Berkshire Museum
Nature Journaling: Experience the Outdoors Through Writing and Drawing
Step into the great outdoors and develop young scientists' skills of observation with a nature journaling lesson. Given a specific focus or goal, children practice making and recording observations of nature through written descriptions...
Curated OER
What Science Suggests About 'Weather Weirding'
Here is an activity that you can use to help upper elementary or middle schoolers to meet Common Core literacy standards for science and technology. Youngsters read the article on extreme weather patterns, "Weather Runs Hot and Cold, So...
Berkshire Museum
Adopt a Schoolyard Tree
Help young scientists connect with nature and learn about trees with a fun life science lesson. Heading out into the school yard, children choose a tree to adopt, taking measurements, writing descriptions, and drawing sketches of it in...
Curated OER
A Seashell Lesson: Writing for Detail and the Scientific Process
Practice descriptive language in this lesson plan, which prompts elementary and middle schoolers to write detailed descriptive sentences describing a seashell. They write a description of a shell, create an illustration, and other...
Berkshire Museum
Meet a Naturalist: Researching, Writing, Interviewing
Young scholars reach out into the community and learn about different environmental science careers in this inquiry-based instructional activity. Beginning with a short research assignment, children gain background knowledge about...
Berkshire Museum
Backyard Rocks
You don't have to travel far to learn about rocks, just step outside, pick up a stone, and begin investigating. After taking a class walk around the school grounds collecting rocks, young scientists practice their skills of observation...
Curated OER
Teaching Science to English Language Learners
Use these hands on lesson plans to make science more accessible for English Language Learners in your classroom.
Curated OER
Learning About Fiction Genres in the Elementary School Library
Teaching about fiction genres can be challenging. The lesson here, designed for library media specialists, offers a fun way to do it. In the lesson, learners visit the library and learn about the different types of fiction through book...
Curated OER
Hurricanes 1: The Science Of Hurricanes
Students are introduced to the science of hurricanes in an effort to highlight how forces change the speed and direction of motion. They list facts about hurricanes; including insights about the formation, movement, and impact hurricanes...
Curated OER
Science and Technology Timeline
Students develop a time line of discoveries that have occurred in their lifetime. In this time line lesson plan, students research scientifically or technologically related events of interest to them, write a brief description on a 4x6"...
Curated OER
Wild and Wetlands
Upper graders identify the major characteristics of a wetland. They explore the human factors that change a wetland and write a descriptive paragraph about wetlands. This comprehensive lesson also has an interactive "Watershed Game"...
Curated OER
Presentation to Class and School
How's the weather today? Elementary and middle schoolers plan severe weather awareness day in this lesson on research presentations. They present their research reports, along with their action plan and any other associated products...
Curated OER
Is That Legal? A Case of Acid Rain
Develop an environmental case study! Elementary learners discover how a case study is used as an analysis tool. The goal of this activity is to show pupils how techniques of persuasion (including background, supporting evidence,...
Newspaper Association of America
Using the Newspaper to Teach the Five Freedoms of the First Amendment
Of all the amendments found in The Bill of Rights, the First Amendment contains some of the most important freedoms for American citizens. A unit plan on the First Amendment features interactive lesson plans designed to teach about those...
Curated OER
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Students explore the 5 themes of geography. In this cross curriculum literacy and geography lesson, students listen to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett, and make a list of the needs of the people in Chewandswallow....
Curated OER
Integrating Science and Literacy Through Novel Studies
You can use "The Toothpaste Millionaire" and other outstanding fiction to integrate science and literacy.
Curated OER
Readings in Hudson River Natural History
Reading and understanding informational text is a key element to understanding every discipline. Elementary learners read three different articles focused on various animals and habitats in the Hudson River. They answer comprehension...
Curated OER
"Snapshot" Exercises & Sensory Detail Word Bank
Read a sample of creative descriptive writing to your science class. Discuss how writing can be used to record and communicate observations that scientists make. Reading selections and thought-provoking questions are suggested. Also...
Curated OER
In Case of Emergency
A natural disaster could strike at any time: do your learners know the school and community emergency plans? Start the school year by honing research and speaking skills in a practical way with this preparedness instructional activity....
Monterey Bay Aquarium
What's in a Name?
Combine art and word analysis in a activity about genus and species. Elementary children sleuth out the meaning of scientific names for a number of shark species using a prefix and suffix definition chart. They then draw an image of the...
Curated OER
Mission Complete, Houston
It was a bittersweet event when the space shuttle Atlantis touched down for the last time on July 21, 2011. Space science learners read an article about this event in The New York Times and then write answers to who, what, where, when,...
Curated OER
Earth in the Solar System
A three-week unit designed to be completed in an elementary level, dual-language immersion classroom, this resource includes several lessons intended to introduce young learners to the solar system, the Earth and how the Earth compares...
Curated OER
People Behind the Parks
Explore U.S. geography with your class by viewing a documentary. Show a portion of the Ken Burns documentary "The National Parks," and identify the individuals responsible for keeping the parks in order. Elementary and middle schoolers...
Curated OER
Sailing, Sailing
In this sailing lesson plan, youngsters read The Wreck of the Zephyr, and attempt to predict the outcome of the story. They draw a picture of a sailboat, identify its characteristics, and write their own fictional sailing story.