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Curated OER
Gas Laws
A series of attention-grabbing demonstrations and lab activities is outlined in this document. Through them, chemistry kids appreciate the behavior of gases. Inflate balloons, marshmallows, and toothpaste tubes without adding air! Use...
Curated OER
Work and Energy
The first activity may not work for your class if you don't have access to an open area of 30 meters and two cars of different masses, but the remaining activities can be used in any physics course. They all involve the investigation of...
Curated OER
Chemical Formulas for Molecules
Newcomers to chemistry compare hydrogen peroxide to water, realizing that the difference of one oxygen atom significantly affects the chemical properties. Other pairs of compounds and their formulas are also examined. A few chemical...
California Institute of Technology
Physics of Light
Gummy bears are tasty, but did you know they are also used to determine color and light properties? Use the activity as a way to demonstrate light absorption, light reflection, and refraction with high schooler....
Curated OER
Legacies of El Dorado
Students explore the development of urban California as it was driven by the Gold Rush boom. They study historical documents and participate in a variety of hands-on activities designed to reinforce the concept of the activity.
Curated OER
Las Misiones de California
Fourth graders work in partners to complete a series of activities. After reading the introduction, Students select a role of either a "Padre" or "Indigena." As partners, they need time on the computer for research as well as time to...
Curated OER
Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs
Second graders explore weather. In this weather lesson, 2nd graders read Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs and participate in four supplemental science activities. Students participate in Internet research, create weather maps,...
California Department of Education
My Future Lifestyle
Mortgage, insurance, car payments...how much money will your learners need to support their desired lifestyle? Part three in a six-part college and career readiness lesson plan series tasks young job seekers with creating a monthly...
Agriculture in the Classroom
"Steer" Toward STEM: Careers in Animal Agriculture
Think like an engineer and an agricultural scientist over the course of 12 lessons in a STEM based unit. Young scientists take on the roles of animal physiologists, animal geneticists, agricultural engineers, animal nutritionists,...
Channel Islands Film
Island Rotation: Lesson Plan 1
How do scientists provide evidence to support the theories they put forth? What clues do they put together to create these theories? After watching West of the West's documentary Island Rotation class members engage in a series of...
Museum of Tolerance
Documents That Shape Society
The Bill of Rights is a foundational document of American democracy, much like the Nuremberg Laws were a foundational document of the Reichstag of Nazi Germany. But that's where their similarities end. Engage high schoolers in a...
Curated OER
Rock On! Featuring the Igneous, Sedimentary and Metamorphic Trio!
Get your classroom rocking with this four-lesson earth science unit. Through a series of shared reading activities and hands-on investigations, young geologists learn about the three types of rocks and the unique properties of each.
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Water Supply
Participate in three activities that look at the earth's limited water supply and the changes water goes through as it enters each phase of the water cycle. The resource is complete with three activities that demonstrate the changing...
ReadWriteThink
Biography Project: Research and Class Presentation
I Have A Dream ... that after the lesson, all individuals master the reading, writing, researching, listening, and speaking skills the biography project helps them develop. Martin Luther King, Jr. serves as a topic example for a model...
Channel Islands Film
First Contact: Lesson Plan 4 - Grades 5-6
After watching Treasure in the Sea, a documentary about Channel Islands National Park and the video First Contact, about the voyage of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo to the Channel islands, groups research and then compare the...
Curated OER
Phase Changes of Water
A micro-unit on the phase changes of water includes three laboratory activities. Junior scientists compare the densities of ice and water, and then they do the same for cold and warm water. They examine freezing and boiling temperatures....
Curated OER
Physical Properties of Matter
Five fabulous procedures introduce physics or chemistry classes to special properties of matter. They discover adhesion and cohesion, solubility, melting and boiling points, and viscosity through hands-on experiences. Tests are...
Curated OER
Density of Rocks
Given a variety of rocks, junior geologists calculate densities and correlate them to Earth's layers. As a simulation of continental crust, they experiment with how materials of differing density float in water. Finally, they...
Curated OER
Evidence Revealing the Composition of the Atom
Investigators use indirect evidence to guess what is occupying a sealed box. You could also use a set of plastic Easter eggs to encase the unknown items. Another terrific activity involves having students drop a pencil on a sheet of...
Curated OER
Properties of Useful Carbon Compounds
Nine action-packed organic chemistry exercises are contained in this mini-unit on carbon containing compounds. Examples include constructing models of alkanes, producing aromatic esters, and preparing pigments for paint and dyes....
Curated OER
The Watson-Crick Model of DNA Structure
Junior geneticists construct models of DNA to discover sequencing and pairing of nucleotides. They use the models to simulate protein synthesis and then translate the codes into physical traits. Finally, they use the traits to create a...
Curated OER
Circle of Pong
Students, in groups, use given materials to devise a way to deposit a ping-pong ball into a paper cup that is located in the middle of a 6-foot diameter circle, while standing outside the circle.
Curated OER
Getting There: "Do You Want To Go To California?"
Students, in groups, participate in a variety of activities regarding the rise of Anglo-American immigration in the 1840s and its impact upon California. They discuss immigration from the West and the East as it influenced the culture of...
Curated OER
American Journeys: California
Fourth graders work through a series of lessons to study the state of California. They participate in a geography journey instructional activity, poetry instructional activity, a research instructional activity, and examine the rise of...