North American Montessori Center
Sun and Moon Autumnal Equinox Activities
Two hands-on activities celebrate the sun and moon autumnal equinox. First, scholars create a cairn using a shoebox, flashlight, and drawing tools to view the sun's progression. Second, learners take to the kitchen to bake mooncakes...
Baylor College
Food for Kids
Immediately capture the attention of your class with the smell of freshly popped popcorn in the sixth lesson of this series on the needs of living things. Young scientists first use their senses to make and record observations of...
Purdue University
Global Design for the Seasons
People don't all get the same amount of sun at the same time of the year. Collaborative groups explore how the motion of Earth contributes to the idea in an inquiry-based STEM instructional activity. Learners first investigate how the...
Curated OER
Glaciers and Ice Wedging
Fourth graders observe and identify a variety of weathering and geological activities in the area in which they live. This focuses primarily on what happened during the Ice Age, and how, even today, glaciers are shaping and re-shaping...
Curated OER
Message in the Waves :Two Earth Day Lessons for Middle School Students
Fifth graders are introduced to Earth day and study the nesting colonies of Midway. For this Earth Day lesson students watch an online clip and see the effects our waste has on wildlife.
Curated OER
Air Resistance and Friction
Physics learners experiment with three laboratory activities to learn about air resistance and friction. First, they use a hair dryer to move different sized spheres to determine the relationship between cross-sectional area and air...
National Geographic
Expedition Clothing Then and Now
Introduce your class to the Everest expedition to reenact a 1924 climb by George Mallory and Andrew Irvine. Discuss and show pictures of the types of clothing worn at that time and compare it to today's state-of-the-art climbing gear....
Core Knowledge Foundation
Animals and Habitats Tell It Again!™ Read-Aloud Anthology
A read-aloud anthology explores various habitats and the animals that inhabit them, from the Artic to the desert, the forest, and bodies of water. First graders listen to and discuss texts and complete word work. Each lesson offers...
SeaWorld
Animal Migrations
Here is a fabulous set of activities for your young scientists. Each instructional activity contains map, hands-on, and game activities that will help the class understand why and how animals migrate from one place to another. First...
Curated OER
A Lot Of Garbage
Students collect their own garbage. In this recycling lesson, students keep their own garbage for a day in their own personal garbage bag and then consider methods to reduce wastefulness.
Curated OER
Animals Of Florida
Students study about animals and their habitats, their environments, their young and their diets. They participate on a field trip to a local spring to take digital pictures of the environment the animals live in, what they eat and then...
Curated OER
The Effects of Alcohol and other Teratogens: A model using Zebrafish
High schoolers investigate the interference of various drugs on an embryo through experimentation. This is an open-ended lab to allow students to see effects of various chemicals humans choose to put in their bodies and create...
Curated OER
Science: It's a Nutty World!
Fourth graders conduct Internet research to explore various peanut-related topics. Among topics they investigate are: agriculture, scientific uses, and the research of George Washington Carver. As a technology component, 4th graders...
Curated OER
Our Class, Our Earth day
Young scholars understand the importance of participating in recycling and clean-up efforts in the community. In this recycling lesson plan, students respond to questions after reading "The Wartville Wizard" by Don Madden. Young scholars...
Curated OER
Discovering the Properties of Matter
Young scholars identify the properties of the three states of matter and observe the movement of Oobleck and be able to compare its movement to that of solids and liquids. They record in their Science Journal what they discovered about...
National First Ladies' Library
The Power of Images in Shaping Ideas
Learners examine the role of photography in recording and sharing history. They view online photos that Life magazine has identified as changing the world, then conduct research on one of the photos. Students create and present an oral...
Curated OER
Preparing Ourselves, Presentations, and Booths for the Campaign Day
Eighth graders set up for campaign day. In this campaign lesson, 8th graders finish up a previous project to present to their campaign party (this is lesson 9 of 12). They work on language arts, science, and art presentations for...
Curated OER
Methods of Teaching Evolution To Middle School Children
Students study evolutionary thought. They examine how characteristics are inherited and that they are a source of variation. They illustrate the perpetuation, elimination, and variation made among members of a species. They determine...
Curated OER
What Does Your First Day of Winter Look Like?
Students brainstorm the characteristics of winter. Using an email program, they share their characteristics of winter with those in another part of the country. They compare and contrast each letter they receive with their own criteria...
Chandler Unified School District
Art Masterpiece—Leonardo da Vinci Inventions
After getting to know the inventor, Leonardo da Vinci and his many inventions, scholars think up their own invention. Following a written description and a hand-drawn picture, learners use a method of mirror writing and antiquing to give...
Curated OER
Science: Teddy Bear Nation
Students sort teddy bears according to types and then graph the results. They each bring a bear to class and then discuss their similarities and differences. Once the bears have been sorted into groups according to size and color,...
Penguin Books
Teacher's Guide: Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
A teacher's guide for Kindred provides instructors with a wealth of materials to enrich either a full-class reading or independent study of Octavia E. Butler's popular science fiction novel. The activities are designed to...
Beyond Benign
PPM
The 15th lesson plan in the series of 24 helps your classes understand the ppm (part per million) unit of measure. First, scholars experiment with food coloring to determine concentrations before applying their findings to calculate...
Curated OER
Day and Night
Third graders view a classroom simulation that demonstrates how the Earth's rotation creates day and night.