Students discover how air pressure effects flight.  In this physics lesson plan, students create two types of airplane wings so they can observe the way air pressure creates lift.  Students utilize a printout to create the...

Young scientists investigate the scientific concepts and principles that help make common toys such as hula hoops, yo-yos, slinkies, and silly putty work. As a class, they read "Backyard Rocket Science, Served Wet" to get a look behind...

Planning an elementary science unit has never been simpler! These twelve lessons guide young scientists through an exploration of simple machines and their many uses in the real world before asking them to apply their learning...

Fifth and sixth graders are introduced to the primary landforms of Illinois and discover how they were created. Landform cards are made for each pupil. They use the twenty-questions format until they have identified each one. Then,...

Students test different objects such as dominoes, marshmallows, slides, and more to test their force, motion, gravity, friction, and the concept of matter. For this force and motion lesson plan, students understand that the force an...

Young scholars discover the types of stress that materials undergo. They examine how bridges and skyscrapers are built to withhold the tension. They create their own structure out of marshmallows and spaghetti.

Young scholars explore the characterization of heroes and their representation of the values and beliefs of the society in which they are created. They first examine the creation of the 'Star Wars' heroes and plots, and then develop...

Third graders are introduced to the six types of simple machines and discover how they make tasks easier. In groups, they rotate between stations to experiment with the different types of simple machines. To end the lesson, they make a...

After a brief lecture on levers, torque, projectiles, and the five-step engineering design cycle, young physical science learners or engineers build catapults out of craft sticks. This is an open-ended exploration of what works and what...

Students explore force and friction. In this force and friction lesson, students discover everyday examples of how  friction helps and hinders things we do. Students create a ramp to test the speed of their car. Students use...

Learners explore clouds.  In this weather lesson, students identify the steps in the water cycle, define condensation and evaporation, and relate this information to cloud formation.  Learners perform a cloud experiment,...

Students simulate the formation of chondrites and asteroids. In this astronomy instructional activity, students demonstrate accretion using balloons and static electricity. They compare and contrast their models to the actual process of...

Pupils identify the different types of bridges. Using the internet, they research information on how they are built by completing a scavenger hunt. Locating a specific area, they determine which type of bridge would be appropriate and...

The challenge is quite simple: build a tall tower from a predesignated number of newspaper sheets. Emerging engineers work in teams to build the tallest structure. You will demonstrate some structure shapes and discuss their relative...

Third graders compare and contrast the forces of pushing and pulling. As a class, they take a field trip around the school and write down any action they see and any object that is motionless. In groups, they use magazines to cut out...

Students illustrate types of conflicts in Catherine, Called Birdy.  For this Catherine, Called Birdy lesson, students take notes on four types of character conflict.  Students work in teams to illustrate a conflict...

Young scholars use string, wire, weights, and a stopwatch to build pendulum clocks. In this pendulum clocks lesson plan, students use the pendulum clocks to investigate weather, climate, force, and motion.

Students discover the primary landforms of Illinois. They examine how those landforms were formed as well. In groups, they research one of the landforms from their vocabulary list. They create their landform in a shoebox and present it...

Fourth graders calculate the mechanical advantage of an inclined plane. In this physics lesson, 4th graders identify the different types of simple machines and their uses. They give examples of compound machines.

Students create a picture of a Civil War battle using Google Earth. In this Civil War lesson, students pick a battlefield and research it with a partner. They find the location on Google Earth and use colors and overlays to show...

Students work together to build an earthquake city. They simulate the shaking during an earthquake to discover if their structure is built well enough. They discover how engineers complete these types of tests to develop better...

Here is a very good lesson on magnets, magnetism, and magnitic fields that is chock full of great activities for you to implement with your young scientists. Learners discover the properties of magnets, look at the forces of attraction...

Students create a web page explaining a specfic type of extreme weather and identify recent examples of the weather occurance. They form small groups to research the weather type and build an HTML word document to share with classmates...

Students compose haiku poems and recognize how cultures value nature and natural forces through the study of Japanese poetry. This lesson includes a bibliography of resources.