Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Beautiful Butterfly Tiles

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders create a butterfly drawing that includes the elements of art and principles of design. They create artwork that can be made into ceramic tiles to be installed around the classroom doorways in our new addition.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

WORM WATCHING

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
Students investigate how earthworms help build good soil. They examine the worms carefully to find the ringlike segments and swollen band at the front of the earthworm's body. Students take turns dampening the soil every day and adding...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Topography of Africa

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students study Africa's diverse landscape and investigate how these features impact the available water supply, food sources, and population distribution of the continent. They compare topographical features and their affect on each...
Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Muddy Water!!

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
Investigate water pollution. Learners start out by completing the know and want to know portions of a KWL chart on water pollution. They read a story that stimulates thinking about water pollution and view an online resource related to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Water Cycle Stories

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students create water cycle stories. In this water cycle lesson, students review the parts of the water cycle. They create a story that describes the journey of a water molecule as it makes its way through the cycle and into different...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Day In My Life

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Students brainstorm how they can conserve energy in their daily lives. For this energy lesson plan, students discuss how they use energy and ways to conserve it.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Glacial Striation Investigation

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students operate a GPS unit to investigate the direction of glacier movement. They describe the motion of glacier movement by interpreting a graph. Students explain how scientists use glacier striations to determine glacier movement.
Lesson Plan
Peace Corps

Weather and Water in Ghana

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students investigate the climate of their region. Students research statistics and conduct interviews. Students take a virtual tour of Ghana and discuss its climate. Students consider water conservation and the role it plays in both...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Planet/Constellation Mobile

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students construct three-dimensional solar system mobiles.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Water Cycle and Sources of Pollution

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Students make an island that has a construction site on it. They spill siulated pollution and trash on top of the island and then water it to simulate rain. They will observe how the rain washes dirt, sand, and pollution off the island...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Garbage Pizza

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students examine amount of garbage disposed of by average household weekly, classify different categories of garbage and describe composition of landfills, investigate what happens to waste after it is collected by garbage trucks, and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ecological Footprint

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders discover their own ecological footprint and create a plan for reducing this figure. They extend this to the school and community to see how they are doing on this scale. They discuss the concept of the ecological...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Shrinking Spaces

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students describe the impact of population growth on the environment. They describe how cities affect their surrounding environment and explain how cities are handling growth and its resulting effect on the quality of life. They visit...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Quality of Life

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Students discover that people influence the quality of life of those around them. They read the literature selection 'Berenstein Bears, Don't Pollute' and discuss the many ways people have changed the environment by polluting.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

WHO CARES FOR THE LAND?

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
Students explore the importance of natural resources. They are given copies of the story, "Who Cares For The Land," and students follow along as the teacher reads it. Students identify the key points in the story. (Soil, water and air...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Nitrogen Cycle

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students identify the main concepts and ideas of the nitrogen cycle. They review key concepts covered up to this point in ecology including food chains, food webs, energy pyramids, and bio-geochemical cycles.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Universe

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners describe what scientists mean by an "expanding universe" in their own words. They explain how scientists comprehend the universie is expanding. Students comprehend the vast scale of the universe. They comprehend how theory...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Seismic Waves

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students identify the four types of seismic waves, their characteristics and effects. Then they predict the level of damage each wave might cause in a residential area and test their predictions against several computer animations. ...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lights, Camera, Action!

For Teachers K - 4th
Students explore various images and recognize that in order to make a visible image using a camera or using our eye, light is required. In small groups, they observe how the eyes respond to changes in light and record their observations...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Center of Gravity

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders conduct experiments to identify the center of gravity. In this gravity lesson, 4th graders do two hands-on experiments to increase their understanding of this concept. This self-discovery lesson provides students with the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Solar Cells Work: Converting Sunlight to Electricity

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students examine how to convert sunlight to electricity.  In this renewable energy sources lesson plan students explain how solar cells are used and use a voltmeter to measure the energy produced by a solar panel.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ceres and Pluto: Dwarf Planets as a New Way of Thinking about an Old Solar System

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students examine the new categories of planets and how planets were reclassified.  In this solar system lesson students complete activities using Venn diagrams and images of planets. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

After the Garbage Can: Where Does Our Trash Go?

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students explore how waste disposal has changed over time and what the current issues are.  In this disposal instructional activity students collect data and create graphs.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sea Level Trends ~ Ocean Front Property: An "Immerging" Market

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Young oceanographers take a look at sea level data from several cities over a few centuries. They use the data to fuel a discussion about what kind of changes are taking place and the impact they are having on the coastal ecosystems....