Perkins School for the Blind
Conductors of Heat - Hot Spoons
Why is the end of a spoon hot when it's not all the way in the hot water? A great question deserves a great answer, and learners with visual impairments will use their auditory and tactile senses to get that answer. A talking...
Perkins School for the Blind
Creating a 3-D Model of a Plant Life
Instructing blind or visually impaired learners means you need to make symbolic tactile representations of various processes to provide as much input as possible. But wouldn't it be even better to have your learners make the models...
Curated OER
Living with Visual Impairments
Students study what causes visual impairment and disability later in life. In this visual impairments lesson students complete lab activities that includes assisting a person with vision problems.
Perkins School for the Blind
Design and Problem Solving
What if you had a design problem you wanted to solve, but were unable to draw because you were unable to see? Teach your learners with visual impairments that they can use Wikki Stix®, a braille ruler, Legos®, and Constructo Straws to...
Perkins School for the Blind
Introduction to Scientific Inquiry
Every great scientist knows that the process of inquiry is a very important skill. Provide your learners with visual impairments with an opportunity to explore objects scientifically. They examine several pieces of fruit and generate...
Perkins School for the Blind
Learning to Identify Sounds Made by the Body
Sneeze, snap, tap, and whistle; Did I do that? Explore the parts and sounds of the human body with your learners with visual impairments. First you'll name the parts of the body, make a sound with each part, and then have the class guess...
Perkins School for the Blind
Conservation of Mass
How do you teach a student with visual impairments about the conservation of mass? You use tactile models that represent the theoretical concept. Baking soda and vinegar are used to add gas to a deflated balloon. Learners will feel the...
Perkins School for the Blind
Building an Organic Molecule
Glucose is a simple sugar and a molecule that can be illustrated through modeling. Scientific investigators with visual impairments use hands-on models to reconstruct the process of bonding molecules. The tools used in this activity are...
Perkins School for the Blind
Human Body Regulation
The human body can regulate itself through sweating and resting. Learners with visual impairments discuss how the body changes when it is under stress and what it does to regulate itself. To start, kids use talking thermometers to take...
Perkins School for the Blind
The Function of Villi in the Small Intestine
Ever wonder what the villi in the small intestine do? I bet your class would love to find out. Mesh netting is used to represent small blood vessels on the outside of the intestine, and a chenille bath mat is used to represent the villi...
Perkins School for the Blind
Friction
Friction is a force that can be felt, which means that learners with visual impairments can experiment to feel and understand the concept of friction. They slide a rock along a smooth table, and then they slide a rock across sandpaper,...
Perkins School for the Blind
Volume, Mass, and Density Boxes
Mass and density are difficult topics for kids to understand, and even more difficult when you have visual impairments or blindness. Learners will make boxes and fill them with cotton, sand, or crushed paper. They will feel the density...
Perkins School for the Blind
Name That Frequency
How cool! This plan uses old cassette tapes to show frequency from traveling vibrations. To prepare for the lesson, tactile frequency diagrams are made and then placed near the video tapes or dominoes that are already set up. When they...
Perkins School for the Blind
The Germinator
How does a plant grow from a seed? Observe the process with a clever idea from the PBS television show ZOOM. Watch the video, then have your young botanists create their own germinators. The lesson described here is for visually impaired...
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
Goldilocks and the Three Planets
Venus is the second brightest object in the night sky after the moon. Here is an interesting lesson that explores three planets — Venus, Earth, and Mars — specifically their surfaces and atmospheres. Through an analysis of their spectra,...
Perkins School for the Blind
The Mystery Box - Making Observations and Collecting Data
Making observations and collecting qualitative and quantitative data is a vital skill all scientists need to practice. Help your scientists with partial and no sight learn how to use their other senses to make observations for...
Curated OER
A Lesson in Biodiversity: Making Comparisons Between Defensive Mechanisms Utilized by Marine Organisms
If your upper elementary or middle school marine biology learners are going to visit an aquarium, then here is a field trip activity guide for you. It is written specifically for The Maritime Aquarium, but the idea can be adapted to any...
Curated OER
The Senses: Hearing and Sight
Eighth graders consider how they use their senses. In this biology lesson plan, 8th graders understand the definition of a disability and how it affects Americans who are hearing impaired or deaf, and those Americans who are visually...
Curated OER
Lesson 1: Fast Food Nutrients
Students compute the nutrient values of fast foods. In this fast food nutrient, students observe a PowerPoint about nutrition. They research nutritional topics, answer questions about nutrition, and determine the nutrient values of...
Acoustical Society of America
Musical Instruments Part I - Woodwinds
What is the connection between sound and vibration? Learners find out as they conduct a series of experiments with instruments they create. The experiment is well explained, includes modifications for visuall and hearing impaired...
Curated OER
Systems of the Body: Movement and Choreography
Students create movements that connect art and science. In this body systems lesson, students interpret the function of body systems, organs, and processes as they create movements to exhibit their research findings.
Curated OER
Lesson 2-Explore/Explain Sound Communication
Students watch and listen to human speech and explore visual and audio cues that aid their understanding. During a short walk, students listen to the sounds around them and classify them as environmental, voiced, or musical.
PBS
Exoplanets through Kepler’s Laws
The majority of all confirmed exoplanets relied on Kepler's laws to discover their locations. Scholars learn how to apply Kepler's laws and then practice using data to discover exoplanets. They benefit from NASA video footage, NOVA...
PBS
Mountains and Rain Shadows
Scholars use an online interactive to learn just how different the other side of the mountain actually appears. They use satellite images, graphics, and videos to compare the impact of winds, oceans, clouds, precipitation, and more on...