California Academy of Science
How Big is Big?
In a math or life science class, "mini-me" models are created with cardstock to reflect a 1:10 scale of students' bodies. Learners measure each others' heights with meter sticks, and then reduce the size by 10. After this exercise, they...
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Transportation Systems: Two Liter Boat Activity
Students design and build full-size boats made out of two-liter plastic bottles, chicken wire, and plywood. Then they race the boats, with the boat's designers "manning the hull", in the school's swimming pool.
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Exploring Renewable Energy Through Graphs and Statistics
Ninth graders identify different sources of renewable and nonrenewable energy. In this math lesson plan, learners calculate their own carbon footprint based on the carbon dioxide they create daily. They use statistics to analyze data on...
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Wildflower Beautification Project
Learners, in cooperative groups, design and create a wildflower garden for the community. They write letters to property owners requesting use of their land and then write invitations to their parents and to local, state, and federal...
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Water, Weather, and the World
Learners in a special education classroom examine the role of weather and water in their lives. Each day, they add a symbol for the weather outside and identify the proper activities for the weather on that day. In groups, they...
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The Amazing Tomato
Students gain an understanding of where our food comes from. In this plant life lesson, students review what plants need for growth and how long it takes them to grow. Students research which plants it takes to make salsa. Students then...
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Student-Led Parent Conference
Students prepare for student-led parent conferences. In this communication instructional activity, students collect data to build portfolios for use during parent conferences. Students practice their presentations in preparation for the...
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Saving Humpty Dumpty;Recycling, Environmental Science, Math, Ecology, Athletic Shoes
Students describe how shoe design, manufacturing, retailing, consumer use, and disposal impact environments and societies. They discuss ways to reduce, reuse, or recycle resources in the life-cycle for a shoe product.
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Watershed Model
Students view a presentation of water and land and how we need to protect our water resources. In this water lesson plan, students discuss how we rely on water, and complete activities in all subjects related to water.
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Radial Design Mandala
Students design original radial art designs.In this radial design lesson plan, students use compasses and a nature inspired idea to create radial art. Students understand the use of symmetry, balance and design shapes in continual...
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Slip Slide'n Away
Students analyze the sliding of boxes along a warehouse floor. In this algebra instructional activity, students connect math and physics by calculating the friction created by the sliding of each box. They develop faster method to move...
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Three Dimensional Art of Vertebrates and Invertebrates
Learners, during this twelve week series of lessons, learn basic anatomy through life sketches of human skeletons and shells. They learn fundamentals of line and convey life through sketches learning science through art.
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Thinking Like An Engineer
Students explore physics. They investigate the strategies used by an engineer to solve a problem. Students construct various models to solve the problem. They display their solutions and explain how they solved the problem.
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Urban Changes
Students explore how landscapes undergo constant changes with urban development. They plan and build their own "city" by including features that have minimal resource demands to sustain the city itself.
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Toothpicks and Timber
Young scholars problem-solve how to log five acres. Working in pairs, they construct models of logging sites before and after the trees are harvested. they paint their models and include other environmental details.