Science Themes Teacher Resources

Ancient people used musical pipes as early as the third millennium BCE. Young scientists explore the workings of musical pipes to better understand the relationship with frequency, length of pipe, and sound waves. They determine the...

Some say cooking is an art—and a science! Scholars scope out the savory subject of molecular gastronomy with a series of related activities. The teacher's guide contains printable worksheets and helpful tips for implementing the lesson...

What's in the water? Encourage your class to further explore this question and learn about pond ecosystems, food chains, and food webs as they complete this hands-on activity. They view the environment from a new perspective...

11-year-old Birke Baehr describes what he calls "the dark side of the industrialized food system". Explaining everything from genetically engineered seeds and organisms to Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), Baehr...

Between 1968 and 2002, the total number of peppered moths decreased by almost two thirds, although scientists do now know why. In the 10th video of the series, the instructor defines evolution as any changes to a gene pool. Scholars then...

Viewers explore real-world examples of both evolution and natural selection as the instructor discusses changes to the environment, mutations causing changes in phenotypes and changing the fitness in organisms, and how humans are...

Who eats who in the savannas of Africa? Explore trophic levels with part four of an eight-part series of lessons focused around Gorongosa National Park. After young explorers identify animals using trailcam images, they construct a food...

A well-written lesson plan, second in a series of four, gets high schoolers exploring how the Antarctic food web is impacted by climate change and the associated melting of polar ice sheets. It begins with a PowerPoint presentation about...

Sickle cell disease only occurs when both parents contribute the trait, and mostly in those of African descent. Where did it come from? How did it evolve? Tony Allison, a molecular biologist, noticed a connection between sickle cell and...

All synthetic materials began as natural materials. An engaging lesson begins with a hands-on activity and an example of the type of research that scholars perform independently. Then pupils receive a topic and begin researching the...

Explore various ecosystems from around the world as your class discovers the interdependence of all living things. Using the provided sets of ecosystem cards, young scientists work in small groups building food webs to demonstrate the...

Did youknow that chicken causes the greatest risk of food-borne illness. The fourth unit in a six-part series addresses food safety. Scholars research common scenarios of food causing illness through the National Institute for Health....

Many of the foods pilgrims ate include foods people still eat at American Thanksgiving celebrations today. The turkey, a domesticated animal native to the Americas, often finds itself the center of attention on this holiday. Today's corn...

Get things cooking with the first lesson in this series on the science of food. Working in small groups, young scientists make and record observations about different mystery foods. These descriptions are then shared with the class and...

Help your class make sense of nutrition labels with the ninth lesson of this series. After explaining the different information provided on packaged food labels, perform an activity that demonstrates the amount of sugar in a single can...

Entangle your life science class in learning with this collaborative food web activity. Using pictures of the plants and animals native to a particular ecosystem, young biologists work in small groups to construct visual...

Darwin explained the connection between species of finches 150 years before scientists understood DNA. Technology and progressing science proved he was right, yet many struggle to understand how natural selection happens. Scholars use...

Immediately capture the attention of your class with the smell of freshly popped popcorn in the sixth lesson of this series on the needs of living things. Young scientists first use their senses to make and record observations of...

What is a food chain? Energy flows between living things in a food chain. This is the focus of a video that explains how food chains work.

Charles Darwin studied many species, but he also hindered their continued study by eating his specimens. Like many sailors, he enjoyed the taste of the Galapagos tortoise so much for many years that no ship made it all the way back to...

Make snakes with your class to demonstrate how recycled materials are perfect for art. Learners use colorful plastic cups, pantyhose, paper fasteners, and fishing line to make articulated snakes. This project would be great when learning...

Focus on inquiry-based learning in your science class with a series of activities designed for middle schoolers. A helpful packet samples four different texts, which include activities about predator-prey relationships, Earth's axis...

After an overview of Islamic traditions and art, young artists create their own geometric shapes and patterns using only a straightedge and a compass.

A card game sheds light on famous women in science. Pairs or small groups collect and exchange color-coded cards. Four cards of the same color make a science lab. The first player to create three labs wins the game! Each card features a...