National Library of Medicine
Your Environment, Your Health: Chemicals in Your Home
Many people know about chemical pollution, but are all chemicals bad? The third unit in a series of six addresses chemicals common in everyday life. Scholars learn about the chemicals found in their own homes, chemical safety, and...
Captain Planet Foundation
Sorting Out Soils
Sift through soil and learn about why it's important for organic processes. After discussing what makes up soil, such as the living organisms and what types of soil have more nutrients, kids sample layers of mulch and deeper soil to...
Curated OER
Sensational Soil
Fourth and fifth graders explore soil by taking a simulated field trip under the earth. They go to an Internet site that runs a simulation which charges them with finding a source of pollution that could destroy all of Earth's soil, and...
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
Differences Among Colonial Regions
Classes look at and analyze primary source images to explore the differences between the colonial regions during the Revolutionary era. They break into groups to tackle each region and then present their findings to the class. A final...
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
The Case of the Mysterious Renters
Upper-elementary kids examine the water usage in their own home, then use that data to solve a case in which a landlady is trying to determine how many people are living in an apartment being rented. Combine math, scientific method, and...
Curated OER
Anthropogenic Biomes
If you teach a man to fish, he will never go hungry—or he will overfish and permanently damage the ecosystem? Address the traditional biomes as well as the human-included ecosystems and contrasts the biotic and abiotic factors in each....
National Endowment for the Humanities
Lesson 3: On the Road with Marco Polo: From Hormuz to Kashgar
Young explorers examine the route that Marco Polo and his father traveled to reach China. They examine online maps of the Silk Road and harsh terrain of Afghanistan to determine challenges that may have been encountered during travel.
Curated OER
Is the Coast Really Toast?: A Lesson About Volcanoes, Phase Changes, and the Art of Estimation
Clever! Use a clip from the 1997 film, Volcano, to get your chemistry class knee-deep in heat concepts related to lava. In the movie scene, lava flow is stopped in the nick of time. Your class must use calculations to determine if this...
National Wildlife Federation
Master P in the House: An All School Energy and Climate Change Plan
A person in the US uses 20 times more energy than a person in India—that's a drastic difference! The final lesson in the 12-part series goes back to the initial energy audits, analyzes which room showed the most conservation of energy,...
Cornell University
Field Day: Be an IPM Detective
Become a pest detective! Individually or in small groups, scholars scout the land to discover which pests—plant and animal—inhabit it, determine whether the pests are endangering the environment, and summarize their findings.
Science Matters
Oh Heron
Two teams—the environmentalists and herons—play four rounds of the game, Oh Heron. Using hand symbols to represent food, shelter, and water, players locate their match to produce more herons while those unmatched decompose.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Ocean Acidification
Human impacts on the environment can sometimes be difficult to measure, especially under water! An activity centered on ocean acidification gives science scholars the opportunity to examine the effects of carbon dioxide on marine life....
Curated OER
Peregrine Falcon
Young environmentalists study the effects that pesticides have on birds, such as the peregrine falcon. They also look at predator/prey interactions. Some wonderful in-class activities accompany an inventive instructional activity. After...
Curated OER
The Greenhouse Effect
Why does it get so hot inside of our cars in the summertime? The greenhouse effect! Lab groups experiment to see what happens to an ice cube enclosed in a jar and placed in sunlight as compared to an ice cube outside of the jar. They...
BBC
Ourselves
Young biologists identify parts of the body, sort humans from other animals, and list the difference they see. Learners are split up into groups of three, and each group must find pictures in magazines of humans and other animals. They...
Curated OER
Values...What's Important to You?
As your scholars begin their career study, it's important they understand their personal intrinsic values. What makes them feel rewarded? There are discussion prompts here to get learners thinking about specific careers, and they also...
Learning to Give
It's Never Too Late: Air Quality
What are the causes and effects of pollutants on the quality of the air we breathe? Groups research emission standards, emission controls, career opportunities in the area of air quality control, and things government and individuals can...
National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science
Breast Cancer Risk
How does one determine whether or not someone is at risk for breast cancer? Find out through a comprehensive case study involving two readings and a group activity in which learners assess four women's potential for acquiring the...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Shake it up with Seismographs!
Shake things up in your STEM or earth science classroom when you have small groups construct their own seismographs. A reading assignment on the history of seismographs, the Richter scale, and current technology sets the stage for the...
Curated OER
Bacteria Populations
Your young microbiologists will interpret and solve exponential equations in this real-world context task set in a hospital research scenario. Learners think in terms of the functions as well as their rates of change.
Polar Bears International
Top of the World
Learn about polar bears and the Arctic circle with a lesson about the countries and conditions of the region. After examining how the area differs from Antarctica, kids explore climates, animals, and geographical position of countries in...
National Wildlife Federation
Habitat Web
Young scientists weave together an understanding of ecosystems with this fun collaborative activity. Taking on the roles of different living and non-living elements of specific habitats, learners use a ball of yarn to create the web of...
Education Outside
Honey Tasting
Young scientists will be abuzz as they sample and compare the tasty treats produced by Apis Mellifera.
Federal Reserve Bank
U.S. Income Inequality: It's Not So Bad
What is the difference between a flat tax, progressive tax, tax deduction and transfer payments? Pupils examine the ability-to-pay principle of taxation through discussion, problem solving, and a variety of worksheets on topics from US...