California Academy of Science
California's Climate
The United States is a large country with many different climates. Graph and analyze temperature and rainfall data for Sacramento and Washington DC as you teach your class about the characteristics of Mediterranean climates. Discuss the...
Curated OER
Those Particular Plants in Particular Regions
Fourth graders, acting as a botanist, analyze information on different plants in different regions of California. They characterize each plant for each region and answer a variety of question for each plant while doing this study.
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it's Lonely At The Top
Students explore the differnences between food producers in food webs and food consumers in food chains. Behavioral choices of primary and secondary consumers such as herbivores, vegetarians, carnivors, and omnivors are analyzed.
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Biomes of the World (and Canada)
Students explore environments by analyzing food chains. In this biome identification lesson, students define a list of environmental vocabulary terms such as tundra, rain-forest and desert. Students create a fictional self sustainable...
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Forces and Motion
Students are able to analyze gravity as an universal force. They are able to demonstrate ways that simple machines can change force. Students are able to determine how the force of friction retards motion. They are able to describe...
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The Physics of Skateboarding
Students are able to analyze gravity as an universal force. They are able to determine how the force of friction retards motion. Students are able to apply Newton's Laws of Motion ot the way the world works.
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Toward a Sustainable Agriculture
Students analyze organic production systems. In this organic agriculture instructional activity, students examine key organic practices for both crop and livestock. This instructional activity includes 5 different activities, 4 critical...
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Air and Weather
Second graders study Earth's materials. In this air and weather lesson plan, 2nd graders note changes in the weather and examine tools that help us study the weather. Students analyze how changes in the environment make changes in the...
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Bioinformatics
Students conduct a series of scientific investigation using bioinformatics. In this molecular biology lesson, students collect experimental data using different educational softwares. They calculate and analyze relationships using...
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Literature of the Islands and the Sea
Students read an age-appropriate novel in which an island setting plays an important role from a provided list. This will help them understand life on an island. They will analyze the plot, theme, characterization, setting, and style...
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Genetic Testing for Disease Susceptibility
Students explore how testing for particular genetic variations can help people to make decisions in lifestyle and health care choices. They analyze a Web-based case study, participate in class discussion, view video segments and...
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PLATE MOVEMENTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Students label three geological maps with continents provided to analyze the relationships between the movement of tectonic plates and the changes in the climate. In small groups, they discuss their findings and form hypotheses about the...
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Learning From Leaves: From Observation to Inference
Young scholars examine the adaptation of plants to their environments. They analyze and observe the structure, shape, and internal structure of various leaves, and make inferences about the structures.
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Introduction To the Classification of Organisms
Students discuss how scientists classify organisms. In pairs, they analyze and label "specimens" of breakfast cereals in order to classify them into the correct group. They create a dichotomous key for several species of animals.
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A Town in Trouble
Pupils identify and describe the parameters and analytical techniques used to characterize water contamination in a class presentation. They identify the consequences of high contamination levels in the water supply during a class...
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Time to Read
Students identify how the literary elements of theme, point of view, characterization, setting, and plot illustrate the effects of a certain disease on a community. They identify the aspects of the book that are specific to the...
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What Kind of Insect is That?
Fifth graders characterize insects and classify insects according to the Linnaean system. They use hand lenses or microscopes to examine insect body parts.
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Silent Spring
Students read background information about Rachel Carson found on the listed website links. They analyze and answer questions about her work and how it is linked to science then they research pesticide usage and alternative methods.
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Planet Structure & Interior
Students compare Jupiter and Earth. In this Earth and space studies lesson plan, students compare the composition of Earth and Jupiter and analyze how the composition affects the rate at which the planets spin.
NOAA
What Little Herc Saw
See the underwater world through a different pair of eyes! Middle school marine biologists identify deep-sea organisms by examining images taken by an ROV from the Okeanos Explorer. After determining what creatures lie beneath the...
Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Eyes on Dissolved Oxygen
Learn about the factors that affect the way oxygen dissolves in salt water with a chemistry lab. After studying the molecular structure of water, young scientists figure out how aeration, temperature, and organic waste affect dissolved...
University of Kentucky
Beneficial Bug Scavenger Hunt
Many people think of bugs as annoying pests to be squashed, but most insects and spiders are beneficial, eating the actual pests or pollinating plants. After reviewing some of the common bugs in your area (they may differ from those...
Montana State University
Who’s on Top?
What's it like to climb Mount Everest? An educational resource encourages an in-depth knowledge of Mount Everest's scientific missions through a variety of activities, including an analysis of maps, a KWL chart, videos, a simulation, and...