National Science Teachers Association
Paper Car Crash Design
High school physical scientists collide with motion. They work in pairs to design a paper car that will protect a raw egg during a head-on collision. Measurements of distance traveled, time of run, vehicle specs, and photo gate flags are...
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How Wet Can You Get?
Students visit a swimming pool and brainstorm different water sports and what benefits swimming has over other types of exercise. They then discuss buoyancy and water pressure and when how objects sink or float before playing a game of...
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NUMB3RS Activity: Riding the Waves
High schoolers use the TI-Navigator system to explore vector fields and make predictions. They also identify what a vector field is and that it represents the movement of water. Pupils try to determine where a bottle floating might have...
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Mini-Ponds
In this mini pond worksheet, students create a mini-pond ecosystem with soil, water, and plant life. Students let their ecosystem sit for a day and they observe a sample the next day. Students identify all the pond water microorganisms...
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Sound Observations
Students explore sound waves by conducting an experiment in class. For this sound frequency lesson, students utilize a tuning fork in class and identify which objects in class create different sound pitches on the fork. Students conduct...
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Digging the Earth's Crust
Students investigate the Earth's crust. In this geology lesson, students identify the materials made up of the Earth's crust and investigate the different kinds of soil.
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Tongue Map
Learners explore human anatomy by conducting a human senses experiment. In this taste lesson, students identify the main purpose of a tongue and how it enhances our eating habits. Learners utilize baking coca, lemon juice, salt and honey...
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Traveling on the Sea of Gold: An Adventure in Japan Through Literature
Students explore the geography and culture of Japan through the story "Sea of Gold" by Yoshiko Uchida. They draw a travel poster of Japan, label a map of Japan, use chopsticks to eat Cheerios, read and discuss various books about Japan,...
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Teaching the Five Themes of Geography Through Picture Books
Read the story Make Way for Ducklings and introduce little ones to the five themes of geography. Reread the story, while displaying transparencies to reinforce the five themes. In groups, learners view pictures and identify the themes on...
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The History of Your Chicago River
Students examine the history of the Chicago River. In groups, they identify the problems of the watershed and develop possible solutions. As a class, they examine the importance of the river to the Chicago area by reading a story. To...
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Six Plant Parts
Students create a harvest burrito out of fruit, flowers, roots, stems, and more. In this plants lesson plan, students go out into the garden and identify the 6 plant parts.
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Water Quality and the St. Mary¿¿¿s River Project Monitoring
Students list different parameters of water and explain how each is important to the balance of the St. Mary ecosystem. They identify the different instruments and explain what they test.
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Introduction to Digestion: What Happens to a Hamburger?
Students explore the human body by analyzing how food is absorbed. In this food digestion lesson, students utilize health vocabulary terms by participating in a guessing game activity. Students discuss their own eating habits and conduct...
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Skeletal, Skin, and Muscular Systems
Eighth graders explain the functions of various body systems. Using a concept map, 8th graders identify and explain the fuctions of the skeletal, skin, and muscular systems of the body. After completing their concept map, students...
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Classification of Changes
In this classification of changes worksheet, students identify each example as either chemical or physical changes. Students also classify other examples as either element, compound, solution, colloid, or suspensions. In the other...
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Palette Knife Painting Inspired by the Works of Brian Rutenburg
Students explore the works of Brian Rutenburg. In this art instructional activity, students create a work of art using acrylic paint and palette knives inspired by the works of Rutenburg. Students write about their artwork.
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Heritage: Famous People of the West
Fourth graders investigate the impact of Brigham Young and Jim Bridger on westward expansion. They conduct research, develop a class information chart, and create a cartoon strip depicting what happened when Jim Bridger and Brigham Young...
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The Growth of Islam
Seventh graders gain insight into the daily lives of Muslims and to develop empathy for them by studying the Islamic world and creating presentations.
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The Race to Dominate the Known World
High schoolers describe cause/effect relationship of a European country's need for resources, exploration, colonization, and settlement of different regions of the world beginning in the 14th Century, and role play representatives of...
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Your Body: A Bacteria Incubator!
Students use string, a petri dish, water, wipes, and other materials to collect bacteria from their body. In this bacteria lesson plan, students use ingredients to collect bacteria, observe it, predict what will happen over time, and...
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How Do Foods Help Our Bodies
Young scholars investigate the specific elements found in food that keep us healthy. For this healthy eating lesson, students identify proteins, carbohydrates, minerals, and vitamins as part of a healthy diet when consumed in...
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Hypoxia and the Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico
Middle schoolers investigate the causes of hypoxia, the characteristics of a watershed, and how the actions and management practices of people can both negatively and positively affect aquatic ecosystems.
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Storm Drain Dumping
Students conduct an experiment to show how water gets contaminated through neighborhood runoffs.
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These Lakes are Great
Students examine the Great Lakes Basin and water conservation. In this Great Lakes and water lesson, students study the location of the lakes before reading the book, The River Ran Wild. They discuss the associated vocabulary and in...