Oceans represent more than 80 percent of all habitats, yet we know less about them than most other habitats on the planet. The instructor introduces the epipelagic, mesopelagic, bathypelagic, twilight, and midnight zones in the ocean....

Lead your class on a journey to the planet Jupiter and provide them with fun facts in the process. Learners explore radio waves emitted by Jupiter to further understand how this data helps our daily lives. They conclude by discussing...

In this petroleum products activity, students are given the components of crude oil and they graph the various products found in a 50 gallon barrel. Students complete an activity to determine if they have collected cards that represent...

Off they go — launching rockets is fun. The lesson plan contains templates to build paper rockets that can be launched from a PVC pipe launcher. Individuals or groups build the rockets and determine the shapes for their fins. Included...

When going for distance, does it make a difference at what angle you launch the rocket? Teams of three launch foam rockets, varying the launch angle and determining how far they flew. After conducting the series of flights three times,...

Using PVC pipe and aquarium tubing, build an altitude tracker. Pupils then use the altitude tracker, along with a tangent table, to calculate the altitude of a launched rocket using the included data collection sheet.

Space shuttles traveled around Earth at a speed of 17,500 miles per hour, way faster than trains, planes, or automobiles travel! In the 13th installment of 22, groups graph different speeds to show how quickly spacecraft move through...

Write, edit, and then revise! The fourth lesson in a five-part series asks peers to provide feedback on research. Individuals then use the research to edit and revise conclusions and develop their presentations.

Imagine a race to complete a puzzle where each person has the same 50 pieces, knows they are missing other pieces, and must figure out how everything fits together. The winner gets fame, listed in books for years to come, and a financial...

There are more than 600,000 asteroids in our solar system. Pupils analyze images of two asteroids in order to determine if they are the same age. They count craters for each asteroid and compare numbers. 

Did you know scientists can tell the age of an asteroid by looking closely at its craters? This final activity of a six-part series focuses on two asteroids, Gaspra and Ida, in order to demonstrate the concept of dating asteroids....

We all drink milk as babies, so why can't we all drink it as adults? Examine the trend in lactase production on the world-wide scale as science scholars analyze and interpret data. Groups create pie charts from the data, place them on a...

Marine biologists research sea ice communities. Assign some groups to construct paper models of sea ice communities in winter, and some to construct models of them in summer. The lesson is simplistic, but the Internet resources provided...

Here is a fabulous set of teacher's notes that will make your next hands-on gravity and force lab fun and interesting. These notes provide you with three activities that allow children to make and test hypothesis regarding force,...

Identify natural resources in the world and how they translate into economic development. In this global economy lesson, your class will utilize the Internet to view an Oregon Time Web which they research to examine the history of...

Take a field trip to observe Koalas, absolutely! Budding scientists become familiar with the Koala's position in the food chain. They answer questions based on what they see and draw a food chain explaining the Koalas position. Tip: A...

Young investigators conduct an experiment using the scientific method. They see how many drops of water fit on a coin; have them conduct several different trials. This involves making a hypothesis, looking at controls, and introducing...

A great start to activate thinking about the scientific method, instruments, measurements, accuracy, constants and laws. Each slide describes important procedures and examples essential for the study of science.

Students demonstrate the interrelationships of animals and plants. In this ecology lesson, students discuss the things plants and animals need for survival and study the glacier food chain. Students simulate the web of life by using a...

Junior geologists sort rocks and soil. They separate a sample of river gravel by size, shape, color, and other characteristics. To include Common Core standards, you could have little ones graph the number of particles in each sample.

Using the Hudson River as the focus, learners discuss the difference between salt water and fresh water environments, analyze maps and graphs, and complete addition and subtraction problems. This lesson comes with a wealth of...

While this lesson focuses on the birds and fish found on the Hudson River, it could be adapted for use in any classroom. Using a vocabulary list, learners explore the meaning of words like adaptation, habitat, barbel, and more. Then,...

Take a peep into optics. Pupils watch a video about a large Polaroid camera before building pinhole viewers. The scholars then create different types of viewers and compare them to determine which provides the best image.

Make science come in loud and clear. Pupils learn about how a speaker works by building one. The scholars first learn about electromagnetic fields by building an electromagnet. Using that knowledge, they build a crude speaker using a...