Curated OER
Sun and Weather
How is the Earth's weather created? Middle schoolers will explain how the Sun's energy is transformed into different forms. They will perform mathematical calculations of volume, mass, and temperature. They they will explain the...
McGraw Hill
Orbital Velocity Interactive
Why does it take Pluto 90,000 days to orbit the sun, but it only takes Mercury 88 days? An interactive lesson helps pupils find a connection between the speed of orbit and distance a planet is from the sun. The simulation allows for...
Curated OER
Using Mathematic Models to Investigate Planitary Habitablity
Students examine how the sun's intensity affects the temperature on various planets. They determine whether or not these planets could be habitable. Finally, they factor in the average albedo of the planets to determine whether or not...
Curated OER
Transpiration
Students interactively explore the term transpiration. In this science/ecology lesson plan, students discuss what they would do if they were thirsty while conducting research in Brazil. Additionally, students write descriptive words to...
Curated OER
Discover Magazine: Size and Scale
High schoolers research measurements of the moon and Earth as well as the distance between the two in order to create scale models of the Earth-moon system. With a marble to be used as the moon, they must determine how large to make...
Curated OER
Weather Report Chart
Students complete a weather report chart after studying weather patterns for a period of time. In this weather report lesson, students measure temperature, precipitation, cloud cover, wind speed, and wind direction for a month. Students...
NASA
Food For Thought
Science can be quite tasty. A delectable unit from NASA shows learners why it's important to consider food, nutrition, and health in space. Four lessons explore the idea in great depth, including testing cookie recipes. Along the way,...
Curated OER
SIZING UP SOL
Ninth graders produce a projected, pinhole image of the sun and from measurement of the image and projection distance, calculate the actual size of the sun. They estimate the sun's apparent brightness from different planet.
Curated OER
Modeling Patterns and Cycles in Our Lives
Students explore how building a model can help them better understand the natural world. They identify common cycles or patterns in nature as well as examples of models in the classroom. After discussion, they choose a pattern or cycle...
Curated OER
Planets in Proportion
Students apply estimation strategies and proportional reasoning to determine a scale comparing the planetary bodies to Earth. They convert measurements of time and distance using scientific notation. Both the metric and customary units...
Curated OER
Modeling Hot and Cold Planets
Students, in teams, design and construct models of two planets, one hot and the other cold, using a variety of materials. They attempt to create the models out of substances that will actually show the greatest temperature differences...
NASA
Next Generation Spacecraft - Orion
Emergine space engineers discover the area of complex geometric shapes. They find that, just as a spacecraft is composed of many smaller parts, so can polygons be broken into smaller shapes.
Curated OER
Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram
Students examine the relationship between temperature and brightness. In this astronomy lesson students will correlate the evolution of stars to the HR diagram plotted.
Curated OER
Water Properties introduction
Learners list items they know and want to know about water on personal K-W-L charts. They describe what happened during the warm up activity in their science journal. Students travel to four different stations and perform the different...
Curated OER
Charge-Coupled Devices (CCDs)
Students explore CCDs or Charge-Coupled Devices. In this digital devices lesson, students examine how CCDs are constructed, collect light, and create a digital signal.
Curated OER
Cloud Observations using GLOBE Protocols
Students observe which of ten types of clouds are visible and how much of the sky is cloud covered. They see that by observing clouds, we can get information about temperature, moisture, and wind conditions in different places in the...
Curated OER
Sunshine and Shadows
Students measure their shadows early in the morning, record direction of shadow, make marks in ground with chalk or tape, measure with ruler, and record results. Students repeat process at noon, and then later in afternoon. Students...
Curated OER
Measuring the Diameter of Our Star
Students conduct an experiment to measure the diameter of the sun. In this astronomy lesson, students construct a simple equipment to collect scientific data. They calculate the sun's diameter using a given formula.
Curated OER
The Power of Compounding
Sixth graders examine the concept of compounding interest on invested money. They explore how much interest their money would earn through compounded interest. Students conclude that they should invest early and often.
Curated OER
The Nature of Science and Technology
Students study the environmental concerns of orbital debris. In this orbital debris lesson students complete several activities.
Curated OER
Investigating and Using Biomass Gases
Students examine the definitions of biomas gasification and generate their own biomass gas. In this renewable energy lesson students collect gases and roast a marshmallow.
Curated OER
Wood is Everywhere!
Fifth graders diagram and label the parts of a tree. For this lesson on how trees obtain food, 5th graders diagram and label the parts of a tree, and determine the diameter, height, and age of a tree.