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Propellers, Forces and Energy
Students construct a model airplane, measure distance, and calculate velocity. In this creative lesson students work in groups to build a model and use it to calculate distances and velocity.
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Permafrost
Students use a thermometer to analyze soil temperature data to determine which soil sample is normal, and which one is permafrost. In this permafrost lesson plan, students participate in a hands on activity where they identify the active...
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Candy Quakes
Eighth graders, using a candy bar, gum, and Twizzlers, demonstrate the effects of deformational forces on the earth's crust. They examine the processes of rock and fossil formation.
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How We Use Rocks: Part 1
Second graders read books about rocks, observe rocks and locate a special rock to observe more closely. They complete a worksheet about the chosen rock and create an art project using rocks or pebbles.
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Riding the Gravity Wave
Students write a sketch of an artist or athlete that has pushed the limits on gravity. They explore concepts of rhythm, balance and friction. They examine how engineers design sports equipment.
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Clouds and the Weather
Fourth graders analyze the relationship of clouds and local weather. Students also observe and record cloud data and weather conditions daily as they research different cloud types. The data is analyzed looking for trends in daily...
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Locating Vent Fields Using CTD Data
Students describe the way hydrothermal vents work. Students work on locating vent regions through remote collection of data about water temperature and density. Comparing density and temperatures graphs, students search for indicators...
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What are Rocks and Minerals? How can they help us?
Sixth graders investigate the difference between rocks and minerals. They name the three kinds of rocks (sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic) and know the differences between them.
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Rainforest Alliance: Biodiversity
Fifth graders compare biodiversity in their neighborhood and in the rainforest. In this biodiversity instructional activity, 5th graders read stories and gather information about the diversity of life found in their area and in the...
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Deforestation
Students study the effects of deforestation. In this environmental lesson, students view a PowerPoint slideshow about the importance of trees. Students read The Lorax and discuss what the characters represent in our society.
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Magnetic Mapping
Students draw arrows to show the direction the compass needle is pointing when it is placed around different points of a penny and a bar magnet. Students must then answer questions about the activity on a provided worksheet.
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Making Marbles
Students perform a simulation in which they work for a toy company and have to figure out how many marbles of different sizes can be made with the provided material. They must design their own experiment to figure this out.
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Coffee Cooling
Students explore the factors that affect how long coffee stays hot. They develop a question and a testable hypothesis for one factor such as initial temperature or size of opening of the container. Then they design and conduct an...
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How Effective is Perspiration at Cooling?
Students collect data on the cooling of water in two different test tubes, one that is wrapped in wet newspaper and one in dry newspaper. They then relate this cooling effect to the body's perspiration.
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The Nutritional Content of Food
Students are given three unknown samples and must perform two chemical tests in order to determine if the samples contains protein and/or starch. Students work with corrosive or toxic reagents.
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School Site Ecosystem
Fourth graders are introduced to the concept of ecosystem; specifically, the interrelationships among plants and animals within an ecosystem, and their relationships to the environment in which they live and interact.
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Charting Seasonal Changes
Students research the Earth's patterns of rotation and revolution, create a chart and graph of these patterns and use them to explain the causes of night and day and summer and winter.
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Dogs & Darwin
Ninth graders construct and conduct a laboratory experiment illustrating the transfer of mutations. They compare and contrast natural selection in organisms with long and short reproductive cycles.
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Earth's History
Seventh graders study the law of superposition by creating models of fossils in layers of rock. They examine how fossils are usually found in sedimentary rock which leads to the study of geologic history in those rocks.
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Classification of Minerals
Students identify a specific mineral using Moh's Scale of Hardness. They also conduct research about the mineral looking for factors such as value, abundance ,location, and current uses. The lesson plan integrates technology with the...
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Animal Adaptations
students in groups to work on bulletin board, making a list of animal adaptations. They write an example of each body covering and find pictures of animals with these coverings. They mount pictures and label the covering. They should be...
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Plants
Young scholars illustrate the major parts of a plant, classify some plant foods we eat as roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds. They also name some animals that use seeds, leaves, and fruit for food.
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Matter
Eighth graders explore chemical reactions and their products. They define a chemical reaction and describe the characteristics of a chemical reaction. Students classify chemical reactions.
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Elements In Chemistry: Solids, Liquids and Gases
Young scholars investigate the kinetic-molecular theory. In this state of matter lesson, students consider the differences of melting glaciers, melting icebergs and investigate on what happens when submerged water melts.