Students evaluate a hypothetical experimental design and attempt to improve upon it. In this scientific method lesson plan, students are presented with an experiment and are instructed to determine its flaws. They conduct their own...

Students discuss ecosystems, eliciting their current knowledge of an ecosystem. Students receive an Ecosystems document and look at the picture. Students brainstorm connection between the cover picture and ecosystems. The indicated...

Engineering challenges are not just man-made ... nature has its own set of them. A hands-on STEM activity has groups designing a seed dispersal system. Each group can only use one sheet of paper — a tough task!

Students visit a local stream, pond, creek, or river and collect macroinvertebrates. They sort macroinvertebrates and identify each species using a dichotomous key. Students decide on trophic levels and construct a possible food web for...

A few class periods will be required to complete this physics investigation with your high schoolers. There is an unavailable video written into the lesson plan, but there is plenty of material here to bridge the gap. Two terrific...

In collaborative groups, physics learners design and create a web portfolio of internet resoucres explaining poitive and negative acceleration, zero acceleration, and positive and negative velocity. This is a terrific assignment for...

In this water web activity, students explore, analyze and discuss how weather stations interact with maintaining weather conditions and answer two essay questions and ten multiple choice questions.

Learners explore simple and compound machines. In groups of four students, they design a compound machine using K'NEX that has a stated purpose and consists of at least two simple machines.

Ethical concerns are not always black and white. A well-designed lesson presents learners with scenarios for which ethics may come into question. Scholars learn to consider the different sides of a situation and make an unbiased...

Middle schoolers explore water density and design a hydrometer to measure density. This activity is part of Ocean World's home site and excellent resources and links are provided.

Fifth graders evaluate whether various rainforest websites are credible and can be used for research purposes. They listen to the story "The Great Kapok Tree," discuss what makes a website credible, and examine and evaluate various...

The arctic seas contain currents that are both warm (with high salinity) and cold (relatively fresh water) that circulate throughout the year. Through discussion, a lab, and a web quest, participants explore the impacts of melting and...

Learners investigate the Aztec calendar. In this Aztec calendar lesson plan, students look at examples of Aztec calendars, both the solar and lunar calendars. They access web sites to further investigate the calendars before making a...

Students examine the Earth's crust or lithosphere, mantle and core. They complete research using assigned web sites before designing a model of the Earth using items such as Play-Doh, peaches and apples.

Students consider ways to create stable bridges. In this bridge design lesson, students view pictures of bridges that have collapsed. They use the information to work in small groups creating a blueprint for a bridge of their own. Their...

Students work together to design a service learning activity for their community that would benefit the Tijuana estuary. Using the internet, they research the elements of a service learning project and plan their's accordingly. They...

Students look at Web sites containing information about soil and related subjects such as earthworms. They use Web site review sheets to focus their review of the content on the sites and to introduce evaluation concepts for the design...

Third graders study the habits and habitats of ants. They research the use of technology as a valuable investigation tool and access other web sites for future research projects. The students make successful decisions while playing SimAnt.

Young scholars explore musical pitch. In this cross curriculum musical instruments and "sound" physics lesson, students identify and describe common traits of woodwind instruments. Young scholars research "pitch" and what causes pitch...

Aspiring aeronautical engineers demonstrate different forces as they construct and test paper airplanes. This lesson plan links you to a website that models the most effective paper airplane design, an animation describing the forces...

Have your young learners work in pairs to find and research an endangered species. They use research to develop ideas about saving their animal from extinction. Pairs develop a three-dimensional model of the animal's habitat. Then,...

This unit of lessons is designed for 7th through 9th graders. They are introduced to the world of agriculture and the genetic research and various technologies that are associated with agriculture. Pupils work together to come up with a...

Understanding how viruses spread has never been more important. A well-designed WebQuest lesson has young scientists research viruses, how they spread, and how they are treated. They also consider the trends in common viruses in the world.

Sixth graders participate in a Web Quest in order to examine the periodic table of elements. After collecting information about an element of their choice, they share with group members what they have learned. Groups create class...