to the story Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert and sing flower songs with the rest of their class. Students examine the painting The...
NOAA
It's a Roughy Life
Scientists recently discovered several previously unknown species at the Bear Seamount off the coast of New England. Scholars research these new species — benthopelagic, benthic, and seamount fish — and find out what makes them...
Curated OER
Investigating Brass Instruments and Pitch
Students observe the sounds of different brass instruments in order to understand how to create different pitches. In this musical instructional activity, students create a "brass" instrument from everyday household objects. The students...
Curated OER
Floor Sculptures
Students explore visual arts by completing a recycling activity. In this botany science instructional activity, students examine the natural layout of plants in a garden environment. Students utilize wire, wood and other arts and craft...
Curated OER
Piece by Piece
Put an insect together piece by piece with a fun and artistic puzzle project. To increase small group collaboration, learners use photos of insects cut into one-inch squares to create an enlarged puzzle version of the image. Extension...
Curated OER
Bioluminescence 2009: Living Light on the Deep Sea Floor Expedition - Now You See Me, Now You Don't
Students examine bioluminescence and camouflage of deep sea creatures. In this deep sea creatures lesson, students investigate the visible and near-visible light spectrum. They work in small groups to complete a light, color, and...
Curated OER
Water: From Neglect to Respect
The goal of this collection of lessons is to make middle schoolers more aware of the ways in which they are dependent upon water to maintain their standard of living. Learners compare water use in Lesotho to water use in the United...
Curated OER
Recycled Treasures
Students develop creative-thinking skills that they will use repeatedly throughout their life. In this early childhood art lesson, students develop creative-thinking, social-development, and language skills, and an awareness of the...
Wildwood Trust
Habitats
The circle of life is all around us, from the black bears in the nearby mountains to the pile of dead leaves in the backyard. Encourage young scientists to take a critical look at the world around them with a set of lessons...
Curated OER
Track Traces
Learners explore animal characteristics by participating in an animal anatomy activity. In this animal tracks lesson, students identify the differences between specific animals and the shape of their footprints. Learners utilize a...
Curated OER
A Toast To The Past
Young scholars analyze, and research the identity of the non electric toaster as a historical artifact. In this toaster lesson plan, students then create a visual timeline of toaster history.
NOAA
I Can't Breathe!
The Gulf of Mexico dead zone, an area of low oxygen that kills marine life, costs the United States $82 million every year. Young scientists research anoxic ocean environments then come up with a hypothesis for the cause of the Gulf of...
Curated OER
The Birds of a Feather Flock Together
Fifth graders identify all parts of an egg, and explore their importance to the life cycle of a chicken. Learners compare all sorts of birds and place them in categories based on what they look like. This five-day activity effectively...
Curated OER
Clay Sculpture: Relationships
Students explore art history by conducting an in-class activity. In this sculpting lesson plan, students examine previously created art sculptures in a textbook. Students utilize clay, sculpting tools and grey paper to create their own...
Curated OER
The Heart of the Matter
Upper elementary pupils learn about the blood transportation system and anatomy of the human heart. They fill in an outline of the human heart (not included) focusing on the flow of blood to and from the heart. Using stethoscopes,...
Curated OER
Staghorn Coral
Young scholars recognize that staghorn coral helps reef growth in the Caribbean. In this Coral Reef lesson, students design a habitat model using various art materials to explain how staghorn coral helps the reef grow. Young...
Curated OER
Shadows & Light, Science & Puppetry
Lights, shadows, action, and inquiry await your artistic scientists. They explore the way light travels, absorbs, reflects, and transmits through shadow play. They create folktale-inspired shadow puppets, explore the science of light,...