Curated OER
Comparing Countries
Young scholars compare facts about different countries. In this comparing lesson, students collect information about the US and another country and compare them. Young scholars locate countries on the map and make a hypothesis about the...
Curated OER
Time Management
Students plot activities for a 24 hour day. They record their information on a spread sheet program. Students list categories they use and write equations for cells that add cells of each category together. Students create a pie chart of...
Curated OER
These Maps are for the Birds
Young scholars identify and study New York State Breeding Bird Atlas maps to learn where different bird species nest and how their distributions have changed over time. They also identify how maps serve as representations of a...
Curated OER
Beans and Birds: A Natural Selection Simulation
High schoolers solve the following problem concerning the evolution of seed color in pinto bean plants: "How does natural selection change the frequency of genes or traits over many generations?" They use the constructivist approach to...
Curated OER
Fresh Water and land of Kiribati and Hawaii (Molokai)
Fourth graders examine the islands of Hawaii. Using this information, they organize it and create a map or graph that represents the data. As a class, they discuss how the watersheds on the islands are different and how people react to...
Curated OER
Gummy Bear Picture Graph
First graders investigate picture graphs. In this graphing lesson, 1st graders create a picture graph with the x-axis being number and the y-axis being color. Students sort their gummy bears by color and use pictures of colored bears...
Curated OER
Exploring the Biomes of South America
Sixth graders complete a five-week unit investigating the eight major biomes of South America. They conduct Internet research, collect short-term and long-term climate data, and create a HyperStudio slideshow stack about a selected biome...
Curated OER
Length of the Day
Students investigate how the Earth's rotation affect the length of day. In this earth science lesson, students construct a sighting apparatus and record their observations over a few days. They analyze data collected and formulate a...
EngageNY
From Ratio Tables, Equations and Double Number Line Diagrams to Plots on the Coordinate Plane
Represent ratios using a variety of methods. Classmates combine the representations of ratios previously learned with the coordinate plane. Using ratio tables, equations, double number lines, and ordered pairs to represent...
Kenan Fellows
Lego Thinking and Building
Run a simulated airplane manufacturing plant with your pupils as the builders! Learners build Lego airplane models and collect data on the rate of production, comparing the number produced to the number defective. Using linear...
NOAA
Tracking a Drifter
Be shore to use this drifter resource. The third installment of a five-part series has learners using the NOAA's Adopt-a-Drifter website to track to movement of a drifter (buoy) in the ocean. Graphing the collected data on a map allows...
Curated OER
Voter Turnout
Explore politics by analyzing the voting process. Pupils discuss the purpose of casting votes in an election, then examine graphs based on the data from a previously held election's turnout. The lesson concludes as they answer study...
Kenan Fellows
Density
Most scholars associate density with floating, but how do scientists determine the exact density of an unknown liquid? The third lesson in a seven-part series challenges scholars to find the mass and volume of two unknown liquids. Each...
Nuffield Foundation
Monitoring Water Pollution with Invertebrate Indicator Species
Healthy invertebrates mean healthy ponds. An outdoor activity has scholars collect samples of invertebrates from local lakes or ponds. They identify and count different species and use the information to estimate the level of pollution...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Historical Climate Cycles
Ice core samples give scientists access to climates of old—those from more than 800,000 years ago. Through an analysis of various temperature graphs from ice cores, tree rings, and weather stations, scholars compare historical climates...
K20 LEARN
Round and Round We Go
Connect the dots on trigonometry with K'nex. Scholars use a K'nex model of a Ferris wheel to collect data points to plot on a height versus time graph. They'll then consider what type of function best models the data in the graph—and...
Curated OER
Interpreting Statistics: A Case of Muddying the Waters
Is river pollution affecting the number of visitors to Riverside Center, and is the factory built upstream the cause of the pollution? Let your class be the judge, literally, as they weigh the statistical evidence offered by the factory...
Center for History Education
To What Extent Were Women's Contributions to World War II Industries Valued?
Women rose to the challenge when the nation's war effort called them—but were sent home when the GIs came back from World War II. Young historians consider whether the United States valued women's contributions during the war using a...
Center for Learning in Action
Density
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.
Center for Learning in Action
Water – Changing States (Part 2)
Here is part two of a two-part lesson 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...
Rural Science Education Program
Bees and Flowers – Partners in Pollination
Why are bees so important? After several activities where kids investigate the form and function of flowers, they learn about the different types of bees and label them. They then examine pollen under a microscope and decide which bees...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Are All Plants Created Equal?
Photosynthesis requires energy and produces food, and cellular respiration produces energy and requires food. An interesting lesson analyzes the factors that affect the rates of photosynthesis and respiration. Classes spend one day...
NOAA
What Killed the Seeds?
Can a coral cure cancer? Take seventh and eighth grade science sleuths to the underwater drugstore for an investigation into emerging pharmaceutical research. The fifth installment in a series of six has classmates research the wealth of...
Curated OER
2nd Grade - Act. 23: Sprout Houses
Read the story "Sunflower House," by Eve Bunting with your 2nd graders to investigate the relationships between plants and animals. They will discover how living things change during their lives by creating their own sprout houses....