Curated OER
Simple Circuit: Electric Currents and Circuits
Through inquiry and exploration, 4th graders will learn and understand the functions of open and closed circuits. They will break into 2 groups, define vocabulary, hypothesize how to light a bulb, then test their hypothesis 4 different...
Mr. E. Science
Atoms and Bonding
I don't trust atoms because they make up everything. Budding scientists learn about famous scientists connected to atomic models, chemical, ionic, and hydrogen bonds. The presentation also presents how to count atoms in an equation,...
Curated OER
What was Newton's Idea of Science?
Students form logical foundations for analysis of observations. They improve analytic reading abilities through practice. Students investigate the foundations of scientific thought processes and how to apply them.
Curated OER
Electricity
Focusing on what electricity is and where it comes from, the information here is accessible to young scientists. The basics of how electricity is made and its uses as a power supply are given with clear illustrations. Some examples and...
Curated OER
Measure Up!
Students examine parallax and angular measurements. In this investigative lesson students calculate distances of objects and map their results.
Curated OER
Environmentally Friendly Home
High schoolers discuss ways to make homes more environmentally friendly. They comprehend ways to reduce home resource consumption, such as passive solar heating, insulation, and geothermal heating and cooling
Curated OER
Investigating Motion
Students explore types of motion. In this motion experiment, students observe how objects move. Students work in small groups to discover the laws of motion.
Curated OER
Impulse and Momentum
Learners are introduced to the concepts of impulse and momentum and problem solving strategies for these types of problems. In groups, they discover the law of conservation of momentum and share their answers with the class.
Curated OER
Tools of the Trade
Young scholars construct functional replicas of oceanographic tools and demonstrate and explain their use.
Curated OER
Wright Again: 100 Years of Flight
Aspiring aeronautical engineers demonstrate different forces as they construct and test paper airplanes. This lesson plan links you to a website that models the most effective paper airplane design, an animation describing the forces...
Curated OER
Wind Power
What a wonderful way to explore wind power! Through this lesson, learners get a background in the history of wind power, create their own wind turbine, and the test their designs. This is a terrific way to tie scientific principles to...
Nikola Tesla documentary student worksheet
PBS documentary: Tesla - Master of Lightning; this worksheet will keep the students engaged while watching this excellent documentary about Tesla. The documentary can be found on Netflix or YouTube. It will take two class periods to...
NASA
Exploration of a Problem: Making Sense of the Elements
When given too much data to simply memorize, it helps to sort it into manageable groups. The second lesson in the six-part series of Cosmic Chemistry challenges groups of pupils to take a large amount of data and figure out how to best...
Curated OER
Let's Move It!
Students create a simple machine that includes a cart and lever system that could have been used to build the ancient pyramids. In this simple machine lesson, students learn about the wheel and the axle as simple machines that help...
Cornell University
Catapults
Ready, aim, fire! Launch to a new level of understanding as scholars build and test their own catapults. Learners explore lever design and how adjusting the fulcrum changes the outcome.
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.
NOAA
Mapping the Deep-Ocean Floor
How do you create a map of the ocean floor without getting wet? Middle school oceanographers discover the process of bathymetric mapping in the third installment in a five-part series of lessons designed for seventh and eighth graders....
National Institute of Open Schooling
Periodic Table and Atomic Properties
An in-depth lesson, the fourth activity in a series of 36, begins with teaching how the periodic table's arrangement came to its current design. Using this knowledge, pupils then move on to analyze the arrangement of elements to their...
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Chromosomes Carry Genes
Some traits only exist in males and some only in females. Pupils learn how the location of genes on sex chromosomes determines them using an interactive lesson. An animation illustrates how scientists know this to be true and shows how...
Curated OER
Urban Ecosystems 4: Metabolism of Urban Ecosystems
Students discover that material and energy uses by a city come from outside the city boundaries. They realize that the pathway of these material is linear instead of cyclical as they are in natural ecosystems.
Curated OER
Urban Ecosystems 2: Why Are There Cities? A Historical Perspective
Students investigate the importance of food surpluses to the historical development of urban ecosystems.
Curated OER
Summary of Periodic Trends
This concise collection of images speaks volumes about the trends in the periodic table of elements. Different versions of the periodic table are displayed demonstrating different trends. Teachers' notes are included to assist your...
University of Georgia
Bag O' Isotopes
Accommodate your chemistry class with an experiment that is both entertaining and educational. Through the activity, blossoming chemists perform calculations on various isotopes, as represented by beans and legumes, to obtain the average...
Virginia Department of Education
A Dichotomous Key of Virginia’s Native Plants
Can your class correctly classify plant species? Individuals explore native plants of the local environment and correctly classify them into their respective categories. They investigate differences in the plants and discuss similarities...