Curated OER
Cartoons in the Classroom: Conserve or Drill
To drill or to conserve? This question is the foundation of the political cartoons up for critical analysis in this well-composed worksheet. Learners will analyze two cartoons guided by background information and excellent questions for...
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: Drawing Attention to Government Secrecy
How much do we know about our government? This engaging topic for teens is made especially interesting through analysis of 2 political cartoons. Background information on Sunshine Week makes the cartoons more accessible, and 3 talking...
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: Why are Cartoonists Vital to Democracy
A thought-provoking activity doesn't prompt learners to analyze a political cartoon, but rather the importance of political cartoonists in general. They work together and discuss the role cartoonists play in the democratic system. Use...
NOAA
A Day in the Life of an Ocean Explorer
What's life like aboard an ocean exploration vessel? Junior oceanographers examine the important role of communication in ocean research in lesson two of a five-part series from NOAA. The materials introduce the class to life on board...
NOAA
The Oceanographic Yo-yo
How does chemistry help deep-sea explorers? Part four of a five-part series of lessons from aboard the Okeanos Explorer introduces middle school scientists to technologies used in ocean exploration. Groups work together to analyze data...
Australian Government
The Great Artesian Basin
Covering 23% of the continent and holding 64,900 cubic kilometers of water, the Great Artesian Basin is the primary source of water for much of inland Australia. Using detailed student worksheets, experiments, and case studies, young...
Curated OER
Designing and Creating Earth Science Lessons with Google Earth
Everything from adding an overlay to uploading images to navigating the software, teachers become apt at using Google Earth™ in the classroom to create Earth Science lessons.
Curated OER
Who Am I?
Students classify organisms into one of five categories: producer, consumer, decomposer, predator, or prey. Students play a "Who Am I" game. Signs are hung on the backs of fellow students They must ask questions to determine what...
BioEd Online
Arm Model
Arm your young scientists with knowledge about anatomy as they build their own model of the elbow joint. Help them get a firm grasp on how muscles and bones interact to allow movement as they try different positions for the muscles on...
BioEd Online
Bone Structure: Hollow vs. Solid
What is meant by the phrase "form follows function?" Allow your budding biologists to discover first-hand through two activities. In the first, groups work together to discover whether a solid cylinder or an empty cylinder can support...
BioEd Online
The Skeleton
Don't be chicken to try a lesson plan that compares the anatomy of birds to humans. Read the background information so you don't have to wing it when it comes to the anatomy of a chicken. Prepare cooked chicken bones by soaking them in a...
BioEd Online
Muscles and Bones: Nutrition
Got milk? Or almonds, sardines, or tofu? Calcium is important throughout life, but especially so for developing bodies. If teens do not consume enough calcium while they are growing, they are at a much higher risk of osteoporosis and...
BioEd Online
Good Stress for Your Body
Stress the importance of the different types of pressure our mind and body experience in a lesson about how certain types of stress are actually necessary and good for our bodies. As astronauts and people with injuries can attest, not...
BioEd Online
Muscle Fibers
What better way to learn about muscle than by dissecting one? Using cow muscle (beef), learners compare bundles of yarn to muscle fibers as they explore each. The supplemental reading about astronauts losing muscle mass in space and what...
BioEd Online
Center of Gravity
Between the pull of gravity and the push of air pressure, it's a wonder animals can balance or move at all. With a hands-on lesson about the center of gravity, learners discuss their own experiences with the topic, then work with...
BioEd Online
Skeletal Structures
What better way to study the structures of organisms than by creating a new being? After considering different types of skeletal supports (exoskeleton and endoskeleton), budding biogeneticists work together to create their own animals -...
BioEd Online
Muscles and Bones in Space
Being an astronaut takes not only high mental acuity, but also a high level of physical fitness, especially for those who spend a long amount of time away from Earth, such as the astronauts serving on the International Space Station....
Baylor College
Heart and Circulation: Pre- and Post-Assessments
Middle schoolers demonstrate what they know about the structure and function of the heart and blood vessels. A set of 15 multiple-choice questions also addresses how the heart handles microgravity and how animals without circulatory...
Baylor College
It Begins with the Heart
Aspiring anatomists label a photograph of a human heart by comparing it to a colored diagram on the same page. The video that is mentioned in the procedure does not seem to be available, but the overview provides plentiful background...
Baylor College
The Heart is a Pump
Circulate this news: the heart is a pump containing one-way valves! Following the previous instructional activity on the external structure of the heart, learners now take a look at the inside. They use a three-color diagram to label a...
Baylor College
What is Blood Pressure?
Find out how we describe the force created by the blood against the walls of the vessels in a heart-pumping instructional activity! As part of a unit on the heart and circulatory system, cardiology kids use a blood pressure monitor to...
University of Minnesota
Beautiful Brain: Do You See What I See?
Can art play tricks on your eyes, and can a still painting really appear to vibrate? The second lesson in a four-part series discusses the way our beautiful brains translate visual images. It highlights the style of optical art and...
University of Minnesota
Beautiful Brain: Step Inside the Brain
Before digital microscopes, scientists hired artists to draw the things visible in the microscope. Through training in neuroscience and art, Cajal revolutionized the way we view the beautiful brain. The third lesson plan in a series of...
University of Minnesota
Beautiful Brain: Strangest Dream
Do words change or add meaning or interest to a work of art? The final instructional activity in a four-part series on the beautiful brain as a work of art focuses on art analysis. Scholars write a story about exploring art from the...