Thirty percent of energy used by schools is used inefficiently! Part two in the series of 12 has groups perform energy audits of their schools as part of the Cool Schools Challenge. Each group is assigned a specific room, performs the...

Students identify different climate regions and local weather patterns.  In this cloud coverage instructional activity students use NASA satellite data and import it into Excel. 

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill directly impacted an area of the Gulf of Mexico the size of Oklahoma. A marine biology lesson looks at the impact of an oil spill on the deeper parts of the ocean. Scholars download actual data collected...

It's time to redesign the healthcare system. The seventh installment of a 9-part technology/engineering series teaches future engineers about patient flow and how to design healthcare centers to improve flow. Classroom simulations allow...

Open with a discussion on weather and climate and then explain how tree rings can provide scientists with information about the earth's past climate. Pupils analyze graphics of simulated tree rings from various US locations for the...

Requiring more than one class period, this resource takes earth science learners on a journey through a watershed. Using ArcGIS Explorer, an online geographic information system, they view maps of watersheds and surrounding landscapes....

Elementary learners explore coin mint dates. First, they listen to the book Alexander Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday by Judith Viorst. They then sort a collection of coins according to their mint date and put them in order from oldest...

Class members engage in a STEM experiment and investigate how materials affect heating in a house by creating models of houses and using different top surface materials. They record the temperature inside the models and consider what the...

Students explore weather instruments. In this weather lesson, students make rain gauges, anemometers, and barometers following the instructions given in the lesson. Students set up a weather station using their instruments and record and...

The climate change debate, in the political arena, is currently a hot topic! Learners explore carbon dioxide levels in our atmosphere and what this means for the future in the 11th installment of 12. Through an analysis of carbon dioxide...

Avoiding lab safety rules will not give you super powers. The lesson opens with a demonstration of not following safety rules. Then, young chemists practice their lab safety while finding the mass of each item in a mixture and trying to...

Geology geniuses analyze sediment samples with a hand lens and sort according to physical characteristics. They also learn about the processes of cementation, compaction, and lithification within the rock cycle. The lesson plan is...

Scholars shake their way to understanding half-life with the help of candy. They observe and record which side candy lands on to graph the exponential decay in the fifth lesson of seven integrating chemistry and algebra. Combining...

Bring the class into the probability by having everyone count buttons on their shirts. Organize the data into the chart provided and chose different possibilities such as "female with one button" or "all middle schoolers with more than...

In this real-world example, algebra learners start to get a sense of how to represent the relationship between two variables in different ways. They start by looking at a partial table of values that define a linear relationship. They...

Explore the concept of density within states of matter—gases, liquids, and solids—through a group experiment in which young scientists test objects' texture, color, weight, size, and ability to sink or float.    

Here is part two of a two-part activity in which scholars investigate the changing states of water—liquid, solid, and gas—and how energy from heat changes its molecules. With grand conversation, two demonstrations, and one hands-on...

Who doesn't love gold and silver? Brine shrimp, that's who! Learners conduct an experimental lesson to monitor the toxicity of gold and silver nanoparticles on brine shrimp. They synthesize solutions to expose the brine shrimp to and...

Investigate the Hardy-Weinberg Principle to explain genetic equilibrium. The 10th lesson plan of a series of 12 is a laboratory exploration of genetic equilibrium. Your classes use a mixture of beans to model allele and genotype...

On September 26, 1991, four women and four men entered the scientific experiment, Biosphere 2; the doors were sealed for two years in order to study the interactions of a biosphere. In the activity, scholars explore biospheres by...

It's getting hot in here! The first in a series of six lessons has learners model nuclear fusion with a simple lab investigation. Groups collect data and analyze results, comparing their models to the actual process along the way.

Now it's time for all of the data collected in previous lessons to be applied to the design of a rain garden. This resource can only be used as part of the greater whole, since learners will need to rely on gathered knowledge in order to...

Learners compare and contrast characters from various texts and compile the collected data into several graphic organizers.

Third in a set of lessons regarding reservoirs, dams, and hydropower, this involves a two-day hydropower plant simulation. Collaborative groups build, maintain, and finance the plant. The transparency of the reservoir setup can be...