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Unit Plan
Colorado Unit Writing Project

Simple Machines

For Teachers 2nd - 5th Standards
Planning an elementary science unit has never been simpler! These twelve lessons guide young scientists through an exploration of simple machines and their many uses in the real world before asking them to apply their learning in the...
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Activity
Newspaper Association of America

Cereal Bowl Science and Other Investigations with the Newspaper

For Teachers K - 12th Standards
What do cereal, fog, and space shuttles have to do with newspapers? A collection of science investigations encourage critical thinking using connections to the various parts of the newspaper. Activities range from building origami seed...
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Handout
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

Adaptations – Designs for Survival

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
What's the difference between behavioral adaptations and physical adaptations? Learn about the various ways that organisms adapt to their environment with a worksheet about the creatures of the Hudson River.
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Unit Plan
Curated OER

Rock On! Featuring the Igneous, Sedimentary and Metamorphic Trio!

For Teachers 1st - 3rd Standards
Get your classroom rocking with this four-lesson earth science unit. Through a series of shared reading activities and hands-on investigations, young geologists learn about the three types of rocks and the unique properties of each.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Kaleidoscope

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Students explore energy by creating a light project in class. In this kaleidoscope lesson, students discuss the properties of light and how mirrors can reflect the energy in different directions. Students view a diagram of light...
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Unit Plan
Out-of-School Time Resource Center

Nutrition and Physical Activity

For Teachers 1st - 6th Standards
Emerging nutritionists explore what it means to be healthy. In the beginning of the unit, your class will examine the five food groups and learn how food gets from the farm to our plates. This leads into the investigation of the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Egg Structure Project

For Teachers K - 5th
Students investigate the physical structure of an egg and the functions of the seven parts. They create a diagram and discuss each part of the egg while looking for the information, Complete lesson materials are found at a website listed...
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Worksheet
K12 Reader

Waves & Currents

For Students 2nd - 3rd Standards
Challenge your young readers with a passage about physical science. After reading about sound waves and electric currents, kids answer five reading comprehension questions about what they have read.
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Lesson Plan
Foundation for Water & Energy Education

What is the Water Cycle? Activity B

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Curious physical scientists follow a lesson plan on the properties of water with this lesson plan on distillation. They observe a miniature water cycle model that filters dirty water into clean water. These two lessons combined are an...
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PPT
Curated OER

Why Garden in New York State Schools?

For Teachers K - 6th
A lovely presentation in which slide after slide outlines the many educational, physical, emotional, and social benefits of gardening in schools. This presentation is meant to be shown to parents, and would be a terrific choice to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Light Reflections

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Students explore light.  For this physical science light lesson, students display objects on a projection screen and investigate how light absorbs, refracts, transmits and reflects. Students discuss common features of light based on...
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Organizer
University of Florida

The Magic School Bus and the Electric Field Trip

For Students 2nd - 4th Standards
Energize a shared reading of the Magic School Bus and the Electric Field Trip with this collection of supplemental materials. Whether your looking for discussion questions, reading comprehension worksheets, or writing prompts, this...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Are You Full of Hot Air?

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd Standards
Explore the concept of measuring and recording circumference. In this physical science and measurement lesson plan, young learners blow up balloons, measure the circumference, and record the data on an interactive graphing website.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Magnificent Magnets

For Teachers 1st - 4th
Students identify the properties of a magnet. In this physics lesson plan, students explore the strength of the magnet by testing out how a magnet reacts to various materials. The various objects the students test include paper clips,...
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Lesson Plan
Baylor College

How Much Water Do Humans Need?

For Teachers K - 5th
Physical or life science learners measure the amounts of water eliminated by intestines and the urinary system, and the amounts lost via respiration and perspiration. In doing so, they discover that the body's water must be replenished...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Conserving Water through Art!

For Teachers K - 4th
Students study water conservation. In this water conservation lesson, students investigate the scarcity of water and determine reasons for conserving water.  Students estimate how much water they use in one day and identify ways to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Indoor Environment: A Magazine Publication Project

For Teachers 1st - 8th
Young scholars demonstrate knowledge of Indoor Air Quality by creating a class magazine. A link to order a free Action Kit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is provided so teachers can build background knowledge. Performance...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Map Puzzles

For Teachers 2nd - 8th
Learners make puzzles from world maps, dramatizing how much of the globe is covered by ocean.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mixing Oil and Water

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
Learners explore physical science by participating in a class experiment. In this chemistry lesson, students discuss what they predict will happen when cooking oil and water are blended together. Learners utilize a plastic bottle, food...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Hurricanes!

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Young scholars access hurricane reports form the national weather service online, and draw hurricane paths. They discuss how hurricanes form and move. The research should be reported in a comprehensive presentation that can be given to a...
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Lesson Plan
Prince William Network

Migration Headache

For Teachers 2nd - 6th
During this game, kids become migratory shorebirds and fly among wintering, nesting, and stopover habitats. If they do not arrive at a suitable habitat on time, they do not survive. Catastrophic events are periodically introduced that...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Aviation, Aeronautics and Aerodynamics

For Teachers 1st - 12th
Students investigate the physics of flight through various experiments. In this physics lesson, students construct different flying objects. They explain the dynamics that make these object fly.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exercise and Water

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders discover the needs of their body by trying different types of aerobic exercise.  In this physical education lesson plan, 2nd graders analyze The Busy Body Book by glancing at the pictures inside and predicting what the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Magnets

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders classify objects and create hypotheses regarding their magnetic properties. They watch a video about magnets and finally use a magnet to test their hypotheses created earlier.