Natural Science Teacher Resources

Natural science focuses on the phenomena of the natural world, whether it be through the eyes of a chemist, physicist, astronomer, or biologist. The beauty—and difficulty—of designing curriculum for natural science is how wide ranging the field itself can be. Luckily, Lesson Planet has just what you need for a perfectly applicable natural science activity!

Elementary learners will love participating in an introductory scavenger hunt for specific items in nature. Select an activity from a packet of practical natural science activities, including observation of the buoyancy in a cereal bowl and the distribution of ink in newspaper pictures.

For older students, a video on the history of earth science is a great place to start, or check out another video on how animal viruses can affect humans. Teach about natural selection as it relates to Darwin’s finches, or use an activity about the genes involved in particular types of cancer. Young astronomers can create a model of the moon’s rotation around the Earth, as well as the Earth’s rotation around the sun.

Our teacher team knows that you’d rather spend more time in the lab and less time in the planning book, so we’ve reviewed even more resources for every grade and skill level. Browse the lessons, activities, videos, and worksheets below for the perfect natural science unit!

Showing 24,136 resources
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Changing One's Tune: A Music Therapy STEM Integrated Project

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
A music therapy STEM integrated project combines science and language arts. Pupils listen to music, learn about music physics, build and play instruments, write songs, and share their musical creations. They study different intervals and...
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TeachEngineering: Hybrid Vehicle Design Challenge

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Wouldn’t it be lovely if there was a way to capture the energy given off by a vehicle and transform it into kinetic energy to power the vehicle? That is the challenge young engineers face in an eight resource TeachEngineering: Hybrid...
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Unit 1: Introduction to World Geography - The 5 Themes of Geography

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
The seven resources in the Introduction to World Geography - The 5 Themes of Geography unit are designed to give middle schoolers an overview of what they will learn studying geography. The first lesson focuses on the five themes...
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STEM Ed Hub: Design Resources

For Students 3rd - 6th Standards
Engineering design-based activities make learning science fun. Young engineers design dams, lifeguard chairs, musical instruments, candy bags, and much more. They also use measurement skills to solve the mystery of the missing pin. Each...
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TeachEngineering: Digital Mapping and Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
A multidisciplinary unit has young engineers explore Geographic Information Systems (GIS), an essential tool in planning any engineering projects. The lessons and activities in Part 1 of the unit look at GIS in general. Part 2 focuses on...
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The Outer Planets: Grades 6-8

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
A long time ago, a galaxy formed that contained a solar system with eight planets—or nine depending on who is counting. A collection of 22 lessons has middle schoolers examine the Outer Planets of the solar system. They calculate the...
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Kindred

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
Four resources comprise a unit module designed for Octavia E. Butler's Kindred instructors to use in their classes. The first resource in the series, a packet designed for instructors, includes an overview of the unit, a day-to-day...
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Inquiry in Action: Second Grade Chapter 5 - Heating and Cooling

For Teachers 2nd Standards
The first of two lessons in the Inquiry in Action: Second Grade Chapter 5 - Heating and Cooling unit is a hands-on instructional activity that allows learners to experiment with melting and freezing butter to observe changes as substance...
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Inquiry in Action: Second Grade

For Teachers 2nd Standards
The six-unit modules in the Inquiry in Action curriculum set is designed for second graders. With hands-on instructional activities and experiments, young scholars investigate the properties of materials, liquids, and dissolving is a...
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Life Science: Ecosystems and the Flow of Energy

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Different ecosystems thrive in various places, with a variety of habitats, including specific plants and animals that have adapted to survive in those specific conditions. But they all have one thing in common: all of the energy that...
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Climate Change in My Backyard: Grades 10-12, Unit 4

For Teachers 10th - 12th Standards
Climate change is the focus of a three-lesson collection that asks students to consider how people living around the world are affected by the changes they researched. In the second lesson they examine their own carbon footprints.The...
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Up, Up and Away! - Airplanes

For Students 5th - 7th Standards
Oh, if only Sir Isaac and Bernoulli could see us now. Even Orville and Wilbur would be amazed by what engineers have designed using their ideas. Next generation engineers put these principles to use as they use what they learn about...
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Multimedia Discovery Missions

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
The Multimedia Discovery Missions collection is a series of 13 interactive presentations and activities that introduce young geologists and oceanographers to fundamental concepts involving the Earth’s crust and ocean sea life. Benthos,...
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Becoming Us: Borderlands

For Teachers 8th - 11th Standards
Three case studies make up a unit the looks at the power contentions and exchanges in the borderlands that have shaped the United States. The first case study focuses on creating the US southern border and the experiences of people...
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Becoming Us

For Teachers 8th - 11th Standards
The mission statement of the National Museum of American History’s Becoming US: Teaching Immigration and Migration History in the 21st Century series is to provide “educational resources for high school teachers and students to learn...
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TeachEngineering: NanoTech - Insights into a Nano-Sized World

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Ferrofluids, quantum dots, and good nanoparticles. Young material scientists and engineers are introduced to the field of nanoscience with two lessons and four activities. Topics covered include an introduction to nanotechnology and its...
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Inquiry in Action: Second Grade Chapter 1 - Properties of Materials

For Teachers 2nd Standards
Four lessons comprise the first chapter in the Inquiry in Action Unit module. Sorting objects by properties is an instructional activity in justification. Second graders examine the properties of specific items and use them to classify...
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Inquiry in Action: Second Grade Chapter 2 - Liquids Have Properties

For Teachers 2nd Standards
A lesson in Inquiry in Action: Second Grade Chapter 2 looks at the properties of liquids. Learners conduct different property tests on water, mineral oil, and corn syrup using a student activity guide. They record their results and use...
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Inquiry in Action: Second Grade Chapter 3 - Dissolving is a Property

For Teachers 2nd Standards
Inquiry in Action: Second Grade Chapter 3 - Dissolving is a Property presents a hands-on instructional activity that has learners explore the dissolving properties of candies in water. They complete an activity guide to record...
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Inquiry in Action: Second Grade Chapter 4 - Float and Sink

For Teachers 2nd
Chapter four in the Inquiry in Action module has learners explore what objects sink and float in water. In the inquiry-based lesson plan, young scientists conduct experiments to find similarities between float materials and those that sink.
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Inquiry in Action: Fifth Grade Chapter 3 - Substances Can Mix and React to Form New Substances

For Teachers 5th Standards
Fifth-graders experiment with substances that can mix, react, and combine to form new substances using hands-on lessons. In the first lesson, pupils observe how different substances react to form different amounts of gas, leading to a...
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Inquiry in Action: Fifth Grade

For Teachers 5th Standards
The Inquiry in Action: Fifth Grade Curriculum set contains five chapters, comprised of 16 lessons, activity sheets, videos, and other resources to help explain science concepts to young learners. In Chapter 1 - Matter is Made of Tiny...
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TeachEngineering: Next-Generation Surgical Tools in the Body

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Young engineers design laparoscopic surgical tools in an 11-lesson unit aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. The first lesson introduces the class to the abdominopelvic cavity. Teams learn what it is like to perform...
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TeachEngineering: Next-Generation Surgical Tools in the Body

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Designed for high schoolers, the 11 lessons and activities in the “TeachEngineering: Next-Generation Surgical Tools in the Body” unit module prepare STEM teams to design prototypes of laparoscopic surgical robots. After an introduction...