Curated OER
Eco-Detectives
Students explore natural decomposers. In this decomposing lesson, students participate in a WebQuest to discover how nature handles decomposition. Students compare natural methods for decomposition with recycling efforts.
Curated OER
Carbon Cycle Game
In this carbon cycle lesson, middle schoolers review the carbon cycle and visit stations in the room where they experience every phase in the carbon cycle. Middle schoolers journal about their journey through the cycle and...
Curated OER
Ourselves
Students identify the main parts of the human body. They point to various parts of their own body, cut out pictures of humans and animals and sort them into the two categories, discuss the differences between animals and humans, and...
Curated OER
Family Heritage Cookbook
Students compare favorite family recipes. In this cultural diversity lesson, students interview family members and record favorite recipes. Students examine cultural diversity through favorite foods.
Curated OER
Dispose of Waste Properly
Students examine how to dispose of waste properly and discover how pollution affects plants and animals that live in streams. In this effects of waste activity, students explore biodegradable detergents and the concept of dilution as the...
Curated OER
Interdependence and Adaptation
Fifth graders construct a food web to illustrate how animals and plants are interdependent. In this interdependence lesson plan, 5th graders identify how consumers, producers, herbivores, carnivores and predators are related in a...
Curated OER
Earth Day
Students participate in activities that familiarize them with what Earth Day is, why it is important, and why it is a celebration.
Curated OER
Friction
Students explore friction as a force that slows moving objects, explain conclusions in terms of the roughness or smoothness of surfaces, relate results to predictions, and begin to know how to plan a fair test.
Curated OER
Earth, Sun, and Moon
Students participate in a demonstration and complete an online activity that illustrates the earth orbits the sun once a year, and that the moon takes approximately 28 days to orbit the earth.
Curated OER
Using Electricity
Students read The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch to become familiar with the way a lighthouse works.In this using electricity lesson, student create lighthouses with plasticine clay and a working circuit. Students complete a worksheet on...
Curated OER
Sorting and Using Materials
Students explore materials and their properties. For this matter lesson, students identify objects and describe their properties. Students test and sort materials using an interactive whiteboard, followed by a group discussion of what...
Curated OER
How We See Things
Students investigate how mirrors reflect light. In this reflection lesson, students draw the path of the light reflected from a mirror. Students construct a list of objects that are light sources.
Curated OER
Tree Top Canopy Field Trip
Students visit the Greenheart Canopy Walkway. In this environmental lesson, students experience a coastal rain forest ecosystem. Students interact and explore the different layers of the rain forest.
Curated OER
Venus Flytrap
Young scholars study the Venus Flytrap including its habitat and how it eats. In this ecology lesson students complete several experiments using a Venus Flytrap to see how it reacts to various conditions.
Curated OER
Habitats
Students complete food chains for organisms in three environments. They use copies of the Habitat worksheet. Students review the food chain terms with the teacher. They research related food chains, and interlink these to form a food...
Curated OER
Landscaping for Wildlife
Students identify the essential elements needed for promoting wildlife habitat. They describe the terms used in habitat design and the shelter for wildlife. Students explore how to create a pond to support wildlife and how to create a...
Curated OER
Micro-Organisms
Learners investigate micro-organisms with an on line activity. In this micro-organism on line lesson plan, students identify bacteria, viruses and fungi projected onto a white board. Learners work in groups and use a computer and an on...
Curated OER
The Expedition Gets Underway
In this Lewis and Clark Expedition learning exercise, learners read for information and complete comprehension activities. In this fill in the chart, journal entry, and multiple choice learning exercise, students answer twenty questions.
Curated OER
WALK, DON'T RUN
1. Bring two quarts of moist soil, a cake pan, a sprinkling can of water and a quart of grass clippings to class.
2. Share background material, and introduce the word "erosion."
3. Prepare a small model hill by mounding the soil in the...
Curated OER
Classroom Animals and Pets - Insects and Co.- Walking Sticks
Young scholars observe walking stick insects. They prepare a habitat for a walking stick. Students discuss the characteristics of these insects. They examine the parts of the body.
Curated OER
Where's the Period in the Periodic Tables?
Students investigate the Periodic Table of Elements. The teacher is provided with the necessary background information to complete the instructional activity. Students practice matching the element symbol to its place on the chart.
Curated OER
Agriculture in Motion
Youngsters learn about simple machines that could be used on a farm. They learn about agricluture, listen to a farmer speak, compare and contrast different farm machines, and then design their own. Note that although the publisher...
Cal Recycle
Conserving Natural Resources
Trying to plan an engaging elementary science unit on natural resources? Conserve your energy! This five-part series of lessons and hands-on activities has exactly what you need to teach young scholars about the importance of conservation.
Curated OER
Biological Communities
Young scholars identify consumers and producers in different communities. Students collect a variety of soil samples and record organisms found in the samples.