Curated OER
Ocean Life
Third graders create an ocean fish environment. In this ocean life lesson, 3rd graders create an ocean environment from clay. Students paint their sculptures with realistic colors emphasizing contrast, texture, and patterns.
Purdue University
Simple Machines – Dog Gone It!
How can people use simple machines to solve real-world STEM problems? Learn about simple machines using a hands-on, project-based learning activity. First, pupils investigate and evaluate simple machines. Then, they receive a task that...
Curated OER
Beaver Succession Mural
Students explore the concept of beaver pond succession. In this succession lesson, students discuss what succession is and how it works. Students create a mural to present their understanding of this concept.
Michigan Sea Grant
Fish Life Cycle
Fish are no different when it comes to a living being's primary objective—to reproduce. They do differ, including from fish species to fish species, in their life cycles, survival tactics and reproductive strategies. After discussion of...
Curated OER
Flipbook Succession
Students review succession charts for their native area before going to an outside site to view the changes. At the site, they follow the transect line and observe the changes in the plant life. They draw the changes on note cards that...
Curated OER
Forest Succession
Students research environmental change and why forests cannot stay the same for long. In this environmental growth lesson, students discuss the life cycle of a tree and examine tree cookies to discover the age of these specimens....
Curated OER
Jack and the Beanstalk
Third graders read a story and grow a beanstalk. In this literature and life science lesson, the class reads "Jack and the Beanstalk," then lists fairy tale elements and write a puppet show. The students plant pinto beans and observes...
Curated OER
Bone Transformations
Students create a picture from the shape of a bone. In this life science and art lesson, students discuss their bones and their purposes, then use a picture of a bone as a starting point for an artistic transformation. Lesson can be used...
Curated OER
Marine Animal and Plant Adaptations
Students examine nature by creating their own animals. In this animal adaptation instructional activity, students define scientific vocabulary terms dealing with adaptation such as sea stars, sea cucumbers and exoskeleton. Students...
Curated OER
Water: Our Most Important Beverage
Third graders create a KWL chart about water. In this environmental science lesson, 3rd graders demonstrate how much water on Earth is usable. They act out the different stages of the water cycle.
Curated OER
A Growing Success
Students create a multimedia presentation as a culmination of a plant unit. In this hyperstudio lesson, students research from assigned sites and create a Hyperstudio stack. Students write a cinquain.
Curated OER
Models of Succession
Students create a model city in order to understand the effects human habitats have on the environment. For this environment lesson, students examine the effects human habitats have on the environment. Students create a model city and...
Curated OER
Build Your Own Sea Turtle
Students design and create their own sea turtles. They investigate the marine turtle anatomy by constructing a model of a sea turtle. They incorporate the vocabulary that identifies each part of the sea turtle's anatomy.
Curated OER
Invertebrates
Learners identify insect body parts and look for local insect life. They create an insect using recycled material and design a classroom mural with bug facts. They study Monarch butterflies and dragonflies.
Curated OER
The Nutrients Public Transportation System
Students investigate the human circulatory system by experimenting with hoses. In this human body lesson, students create a system of hoses simulating the circulatory system which they utilize to pass objects through. Students discuss...
Curated OER
Simple Machines IV - Levers
The principles of levers and simple machines are presented here. An easy-to-make lever is constructed by each group of scientists, and they use it to explore how this simple machine makes heavy things so much easier to lift and move. A...
Curated OER
Brine Shrimp
Students gain a sense of the delicacy and complexity of a living organism and the rather narrow range of conditions under which it can live.
NASA
Marsbound! Mission to the Red Planet
It's time to go to Mars. Using the provided cards and mat, groups design a mission to Mars. The cards contain information about the different components of the launch and warn about a few mishaps that might occur along the way.
Curated OER
Forest Communities
Students identify tree specimens. In this tree specimens lesson, students collect different parts of a tree from the areas around the school or their home. They then work in groups to create booklet that identifies tree specimens.
Curated OER
Survival Strategies and Adaptation in Insects
Third graders investigate insects and their adaptations that help them survive. In this survival strategies lesson, 3rd graders view photographs of insects and discuss the adaptations that each one uses to survive, including camouflage...
Curated OER
The Big Circle
Students explore geography by participating in a mapping activity. In this concentric ring lesson, students utilize a poster board, string and markers to identify their current location within the entire world. Students write about their...
Curated OER
Historical Success Stories: Banneker, Blackwell, Drew, and Faraday
Fourth graders investigate how all races and religions have contributed to US history by looking at the scientists Elizabeth Blackwell, Benjamin Banneker, Charles Drew, and Michael Faraday. They research these scientists individually and...
Curated OER
Flowers and Pollination
Students explore the environment by researching plant reproduction. In this pollination lesson plan, students define botany related vocabulary terms such as disc flower, petal and fertilization. Students dissect a flower with their...
Curated OER
Planet X
Students select a wide variety of presentation methods to compare Planet X and Earth. Students share these with their classmates. Students select other methods to present their ideas about a livable planet for human life forms. ...