Students explore the environment by participating in an outdoors activity. In this nature appreciation lesson, students discuss how to minimize their human imprint when experiencing nature. Students conduct a nature walk and plan out an...

Students experiment with mixtures of matter. In this matter lesson, students investigate which liquids form a solution when mixed together and which do not. Students also identify which solids can be separated from matter.

Students research an animal of choice and create a project.  In this animal science lesson plan, students choose an animal living in the International Peace Park to research.  Students write a paper and create a project to...

Students identify animal tracks outdoors. In this animal life lesson, students go outdoors and find several different animal tracks to identify. Students also discuss how animals must adapt in the winter months.

Examine paper money from the American revolution! Historians study the paper bills and discuss the history of money. How has money changed over the times? Activities are included. 

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...

Students come to understand vocabulary words through pantomime. In this vocabulary lesson, students first review several vocabulary words and their meaning, then they work in groups to pantomime the definitions.

Students read about the settlement of Illinois from statehood to the present. They categorize different areas of need such as survival, economic and social. Students make a list of ways people used the physical environment in Illinois...

Students think about what causes the seasons to change, reflect on what they know about seasons and how their lives affected by seasonal changes.

Fourth graders analyze the relationship of clouds and local weather. Students also observe and record cloud data and weather conditions daily as they research different cloud types. The data is analyzed looking for trends in daily...

Students study energy conversion and the forms energy may take. In this energy conversion lesson, students study energy conversions in flash paper, rubber bands, mechanical cranks, and a radiometer.

Students explore physics by participating in an engineering activity. In this rocket lesson, students define a list of scientific vocabulary terms such as "re-engineering" and "trade-off." Students identify the rocket creation process by...

Students study water snails. In this water snails lesson, students research the habitats of water snails. After conducting research, students investigate water snails in their habitats and generate scientific observations.

Students study natural habitats, aquatic life, renewable and non-renewable resources. They discuss conservation efforts for sea otters and desert toad in this units.

Students discover how cell phone service works while participating in a role play activity. They identify its advantages and disadvantages based on service. They examine how engineers use this information to develop better...

Fourth graders, in small groups, observe plants and note their characteristics. After drawing pictures of the plants, including their roots systems, they hypothesize in which environments the plants would best thrive. Finally, 4th...

Pupils compare the size of baleen whales to humans. They also assimilate the different feeding methods of baleen filter feeding and gulp feeding whales.

Students observe a demonstration of Newton's third law of motion using a small wooden car. They discuss Newton's third law of motion and what happens to motion if the mass or acceleration is increased, construct their car, and record...

Young scholars simulate the impact of fluctuating river volumes on structures and landforms. They experiment with table top-sized riverbed models and water. Students consider how human design can help mitigate the effects of a flood.

Students use everyday materials (milk cartons, water bottles, pencils, straws, candy) to build a small-scale transportation device that incorporates the wheel and axle and the lever. They race their carts/trucks, measure distance, time...

Students explore the variety of ways to use solar energy. They investigate the thermal energy storage capacities of different test materials to determine which to use in passive solar building design. They explain how passive solar...

Student groups rotate through four stations to examine light energy behavior: refraction, magnification, prisms and polarization. They see how a beam of light is refracted (bent) through various transparent mediums. Students investigate...

Young scholars drop water from different heights to demonstrate the conversion of water's potential energy to kinetic energy. They see how varying the height from which water is dropped affects the splash size. In seeing how falling...

In this layer of the earth worksheet, students label and color each layer of the earth. Then students are asked to describe each layer below.