Virginia Department of Education
Weather Patterns and Seasonal Changes
Get your class outside to observe their surroundings with a lesson highlighting weather patterns and seasonal changes. First, learners take a weather walk to survey how the weather affects animals, people, plants, and trees during...
Curriculum Corner
Coniferous and Deciduous Trees
What are the differences between coniferous and deciduous trees? Supplement your tree lessons with a set of activities that has learners describing, naming, comparing, and reading about deciduous and coniferous trees. The activities are...
Curated OER
Spinning into Space
Students, through hands-on activities, teacher demonstrations, pictures, and informational books, complete a unit on the Earth and its place in the Universe. They make mobiles of the Milky Way and watch demonstrations of lunar and solar...
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Bing! Bang! Boom!
Sixth graders investigate heat energy, conduction, convection, and radiation.
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Warming the Earth
First graders investigate how the sun warms the Earth and examine the rotation of the Earth and the sun. They create an illustration of the sun, examine a solar system model, and listen to the book "The Sun: Our Nearest Star." They also...
Curated OER
What is Photosynthesis?
Students study the plant process of photosynthesis through multiple activities. In this photosynthesis lesson, students make a graphic organizer, complete a science observation, and make a plant ID book to learn about the process of...
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Food Webs
Students research rainforest animals and use that information to make a flow chart to show the order in which energy is transferred through several organisms. They label the producers, consumers, and decomposers in their chart.
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It's Alive
Students identify the differences between a nonliving and living thing. They describe what is needed for any living thing to survive. They create one page for the class book identifying why the object is a living thing.
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Habitats and All That
First graders read books, complete online explorations and discuss the ways in which animals adapt to their habitats in order to survive. They create accordion books, play matching games and dramatize animal adaptations.
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Make Your Own Garden
Students explore gardening. In this Quiet in the Garden lesson plan, students read the picture book by Aliki and extend the lesson by taking part in up to 5 hands-on activities.
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The Letter P-Growing Popcorn
Students explore the letter P and things that start with the letter P. They read The Popcorn Book by Tomie DePola. Students discuss things that start with the letter P. They plant their own popcorn plant and watch as the popcorn seeds...
Curated OER
Plant Growth
Students role play as text book creators by designing an animation showing plant growth from seed to maturity. They incorporate things that plants need to grow in the animation.
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Earth Pockets
Students identify the Earth's natural resources. In this Earth science instructional activity, students read the book The Great Kapok Tree and discuss types of natural resources. Students use categories such as wood, paper, and trees and...
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The Earth, Sun Mood and Stars Unit (Planets too!)
Fifth graders prepare five activities to do then show their energy saving skills. In this investigative lesson students create five projects then participate in an energy saving demonstration.
Teach Engineering
Weather Basics
Weather — there's more to it than meets the eye of the storm. With this resource young meteorologists learn about the basics of weather, including information about the factors that influence the weather, common weather vocabulary, and...
Curated OER
Life Cycle of the Butterfly
Students listen a variety of books on butterflies and are introduced to their life cycle. In groups, they describe the life cycle in the correct order and watch the life cycle from larva to the butterfly in a demonstration. To end the...
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Can Fun Gus Help Plants/Trees Grow?
Students participate in an experiment in which they test the growth of different types of plants. They discover how growth rates vary using inoculum. They draw pictures and are read books about plants to end the lesson.
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Building a Bridge
Students build a bridge out of an index card that support the largest amount of mass. They create their bridge using an index card and books. Students place weight on the index card. They observe what happens as more weight is added to...
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CONNECTIONS
Young scholars study the interdependence of an ecosystem that allows it to sustain itself. They examine the Western lowland gorillas for an example.
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Life Cycle of a Plant
For this plant life cycle worksheet, students draw pictures for each life stage of a plant where the descriptions are given. Students complete 9 stages.
Brooklyn Children’s Museum
Inside India
What can a Ganesh statue, hand ornament, and print block tell you about India? Introduce your learners to the geography, history, and culture of India by analyzing primary sources and using the well-designed worksheets provided in this...
Calvin Crest Outdoor School
Survival
Equip young campers with important survival knowledge with a set of engaging lessons. Teammates work together to complete three outdoor activities, which include building a shelter, starting a campfire, and finding directions in the...
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Water's Edge Café
Students observe water birds feeding at a local wetland, record what they see, and construct an appropriate menu for a "Waterfowl Cafe." They also play a "flocking" game.