Curated OER
The Chesapeake Bay in Captain John Smith's Time
When Captain John Smith visited the Chesapeake Bay in the summer of 1608, what types of animals and habitats did he encounter? Your young historians will analyze primary source documents to answer this question, as well as compare the...
California Academy of Science
A Day in the Life of a San Francisco Native Animal
Before Google, before Sillicon Valley, before the Gold Rush, the San Francisco landscape was a biome filled with grizzly bears, mule deer, tule elk, coyotes, gray fox, gophers, and moles. To explore the early days of yesteryear, kids...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Faces of Climate Change
Sometimes, the best solution to a problem can be found by walking in someone else's shoes. Here, scholars use character cards to take on the roles of people around the world. They determine how their character's life affects our...
Curated OER
Sense of Hearing
Create a graphic organizer to review parts and systems of the body, then present a new topic. Special education students grades 3-5 learn about the sense of hearing. They draw parts of the ear, sign a song, read Perk Up Your Ears, and...
Channel Islands Film
Island Rotation: Lesson Plan 1
How do scientists provide evidence to support the theories they put forth? What clues do they put together to create these theories? After watching West of the West's documentary Island Rotation class members engage in a series of...
National Wildlife Federation
Yesterday: Our Energy Needs Over Time
How has our relationship to energy changed over time? An engaging exploration challenges learners to create a timeline showing human energy needs and uses over time. Scholars review what timelines are, choose a 50-year period in history...
Curated OER
Hey - It's a Rainy Forest Out There!
Elementary schoolers take part in a very good lesson which has them watch video, conduct experiments, complete hands-on activities, and work in cooperative groups. The educationally-rich activities are clearly-explained, and the group...
Safe Drinking Water Foundation
Water Pollution
An introductory lesson to a unit on water pollution, young environmentalists are asked to brainstorm examples of pollutants in water. This lesson will help develop a sense of what water pollution is and where the pollutants come from.
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Working with Watermills
In collaborative groups, emerging engineers or environmental scientists plan and construct a water wheel or watermill that rotates for a total of three minutes. Everything you need to carry out this lesson is included: objectives,...
Curated OER
Native Harvest
Students read Native Plants and Early Peoples and explore the plants in Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park and find how the Native Americans used them. In this Native American plant and people lesson, students research two types...
Earth Day Network
Filtering Water
See the water filtration system up close with a fun science experiment. Young scientists work for several class periods to design a water filter using household objects, and then decide which filter material would be most effective in...
Education Outside
Papermaking
Imagine recycling food scraps and using them to make paper. The directions are all here in a seven-page packet that details several paper-making strategies.
Lee & Low Books
First Come the Zebra Teacher’s Guide
Accompany a reading of First Come the Zebra written and illustrated by Lynne Barasch with a teacher's guide equipped with before reading, vocabulary, and after reading activities. Additional social studies, science, music, art, math, and...
Curated OER
Endangered Marine Turtles
Students work in groups and experience what it is like to be a hatchling marine turtle by playing a board game. For this endangered marine turtles lesson, students research the threats to marine turtle hatchlings. Students then create a...
Safe Drinking Water Foundation
Making a Difference
After learning about the effects of water pollution, your class will discuss ways to make people in their community aware of the importance of water conservation. Then, your young environmentalists will write a letter to the local...
Prince William Network
Migration Math Madness
A great way to incorporate math into life science, this instructional activity has learners measure migratory routes on a map and calculate the actual distance that shorebirds on the routes would cover. Learners compute the distance...
Curated OER
Filling in the Picture
Students study archaeological sites. They discover some of the problems inherent in choosing sites and what parts are chosen for excavation. They evaluate and explain their choices for study and articulate the process of archaeological...
Curated OER
Plants and Animals, Partners in Pollination
Students participate in multiple hands-on activities to explore reproduction and pollination. In groups, using a cotton swab and powder, students simulate being pollinators and plants. They name the parts of the flowers and the function...
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
Land Use and Lawmaking in California
Learners investigate the laws of using land. In this California Government instructional activity, students examine the many uses of land in California and find an environmental issue they care about. Learners write a letter to a...
Curated OER
A Day in the Life of a San Francisco Native Animal
Learners write from an animal's perspective. In this writing lesson plan students explore the landscape of San Francisco prior to the arrival of the explorers. Learners research animals indigenous to the area.
Curated OER
Changing Planet: Adaptation of Species (Birds and Butterflies)
A video about the impact of climate change on butterfly populations and a PowerPoint about butterfly and bird adaptations warm science learners up for the activity to follow. Using a variety of tools that reprsent unique styles of bird...
NASA
Precipitation
Here is a fabulous collection of lessons for your emerging meteorologists! In them, learners will utilize satellite data to determine distribution of rainfall, research global rainfall patterns, and utilize their knowledge to propose new...
Curated OER
Water Works
Students create a "water web" to illustrate the interdependence among water users and producers. They distinguish between direct and indirect uses of water; illustrate the interconnectedness of water users in a community; and demonstrate...