Ancient texts, like Homer's Odyssey, mentions navigating ships by observing constellations. Pupils learn about the link between history and astronomy as they relate to navigation in the Bronze Age. Scholars complete two hands-on...

Sometimes the best view is from the farthest distance. Satellite imaging makes it possible to create altitude maps from far above the earth. A three-part activity has your young scientists play the role of the satellite and then use...

Weather versus climate: weather relates to short time periods while climate averages the weather of a period of many years. Scholars learn about average temperature and precipitation in various climate zones and then apply statistics...

There's nothing better than a cool breeze blowing in from the ocean. Scholars explore how water affects change in temperature using a hands-on experiment on climate. They use measurement tools to compare the continental and oceanic...

Before maps went mobile, people actually had to learn how to read maps. Pupils look at map elements in order to understand how to read them and locate specific locations. Finally, young cartographers discover how to make aerial maps.

Carbon dioxide is a very important gas; it is present in the air, used in cooking, and supports plant and animal life. Scholars investigate the properties of carbon dioxide with three different activities. They experience a color change,...

A greenhouse provides additional warmth and protection to the plants inside, but what if the greenhouse gets too hot? Pupils discuss and experiment with the difference between natural and anthropogenic greenhouse effect. They measure the...

Explore the world (our world) of melting ice caps. Why are these caps melting? What is the effect of melting ice caps? Dive into the ever-present issue of global warming with a resource that has learners looking at data and participating...

How do you know there is air? Can you see it, smell it, feel it? To begin the investigation, learners watch a video and discuss what they know about air and the atmosphere. Then, they participate in five different hands-on, inquiry-based...

Can people really measure time just by using the sun? Scholars venture outside on a nice, sunny day to build sundials and learn how people measured time 600 years ago. The class builds two different sundials while gaining practice with...

Young scholars collect and identify plant species from campus, create a home herbarium, and compare with the plant species from school.

Fifty eye-catching pages contain six lessons about Roald Dahl's novel, Matilda. Each lesson has a theme and covers a different subject—literacy, social-emotional learning, science, and geography. Scholars analyze characters, examine...

How do plants and animals survive in habitats with very little water? Explore arid ecosystems and the way their inhabitants have adapted with a lesson and science experiment. After kids listen to a presentation about adaptation, they...

Oceans absorb half of the carbon dioxide and 80 percent of the greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere. Scholars learn how and why the oceans store heat more effectively than land and how they help mitigate global warming. Pupils...

Does your class know their planets? Implement an activity that has them describing the solar system, identifying properties of the planets, and placing them in order from their distance from the sun.

Scientists classify everything from the smallest cells to the largest galaxies, but how do they decide on a classification system? Scholars use 40 pictures of galaxies taken by the Hubble Space Telescope to sort and try creating their...

Earth is a complex structure. Learners explore their home, the earth, using a fun hands-on activity. They create tactile models of the earth using ordinary household materials that represent some common features: land, polar caps,...

Since a field trip to the moon isn't possible, bring the moon to young astronomers! Participants use everyday materials to create models of the moon and represent the features on its surface. The materials serve as a tactile as well as a...

Why does Earth experience summer, fall, winter, and spring? Using an informative demonstration, learners see how the angle of the sun on Earth and the rotation of Earth determine the seasons. Scholars work in pairs to learn that the...

Scientists know the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today is higher than at any point in the last 800,000 years. Scholars learn about the amount of thermic radiation absorbed by air and what happens to the rest of the...

Students graph data on fetal and infant mortality rates collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They identify trends in the data and propose potential causes for the trends.

Build learning by breaking atoms! Young scientists study the way energy changes with a hands-on activity. As they roll steel marbles down a ramp, learners test the hypothesis that kinetic energy does not go away with friction...

A scenario is presented for chemistry techs to address. Using titration techniques, they must analyze hydrogen peroxide solution samples. They evaluate accuracy and precision in the process. They also gain experience consulting the MSDS...

How much does the sun heat up a lake or ocean? Scholars use a cup and a strong lamp to investigate the heat transfer and thermal layers in the ocean to come up with the answer. They collect data and graph it in order to better understand...