Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Is There Really Life on Mars?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine the work of scientists and determine how they test their theories.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Day and Night

For Teachers K - Higher Ed
Students discuss why day and night occur after visualizing a teacher-led demonstration.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Using A Winogradsky Column to Analyze Microbial Communities

For Teachers 4th - 11th
Students use easily obtained materials to study ecological succession in a microbiological community. They collect water samples from outdoor sources in plastic bottles to observe and record changes.
Lesson Plan
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Dam-it? I Just Don't Know!?!

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders analyze two different large dams: The Hoover Dam and the Three Gorges Dam. They compare and contrast the two dams.
Lesson Plan
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Weather Myths

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders relate myths to weather phenomenon. They write and illustrated a weather myth and present it to the class.
Lesson Plan
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Into the Pond

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders use a pond to explore macroinvertebrates and other organisms. They use a dichotomous key to classify the organisms and maintain a journal recording their findings.
Lesson Plan
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The Homestead Act

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders analyze the Native American's viewpoint of the Homestead Act. Using one Native American group who lived in Nebraska, they write a letter to the editor of a local newspaper discussing the Homestead Act and how it affected...
Unit Plan
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Exploration and Settlement of the American Southwest

For Teachers 3rd
Students scrutinize the Zuni Pueblo Revolt in this seven lessons unit on early Spanish explorers in the American southwest. The discovery of the Spanish missions, the search for the seven cities of gold, and particular geological...
Lesson Plan
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Geology of Connecticut

For Teachers 8th - 9th
Students examine the geology of Connecticut, including plate tectonics, glaciation, and fossil formation. After reviewing past lessons, they write essays about what life may have been like in the Mesozoic Period. Following a field...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Life on a Fiery Planet

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students study the effects on the evolution of human culture from volcanic events worldwide.
Lesson Plan
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How Things Fly

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students observe photographs of selected twentieth-century aircraft at the National Air and Space Museum and note differences in the design of aircraft wings, fuselages, and engines.
Lesson Plan
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Mystical Chinese

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Pupils relate environmental influences to human situations through Feng Shui, describe various traditional Chinese medical practices, and explore the use of natural forces in Chinese medicine.
Lesson Plan
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Pulsar Stars And Black Holes

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students explore the discovery of pulsar stars, and the characteristics of pulsar stars. Theories and ideas behind black holes are discussed. The issues of women's historical role in science are also touched on.
Lesson Plan
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Green is Beautiful

For Teachers 8th - 11th
Students explore the need to care for the environment and the ways in which their actions can impact their surroundings. They play a board game to illustrate the need to protect the environment.
Lesson Plan
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Fire and Fire Suppression

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers explore forest fires and forest service's new stategies. They study a case of natural burn and the impact of lowering the intensity of a larger forest fire.
Lesson Plan
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Testing Soils for Garden Planting

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders collect soil samples and record the location of the samples by using GPS.
Lesson Plan
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Five Themes of Geography

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students conduct research to determine why geography is important and how it provides information regarding many aspects of the world. They investigate the hemispheres, longitude, latitude and absolute location.
Lesson Plan
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Natural Wonders of China And Japan

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students identify some of the attributes of China and Japan and compare and contrast the way Chinese, Japanese, and American artists represent nature in art. The lesson is for upper-elementary classrooms.
Lesson Plan
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Mystical Chinese

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explore various Chinese beliefs about the environment. Using the internet, they research the characteristics of Feng Shui. They discuss how human actions modify the physical environment and vice versa. They discover how the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Geo-Exchange Box

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students send a box of clues to a class in another Oregon community along with hints to help them study about their community. Students research their own geographic area, determine what they send in their box, then collect and assemble...
Lesson Plan
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The Russian View of Territorial Encroachment

For Teachers 12th
Twelfth graders produce a map illustrating the current NATO members, future nations, and nations that have applied for membership. They research current information regarding NATO, and the Russian viewpoint about the expansion of NATO....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

City Bound

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders identify the reasons for people migrating to cities after the Civil War. Using population data, they discover why populations in cities rose while rural populations fell during 1860 to 1900. They discuss the impact a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What is Migration

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students conduct individual research and participate in discussion be able to identify difference between forced and voluntary migration. They identify if push and pull factors are caused by political, social, economic, or environmental...
Lesson Plan
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Native Species Restoration and its Impact on Local Populations

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students watch video clips of ecosystems and answer questions relating to them.