Curated OER
Potato chip Classification
Students create a dichotomous key using potato chips. For this classification lesson, students sort potato chips into groups based on observable characteristics. They record their results to create a dichotomous key in preparation for...
Curated OER
Synecdoche vs. Metonymy: Definitions
Ask your class to lend their ears, and eyes, to a short video that defines and offers examples of synecdoche and metonymy. Whether it be brand names like Kleenex® and Band-aids® that have come to stand for all the products in a category,...
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...
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...
Virginia Department of Education
The Germ Theory and Koch’s Postulates
Explore the history of cholera and its effect on society with your biology class. Young biologists will then proceed to grow their own germs, prepared from live cultures, and follow the steps of the scientific method to generate data....
Virginia Department of Education
Meiosis
Intrigue the class by completing a lesson on meiosis, filled with challenging and insightful activities to spark the interest of every person in the room. Each member of the class learns about genetic disorders due to faulty meiosis, and...
Curated OER
Writing Process- Expository Writing
Expository writing is the focus of the language arts lesson presented here. In it, young writers review what expository writing is through a class discussion and teacher demonstration. Then, learners write expository text that describes...
Virginia Department of Education
Body Systems
The human body is an amazing thing! Explore the body with your high school class as they investigate each system in detail. They learn components of each organ system and disease processes that can negatively affect general health and...
Virginia Department of Education
Cell Division
Searching for simple ways to teach mitosis to high schoolers? Using colored chalk and onion root tips, pupils visually demonstrate what they view when looking through the lens of a microscope. There are also various ways to expand the...
Discovery Education
Perfectly Decomposed!
We all know someone who won't eat the banana with a brown spot, the grape with a dimple, and the apple with a bruise. Scholars use different fruits to explore what happens when fruits really start to decompose. They set up an experiment...
Curated OER
Soil Samples
Students complete experiments in which they test the amount of humus in soil samples. They record their data and discuss the results. They write a story about soils to end the lesson.
Curated OER
Spatial Characterization of Animal Movement
Learners identify biotic and abiotic factors which may alter the observed patterns in plant communities with different structural characteristics, climate, or environmental constraints.
Curated OER
Adopt An Animal
Students view slides of pictures of rare animals and make predictions about them based on the characteristics they see. In this animals lesson plan, students then research one of the animals and present their findings to the class.
Curated OER
Land Safely...
Students model the preparation needed for a soft-landing on a planet or object in space. They do this by packaging a raw egg with certain material, and dropping the egg from a given height to test the packaging effectiveness.
Curated OER
Mimicry: Other Insects That Resemble Bees
Learners design a conceptual experiment to test whether mimics actually benefit from the fact they resemble other organisms or objects. They define the term mimicry. They focus on insects that resemble bees and wasps.
Curated OER
Xenosmilus
Students play the roles of paleontologists on a dig. They unearth a few fossils at a time and attempt to reconstruct the animal the fossils represent.
Curated OER
Vocabulary Development
By utilizing a graphic organizer called a bubble map, young readers work toward developing their vocabulary. After reading a story, a word that has something to do with the story is put in the middle circle. Then, other words that have...
Curated OER
Earthworm Movement and Landscape Structure
Students describe differences in animal usage of habitats depending upon successional status of site. They also design other experiments to test movement patterns of animals through habitats of differing structure.
Curated OER
Water Quality Monitoring
Students comprehend the four parameters of water quality. They perform tests for salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH and clarity or turbidity. Students comprehend why scientists and environmental managers monitor water uality and aquatic...
Curated OER
Analyze the Results
Students conduct water tests and sample macroinvertebrates from a nearby source to make a general determination about the overall quality of water. They use worksheets and analyze data as part of a larger unit.
Curated OER
Hare vs. the Tortoise
Seventh graders identify and create questions and hypotheses, dependent and independent variables and form a conclusion that can be answered and tested through scientific experimental investigation. In this relationship lesson, 7th...
Curated OER
Water Quality Survey: Monitoring the Sustainability of Pigeon Creek
Students research the History of Pigeon Creek (or any watershed in your area). In this environmental science lesson, students conduct field tests such as pH and nitrates. They collect data and compare what they collected with other groups.
Curated OER
Barnacles: Harder than Cement
Fourth graders watch the movements of the complex animal hidden inside the tiny barnacle shells. This lesson allows students to study the behavior, adaptation, and larval stage of the barnacle.
Curated OER
Observing and Drawing Structures of Guppies and Goldfish
Students observe fish and focus on their structures. In this life science lesson, students work in a group and observe guppies and gold fish.