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Action-Reaction! Rocket
Students construct a rocket from a balloon propelled along a guide string. They use this model to learn about Newton's three laws of motion, examining the effect of different forces on the motion of the rocket. They measure the distance...
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Ball Bounce Experiment
Students investigate different balls' abilities to bounce. They conduct a Ball Bounce Height Comparison and Ball Bounce Time Comparison, complete a worksheet, graph the results of their experiment, and answer investigating questions.
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Blood Cell Basics
Students design a proportional model of blood out of red gelatin, a plastic bag, and rice. They study the components that make up blood and investigate what happens when the arteries in different scenerios. They work in pairs in order to...
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Blow-and-Go Parachute
Learners design a skydiver and parachute constraption to demonstrate how drag caused by air resistance slows the descent of skydivers as they travel back to Earth. They experience how gravity pulls the skydiver toward the earth and how...
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Break the Tension
Students experiment with the concepts of surface tension. They participate in a number of different experiments that introduce them to surface tension. They work in a small group in order to conduct these experiments.
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Lesson 2: Shapes
Shapes are really neat, and here's a lesson that will help learners identify shapes through song, touch, and sight. They sing a shape song as they bounce different shapes around in a parachute. They then read a story and feel each shape...
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Big and Small
Sorting big and small objects builds spacial reasoning classification, and visual discrimination skills. Your class will read a story about big and small bubbles, practice identifying big and small objects, then sort big and small balls...
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Water 1: Water and Ice
Students explore the states of water. In this science lesson plan, students use observation, measurement, and communication skills to describe water as it changes from a solid to a liquid.
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Water 1: Water and Ice
Students experiment with states of matter with water and ice. In this states of matter lesson, students experiment to discover what happens to water as it freezes to become a solid, ice. They observe what happens when ice melts back to...
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Water and Ice
Students will observe, measure and describe the phase changes of ice. In this science lesson plan, students observe ice as it changes phases. Qualaitative notations made by individual students will be shared and compared.
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Massive Migrations
Here is an exciting exploration of a fascinating topic for your emerging ecologists: bird migration! They begin by visiting the US Fish & Wildlife Service website to discover which Arctic birds come to their areas. They are assigned...
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Community Action
Fifth graders decide how one uses resources within a particular bioregion. In this decision making lesson, 5th graders consider the biodiversity and complexity of the ecosystem. Students select a resource (water, paper, electricity)...
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Rainforest Complexity and Diversity
Second graders investigate the diversity of plants and animals in a rainforest. They watch an online story developed by the Rainforest Alliance, observe and record animals in their local area, explore various websites, and compare and...
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Because of Winn-Dixie
Readers analyze an excerpt from Kate DiCamillo's novel Because of Winn-Dixie. They read silently, and then hear it read aloud. Definitions for underlined vocabulary words are in the margin, and other potentially difficult words are in...
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Propel a Toy Boat with Chemicals
A simple cardboard or plastic boat is propelled across the surface of water when the surface tension is disrupted by adding detergent. Once youngsters see this in action, explain about the properties of water that make it possilbe:...
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In the Wake of Columbus
Students explore how the population decreased in native cultures.
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The Same, But Different
Third graders examine the phase change between solids and liquids and determine it to be a physical change. Ice is the perfect item to use to demonstrate this phase change. Pupils experiment with measuring and weighing solid ice and the...
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Don't Call Me A Pig
First graders explore wildlife and habitats in the Arizona desert. Throughout a classroom discussion, 1st graders observe pictures of the desert and animals that live there. As they go on a nature walk around the school, students...
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Physical Changes and States of Matter - One
Third graders study the three states of matter and identify the physical changes that take place between them. There is an initial teacher-led demonstration followed by a meaningful whole-class inquiry. These two activities should lead...
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Erosion
Fifth graders engage in some activities that will help them to identify erosion and explain the causes of erosion. They also look into ways that humans can slow the process of erosion in some cases. After a teacher-led demonstration,...
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Food Chains
Learners take a look at the relationship between organisms in food chains, food webs, and energy pyramids. After an opening demonstration by the teacher, pupils are split up into groups. Each one is assigned an environment such as:...
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Effects of Weathering
Here's a great geology lesson for 3rd graders on weathering and erosion of soil. After a class discussion on how nature can "move a mountain," learners take a look at how a modern phenoma called acid rain can also cause weathering and...
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The Same, But Different Part II
Learners characterize a physical change as something that changes to a different size, but retains its basic substance. They measure volumes using milliliters, and perform an experiment that proves that gases expand when hot and contract...
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Water Pollution
Here is a fine lesson for fifth graders that will give them an idea of the variety of impacts that human-introduced pollutants have on the environment. After an initial class discussion and teacher-led demonstration, pupils brainstorm...