Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Soil, Designing the Small Farm of the Future

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students examine the history of farming. In this environmental farming instructional activity, students explore the web and complete a variety of activities in order to understand the necessity of local, sustainable, and small farms for...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cell Wall Recipe: A Lesson on Biofuels

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Biotech engineers discover that changes in the DNA code for cell wall formation can help create crops better suited for biofuel production. They extract DNA from wheat germ. They decode paper strips with codes and relate the activity to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

It's Greek To Me!

For Teachers 4th - 8th
In this language lesson, scholars use Greek root meanings to determine the meaning of words. After being shown how Greek roots are used in many words, such as, photosynthesis, pairs are given two excellent black line masters...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Readings in Hudson River Natural History

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Reading and understanding informational text is a key element to understanding every discipline. Elementary learners read three different articles focused on various animals and habitats in the Hudson River. They answer comprehension...
Interactive
American Museum of Natural History

Theodore Roosevelt's Outdoor Adventures

For Students 6th - 12th
Time for a virtual sightseeing trip. Pupils explore the Grand Canyon, Devil's Tower, and Yosemite Valley in an interactive online experience. They answer questions about the organisms in each location and draw conclusions based on their...
Interactive
DocsTeach

Environmental Case Study: Hetch Hetchy Valley

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
What is more important: building a new school or preserving a nature reserve? Keeping a natural area clean or providing clean drinking water to a city of millions? Young scholars weigh these questions—almost literally—using an...
Lesson Plan
American Battlefield Trust

Antietam 360

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
It was the single bloodiest day in Civil War history. Now, class members have the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of soldiers who fought in the Battle of Antietam using an interactive website. Supplemental resources include...
Interactive
American Museum of Natural History

Journey to Deep Sea Vents

For Students 6th - 12th
Take a deep dive into oceanography. The online interactive allows for learners to board a submersible to dive to the bottom of the ocean to investigate sea vents. On the way down, individuals see different marine life at different...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Hummingbirds and Flowers: A Study of Co-Adaptive Relationships

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Hummingbirds and flowers need each other to survive! Pupils explore the co-adaptation of hummingbirds and the flowering plants. They explain how a flowering plant has adapted to be pollinated by a hummingbird and how the hummingbird has...
Activity
PBS

Predicting/Making a Hypothesis

For Teachers 6th - 12th
As an introduction to the hypothesis and testing method of investigation, young history detectives engage in a special investigation of a family artifact. After watching a short video that demonstrates the method, they develop a...
Handout
Merck KGaA (Darmstadt, Germany)

EMD PTE

For Students 9th - 12th
You can't tell by the title, but this is a functional periodic table of elements. Incorporating bright colors, lucid text, and easily operated features, this application serves as a valuable reference tool for your chemistry class.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Zeros and Ones: Understanding Computer Language

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Learners examine how computer processes language and symbols. They use binary code to encode and decode written language and decimal numbers.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Science Current Events

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders write science current events articles using various media sources.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Endangered Species 1: Why are Species Endangered?

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Emerging ecologists examine endangered species by visiting the US Environmental Protection Agency website. They consider human contribution to the decline of different species. They research an endangered animal and then craft a poster...
PPT
Curated OER

Selected Elements

For Teachers 4th - 10th
This collection consists of a slide on each of the following unrelated, but fascinating elements: einsteinium, curium, radium, radon, nobelium, seaborgium, silicon, magnesium, and postassium. You will not find detailed information on the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Natural Inquirer

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Learners explore the research process. In this scientific method lesson plan, students analyze data from an article, write their own informational article and express what they have learned. Learners create their own article using the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Natural Resources

For Teachers K - 12th
Students explore Iowa geography and topographic maps. In this geography and topographic maps lesson, student investigate maps, newspapers, Iowa flora and fauna. Students gain an understanding of how different landforms can be identified...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Debating the Control of Scarce Resources

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners examine the issue of government versus private sector control of natural resources. They read an article, evaluate the need for international law governing resource allocation, and participate in a class debate.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Shape Shifters- Trees and the Environment

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students make a tree sculpture. In this trees and the environment lesson, students learn about the parts of a tree, discuss what a tree needs in order to grow, find images of trees in art and nature, use various materials to create a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Glaciers As Indicators of Global Climate Change

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Young scholars research about glacial ice melting on the four major spheres of the Earth. In this earth science lesson, students explain how this process relates to global warming. They create a presentation and share their findings with...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Areology-The Study of Mars

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Students examine core samples from Mars and discover what they can use it to tell the history of Mars.  In this core sample lesson students create and analyze their own core samples then eat them at the end.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Crinoids: Flowers f the Iowa Seas

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Learners study the rocks and fossils associated with the geologic landscape of Iowa. In this rocks and fossils lesson, students examine fossils that would be found in the Iowa landscape that show evidence of marine invertebrates such as...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Frog Experiment

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Your science class reads a silly story in which a mad scientist makes absurd conclusions about an experiment that he conducted. One at a time, he cuts off a frog's leg and commands it to jump. With three, two, and one leg, the frog...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Kernels of Wisdom: Investigating Natural Variations in Corn

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Here is a brain-popper! Corn, or more appropriately, maize, was intentionally domesticated by humans around 9,000 years ago and over a period of hundreds to thousands of years! Genetics and botany researchers have collaborated to find...