Curated OER
Candlemaking
There might not be a butcher or baker, but you'll have a class full of candlestick makers after a hands-on lesson about candles make from beeswax. After a brief history of where beeswax comes from, young artisans craft their own...
Lerner Publishing
Meet the Dinosaurs
Take your class of youngsters on a prehistoric adventure with this four-lesson series on dinosaurs. Accompanying the Meet the Dinosaurs books by Don Lessem, these lessons engage children in writing their own dinosaur books, making...
Curated OER
Destination Outer Space
Young scholars investigate space travel. In this space travel lesson students examine space exploration history, engineers and scientists involved in space exploration, and Newton's third law of motion. Young scholars make rockets.
Curated OER
Nuts for Peanuts: Peanut Plants, Peanut Timeline, and Peanut-s-timation!
Students complete a timeline. In this peanuts instructional activity, students read A Short Peanut History and use this resource to make a timeline of the history of the peanut. Students can grow peanuts in the classroom or make various...
Curated OER
Giants of the Century
Middle and high schoolers study significant people who shaped the 20th-century history and are introduced to database tools. Researchers use the Internet to research five 20th century history makers. They write a short biography of five...
Curated OER
Fossils!
Students explore what fossils are, how they are formed, what different types there are and why they are significant to both our present and past geology history. They participate in a hands on fossil observation of their choice and...
Channel Islands Film
Dark Water: Lesson Plan 2 - Grade 3
A discussion of bioluminescence launches an investigation of animal adaptations. After re-watching the opening minutes of Dark Water, class members listen to a reading of What Do You Do with a Tail Like This, and then create a new animal...
Curated OER
Graphing the Diversity of a Forest
Second graders work in groups to identify what types of trees create which types of leaves In this plant life lesson plan, 2nd graders analyze a set of leaves and identify the tree it came from while graphing the data in a science...
Curated OER
The Story of Red and Blue: Art
Students identify art history by examining a list of images on-line. In this painting lesson, students identify the work of Keith Haring by researching the Internet and discuss his style of artwork. Students utilize computers, paint and...
Curated OER
Skyscrapers
Students engineer their way through a hands-on science activity. In this architecture lesson, students examine dead loads and wind loads as they participate in the Skyscraper Challenge.
Curated OER
Understanding the Water Cycle
Investigate the water cycle and how water moves from the land to the air and back to the land. Create a terrarium and observe the water cycle at work. Define weather terms including evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.
Curated OER
The Wright Brothers on Hollywood Squares
Students test their knowledge of the Wright brothers by playing "Hollywood Squares." They read (or listen) with comprehension. Students follow the rules as they actively participate in a game to test their reading (or listening)...
Curated OER
"Two Diamond Baseball" Review Game
Here is a game that can be used across the curriculum. Two teams are made up, and each time a member of the team answers a question correctly, they roll a dice to see how far they advance on the "baseball field." A fun game!
Curated OER
Who Lives Here?
Students identify various aquatic wildlife species. In this biology lesson students collect clues about animals that live in wetland habitats. Students rotate through several stations displaying particular animal species to collect their...
Centers for Ocean Sciences
Ocean and Great Lakes Literacy: Principle 7
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to take your class on an underwater adventure. The final installment in a seven-part series involving salt and freshwater bodies takes junior oceanographers below the surface in...
Curated OER
DIY Lava Lamp
Students examine lava lamps and what causes them to work. In this density lesson students make a lava lamp and write the scientific explanation of what happens.
Curated OER
Getting Fired Up
Students explore first-person accounts of volcanic eruptions throughout time and use second-hand information about volcanoes. They use both types of accounts to write news articles covering the events of a historic volcanic eruption as...
PBS
Stories of Painkiller Addiction: Contemplating Nature vs. Nurture
Does having an addict in your family make it more likely to become one yourself? Explore the genetic risk factors, as well as the prominent environmental influences, for substance addiction in a lesson that encourages awareness and open...
Curated OER
A Neighborhood Expedition
Students plan and conduct an expedition through their neighborhood based on the techniques used by the Harriman Expedition to Alaska in 1899. They research the Harriman expedition on the internet and then create a route and collection...
Curated OER
Harriman and Plant Identification
Students observe and record botanical details from the plant specimens. They identify plants using sorting key and field guide and classify specimens for preservation and display purposes.
Curated OER
More Than Meets the Eye
Young scholars use the Archimedes method to demonstrate scientific principles behind observations.
Curated OER
Growing Your Own Snow Crystals
Learners grow snow crystals in your classroom with a few materials and a two-liter bottle!
Curated OER
Stardust Delivers Comet's Clues
Students explore the NASA test center and comet facts through an interactive program. They examine the idea if comets are predictable. They finally analyze the materials that combine to make a comet.
Curated OER
Land Use Change Over Time
Students use historical aerial photographs and current aerial photographs to compare the change over time to the land. In this land changing lesson plan, students analyze, compare, contrast, and list the land change in their own community.