Curated OER
Designing An Investigation
Students will design a scientific investigation. In this engineering design lesson, students will set up an investigation, collect data and form a conclusion about bridge design. They will use common household items to construct their...
Curated OER
Beans and Birds: A Natural Selection Simulation
Students solve the following problem concerning the evolution of seed color in pinto bean plants: "How does natural selection change the frequency of genes or traits over many generations?" They use the constructivist approach to...
Curated OER
Science Skills and Experimental Design
In this experimental design worksheet, students describe the different science skills required when designing an experiment. Then students create a flipbook with the information. This worksheet has 9 short answer questions.
Curated OER
Maggie's Earth Adventures-Don't Get Caught-Solve the Next Problem, Too!
In this problem solving instructional activity, students are given a series of events that occur in the Chesapeake Bay related to the rockfish. Students provide a solution to saving endangered fish and they use information/data to...
Curated OER
What's New With Dinosaurs?
Young scholars examine how scientists are at odds on whether or not dinosaurs were warm or cold blooded. In this dinosaurs lesson students divide into groups and research the evidence that supports each side.
Curated OER
California's Golden History: 1848-1880
Using a variety of online resources, learners study life and society in California during the gold rush. They use a map to identify area where gold was located, explore pre-selected websites, describe mining practices, and create an...
Polar Trec
Animal Monitoring Introduction
Not only do mealworms taste great, they are also great for classroom science lessons. In pairs, young scientists observe and record what they see as they check out what their mealworms are doing from minute to minute. Each minute...
Curated OER
The Good and Bad Bacteria
Students are able to name one kind of harmful bacteria and why it hurts us and also name one kind of helpful bacteria and how we use it. They describe the process of growing bacterial cultures in a lab. Students create a reasonable...
Curated OER
Mystery Strategy for Elementary Students
Learners of all ages solve historical mysteries. Elementary learners research historical topics by organizing information presented by their instructor, formulating hypotheses, and considering solutions to mysteries presented about...
Cornell University
Sun or Water? or Both?
Over the course of 10 days, young scientists observe their cups of seed and soil—one that gets sun and water and one that gets no sun and only water. Then they reflect on the results of the experiment to determine if their hypothesis was...
Serendip
Carbohydrate Consumption, Athletic Performance and Health – Using Science Process Skills to Understand the Evidence
Should athletes carb load before an event or consume carbohydrates during the competition? Scholars discuss how to set up a hypothesis and experiment to answer a question relating carbohydrates and athletic performance. Then, they read...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Bloodstain Pattern Doesn't Lie......
An interesting instructional activity on hypothesizing about the diameter of a drop of blood that is splattered. To test their theories, learners work in groups to make blood droplets splatter from different heights. They use graphed...
Curated OER
Glenbrook South High School Science Scoring Rubric: Student Laboratory Reports
Here is an unexpected, but practical resource. It is not a activity, but rather an outline of what a science laboratory participant should include in a report. Especially valuable is a grading rubric that spells out what is expected for...
Curated OER
Dissolving Gobstoppers
Students design their own experiments . They study the scientific method and determine what a testable question is. They distinguish between questions that are testable and those that are not. They identify variables, make and understand...
Curated OER
"Living in the Limelight The Universal Dream"
Students, using Leo's Lyrics, investigate common themes in popular music. They create a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that analyzes their findings along with a 200 word paragraph stating their observations, conclusions and hypotheses about...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Are All Plants Created Equal?
Photosynthesis requires energy and produces food, and cellular respiration produces energy and requires food. An interesting lesson analyzes the factors that affect the rates of photosynthesis and respiration. Classes spend one day...
Curated OER
The Glory That Was Greece
After finishing a unit on Greek history, it's important to test how much learners remember. This handout provides six different essay topics related to Greek History, influences, Athenian Democracy, or Alexander the Great. A rubric is...
Google
Erosion?
What's the difference between wind erosion and water erosion? Perform an experiment to study the effects of air on soil, as well as water and soil, and how effective it can be to place rocks on the soil.
Chicago Botanic Garden
What Can Tree Rings Tell Us About Climate?
Tree rings are slightly thicker on the south side of the tree because it receives more sunlight. Part two in a series of five lessons helps learners analyze tree rings to determine the environmental conditions that caused size...
Curated OER
The Scoop Through Desktop Publication
Drafting, revising, and editing is all apart of the publishing process. Using a series of documents as inspiration, young journalists compose a class Newspaper. They work independently and in groups to publish their own articles.
Curated OER
Germs and the Importance of Washing Your Hands
Students observe what happens when bread is handled by dirty hands. They read and discuss the book "Germs." Students participate in an experiment. Students touch bread with a variation of hands: dirty, washed with soap and water, washed...
Curated OER
M & M Madness
M&M's are always a great manipulative to use when teaching math. In this graphing lesson plan, learners predict how many of each color of M & M's there are. They count up each color and plug the data into a graph using the...
University of Georgia
Would Your Cat Eat This Stuff?
Processed foods use inorganic compounds for flavoring and preservation. This take-home laboratory challenges scholars to find 20 different compounds identified on the labels of foods to list on their data collection sheet. The activity...
Curated OER
Exploring Seasonal Shadows and Sunlight
What can shadows tell us about the changing season? Over several months, astronomy learners record length and position of an outdoor object's shadow, such as a flagpole. They apply the data to a growing hypothesis and note the...