Give your pupils a front row seat at the biggest light show in the sky this year! In addition to admiring the total solar eclipse, young astronomers can explain the phenomenon with a little help from an inquiry-based instructional...

The moon takes just over 27 days to orbit around Earth. Young scientists position themselves as the earth as they rotate around the sun and hold the moon. This allows them to observe the patterns and phases of the moon.

Young scientists use a globe and a light to simulate the rotation of the earth and sun to show the seasons. Additionally, they simulate direct sunlight and indirect sunlight showing intensity of the sun, and answer questions based...

Do great gardeners really have green thumbs—or just really great soil? Environmental scholars discover what makes Earth's soil and soil quality so important through research and experimentation. Learners also develop an understanding of...

Scholars find Earth won't support humans much longer and need to identify a planet with water to inhabit. They test four unknown samples and determine which is the closest to water. Then they explain and defend their results.

Students learn about wind at different altitudes above the earth. In this wind lesson plan, students use kites or balloons with attached streamers to observe the wind speed, wind turbulence and shear at different elevations. Students...

Here is a fantastic experiment-based lesson on water conservation, waste, and filtration. The lesson plan is well-developed and provides background information, discussion leads, and six scripted lab activities anyone can do. The class...

Four fabulous activities immerse amateur astronomers into measuring objects that we cannot handle. The experiences are applied to NASA's Space Interferometry Mission, which will take measurements of planets around stars other than our...

Middle school science stars examine fuels and energy with a variety of activities. They begin with a KWL chart, read an informative passage, and then complete a puzzle. The puzzle itself is included. Cleverly, each piece corresponds to a...

Galapagos Penguins are the only penguins on earth that live north of the equator (in the wild). In this last lesson plan a discussion on how the Galapagos islands developed their populations and diversity sparks the introduction. Two...

It's hot today, but is that the weather or the climate? This colorful presentation isolates both concepts to allow for better understanding by covering the positioning of the planet, making comparisons of land versus water, and looking...

What an inspiring PowerPoint! The color scheme and pictures all contribute to the scientific style of this PowerPoint and will keep the attention of your junior high kids. The diagrams help illustrate the positioning of the moon, sun and...

If Earth is modeled by a grapefruit, what planet could be represented by a golf ball? This activity uses everyday and not-so-everyday objects to create a model of the Solar System.

Sunrise, sunset, swiftly fly the years! Your earth scientists can also fly through a year of daylight data. They analyze a graph and then answer five multiple choice questions about the rising and setting of the sun, the total number of...

According to the Mauna Loa observatory, carbon dioxide levels increased by 3 ppm in our atmosphere between 2015–2016. Individuals analyze carbon dioxide data from around the world and then share this with a home group in lesson...

How much is your toaster costing you every day? Young environmentalists calculate the monetary costs of household appliances based on their average consumption of wattage.

Forty-five states and territories in the USA are at moderate to very high risk of earthquakes. The discussion-based lesson plan covers what to do before, during, and after an earthquake. The 14th lesson plan in the series includes...

Cell phones are likely made of gold—at least part of them! An interesting lesson explains the conventional and not-so-conventional uses of the popular element gold. From the Inca empire to modern-day technology, learners discover gold...

Rock out with the second installment of a five-part series on earth materials and processes. Your budding geologists make observations of given rock samples and posit classification systems for rocks. They then learn about the...

Students investigate how the sun travels across the sky at different latitudes using Solar Motion Demonstrator. In this earth science lesson, students explain why seasons change. They study how the tilt of the Earth's axis affects...

In this earth science worksheet, 3rd graders go outside on a day that has both sun and clouds. They explain, without looking at the sun, how they can tell when the sun is hidden by clouds. They look at pictures that show the sun shining...

In this science worksheet, students unscramble eight words that are associated with recycling inside of a pyramid. Students check their answers when done.

Students identify and use the starts to tell time just as people had for thousands of years. They identify the stars that appear to rise in the east and set in the west, and that those stars near the North Pole appear to go in circles...

In this nature vocabulary worksheet, students identify nature vocabulary words by choosing the correct word for each picture. Students complete 18 problems.