Curated OER
The Life Cycle of a Butterfly
Students complete lessons on a butterfly life cycle, moon phases, hot water, and shadows. In this science lesson plan, students complete activities where they read books, look at demonstrations, and complete experiments.
Curated OER
Water Pollution and Food Chains
Sixth graders study the effect of pollution in our food chains. In this plant biology lesson, 6th graders first experiment with pollution by placing a carnation in colored water. Next they use a food chain triangle to see the concept of...
Curated OER
The Nitrogen Cycle
Young scholars design and create a compost pile in order to study the Nitrogen Cycle. They then use the scientific method to determine if plants grow better when they add organic matter from their compost pile to the plant's soil.
Curated OER
Where Did the Water Go? An Investigation in Scientific Methods
Students view a teacher demonstration that prompts them to solve a problem using the scientific method. In this scientific method lesson plan, students guess which cup has water and are presented with a conundrum when the water does not...
Curated OER
Carbon Cycle Lesson
Seventh graders learn how trees help nature recycle. In this carbon cycle lesson plan, 7th graders view a picture of a giant redwood tree, complete a Think, Pair, Share activity, view and discuss a poster about how nature recycles,...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Plants, Soil and Nutrients
Young scholars conduct an experiment. They review how to use the scientific method to conduct an experiment with white carnations and food coloring. They create a hypothesis and test it to better understand how plants get nutrients,...
Curated OER
Structure of the Earth System
Eighth graders describe the steps in the water cycle. They discuss factors that affect runoff and explain the differences between stalactites and stalagmites. They discover the importance of ground water.
Curated OER
Up, Up, and Away
Students create a model to explore the water cycle. Students also perform different experiments to witness water changing from a liquid to a gas. Students are asked to if they can find ways for water to go away without pouring the...
Curated OER
Weather Whys- Cloud Watching Journal
Pupils examine how natural processes change the earth by identifying their local water cycle. Individual students complete a cloud journal over a specific period of time. They observe clouds daily and take photographs of the clouds...
Curated OER
Evaporation Inquiry
The evaporation of water and what happens to it as it travels through the water cycle are the focuses of this instructional activity. The evaporation of water seems like a "magical" process to people of all ages. This instructional...
NOAA
Ocean Acidification
If tap water is more acidic than ocean water, why are we so concerned about ocean acidification? The third installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program focuses on carbon dioxide levels in...
Curated OER
Hey, You Stole My Rain!
Pupils review various scenarios in regards to the water cycle to determine what the best solution is to the problem. Students write their opinions on the controversies.
Curated OER
Dust in the Wind; Chemicals in the Water
Students explore mechanical and chemical weathering at stations. They articulate some mechanisms of chemical and mechanical weathering through exploration in a lab. Students stations describe how chemical weathering differs from...
Curated OER
Global Water Cycle & Heat Flow
Students experiment to discover how different variables affect the water cycle. They do hat flow experiments and construct a computer heat flow model.
Curated OER
Sink or Float
Using a variety of objects, learners conduct buoyancy experiments. They make predictions on which object will sink or float and test their predictions. They use a graphic organizer to record their findings.
Nuffield Foundation
Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria in Root Nodules of Leguminous Plants
Fixin' to add a great resource to your plans? Scholars perform an experiment to investigate nitrogen-fixing bacteria from plant roots. Along the way, they learn about the concepts of symbiosis and mutualism.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Molecules to the Max!—Teacher's Discovery Guide
Molecules to the Max! refers to a movie released in 2009 about the world of atoms and molecules. A helpful discovery guide provides five posters on science topics typically covered at the middle school level. It also explains the...
Curated OER
The Water Cycle
Third graders compare what occurs in terrariums to the water cycle on the earth and in it's atmosphere. They create a story as evidence of their knowledge of the water cycle.
Curated OER
Car Wash
Students determine the most appropriate site for a car wash, based on each site's soil characteristics (chemical, physical) and topographic features. They perform an experiment to determine the changes to three different soil types when...
Curated OER
Changing Planet: Ocean Acidification - the Chemistry is Less than Basic!
A video and laboratory investigation are highlights to this instructional activity on acidification of ocean water due to increased atmospheric carbon dioxide. Using bromothymol blue (BTB) as an indicator, pupils analyze the amount of...
Curated OER
The Miracle Fish: Learning to Design an Experiment
Learners develop procedures to explore the behavior of fish. For this scientific experiment lesson students from a hypothesis, write a question, identify different variables and controls in their experiment.
Curated OER
Agriculture is a Cycle
What do a bicycle and the life cycle have in common? Cover this and more with the series of cross-curricular activities included in this plan. Learners do everything from making bracelets that represent the life cycle to checking out the...
Curated OER
The Journey of the Pacific Salmon
Students examine the journey of the Pacific salmon. In this salmon species lesson, students review the stages of the salmon life cycle and conduct an experiment to determine how the water and habitat changes during each stage.
Curated OER
Monarch Migration
Third graders investigate the life cycle of the Monarch butterfly. They experiment with various tools to simulate the mouth parts of insects, conduct research, record their observations of butterflies hatching, write a play, complete...