National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
Size and Scale – Learning about Measurement
Can you visualize one billionth of a meter? It's not easy to understand the scale of a nanometer. Learners use a hands-on lesson to develop an understanding of the size of a nanometer in comparison to common objects. They walk away with...
Curated OER
Get a Leg Up
Traveling through space is an amazing experience, but it definitely takes a toll on the body. After reading an article and watching a brief video, learners perform an experiment that simulates the effects of zero gravity on the...
Baylor College
Modeling Earth's Atmosphere
Life on Earth is made possible by the unique composition of its atmosphere. Working collaboratively, a scale model is created as young scientists learn about the different layers of gas that surround the planet. Cards are included that...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Exploring at the Nanoscale
Nano-nano! Nanotechnology can seem like it's from another planet! After learning about this tiny technology, collaborative groups experiment with how smaller particles affect chemical reactions. They do this by immersing a whole and a...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Classroom Paper Recycling
After reading about the history and recycling of paper, creative crafters collaborate to think of a new process for making recycled paper. A complete teacher's guide and student worksheets are included. There is no written procedure for...
McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center
Global Warming in a Jar
This well-organized lab activity introduces earth science pupils to the greenhouse effect. They will set up two experiments to monitor temperatures in an open jar, a closed jar, and a closed jar containing water. Ideally, you would have...
Oklahoma Ag in The Classroom
Bee Smart Bee Happy
Here is a wonderfully designed lesson on bees and pollination designed for early elementary learners. After a class discussion on bees, pupils pretend to be a bee by picking up nectar off of "flowers" in the class. The flowers are...
Curated OER
Using High School Students to Teach Biology to Deaf Elementary Students
Students teach Biology concepts to elementary students, in particular deaf students, by traveling once a month to the elementary classroom with activities / lessons that have been selected and prepared by the older students.
Curated OER
Applied Science - Science and Math Post Lab
Young scholars utilize a balance scale. In this applied science instructional activity, students compare the weights of two objects using an elementary balance scale. Young scholars balance the scale with weights to find how heavy an...
Curated OER
Ducks in the Flow: Resources about Surface Ocean Currants for the Upper Elementary Classroom
Students investigate surface ocean currents. In this oceanography lesson, students work in small groups to create models that demonstrate surface currents, the Coriolis Effect, and how surface currents move debris. This lesson includes a...
Curated OER
Themes to Encourage Awareness of Environmental Changes on the Shoreline of Connecticut in Elementary School Students: The Case of Kelsey Island
Learners begin the lesson by developing a map of Kelsey Island by following specific instructions. In groups, they are given a block of ice in which they tie a rope around and drag over various rocks for different distances. They...
Curated OER
Science and Technology Timeline
Students develop a time line of discoveries that have occurred in their lifetime. In this time line lesson plan, students research scientifically or technologically related events of interest to them, write a brief description on a 4x6"...
Curated OER
Paper Airplane Science
Fifth graders recognize the need to follow the scientific method carefully and be aware of variables in experiments. In this airplane lesson, 5th graders design and test an airplane, and complete a data sheet. Students retest five...
Curated OER
Earth Science
Young scholars explore the planets and celestial bodies in our solar system. In this outer space lesson, students identify the planets and record journal information about them and other celestial bodies. Young scholars define outer...
Curated OER
Five Senses Lesson Plan
Students listen to The Brave Little Monster, by Ken Baker. In this five senses lesson, students identify the different senses that characters experience in the book they are listening to. They review the senses as a class with hands on...
Curated OER
Lesson Plans for Sweet Dreams: How Animals Sleep
Young scholars explore the sleeping patterns and sleeping habitats of animals. In this where animals sleep lesson, students research different animal species. Young scholars also write and illustrate an animal picture book, make...
Curated OER
Biology In Elementary Schools
Students classify animals into six major animal groups and describe the characteristics of the animals found within each group. For this living and non-living animals lesson, students observe a variety of animals, both living and...
Curated OER
Ecology Lessons
Young scholars examine the relationship between animal adaptations, habitats and community interactions. In this ecology lesson students complete a skull detective worksheet then use their knowledge to analyze a skull.
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
Jupiter’s Relative Size
How do you properly illustrate the extreme size difference between two planets—Earth and Jupiter? With the help of jellybeans, of course! Create a scale model of Jupiter's mass compared to Earth using a fishbowl, 1,400 beans, and a...
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Amazing Birds
What's so amazing about birds? Find out just how amazing birds are with a physics of animal behavior unit created by Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Have learners explore and tap into their observational skills and notice how birds fly, what...
Curated OER
Skull Science
What can your class learn from a skull? With proper facilitation, they can learn about diet, physical adaptations, special differences, and even the environment. Pupils will examine a series of mammal skulls and pelts to help them...
American Chemical Society
Investigating the Line
Note that this lesson is best paired with the preceding lesson in the unit. In that lesson, elementary physical scientists observed that the color coating of M&Ms® candies do not mix when dissolved off of the chocolate surface. Now...
Curated OER
Simple Machines IV - Wheels and Axles
Youngsters are introduced to the basic principles and uses of the wheel and the axle. They come up with every day examples of simple machines and look into why the wheel and the axle are best-used as a paired machine instead of used...
National Geographic
Types of Volcanic Eruptions
Blow the roof off your classroom with this multimedia science activity on volcanic eruptions. A short online video teaches young geologists about shield and composite volcanoes and explores the examples of Kilauea and Mt. Vesuvius,...