Unit Plan
American Institute of Architects

Architecture: It's Elementary!—First Grade

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Build an interest and appreciation for architecture in your young learners with this fun 10-lesson art unit. Engaging children in using their five senses, the class first observes the environment around them, paying...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Animal Habitats: 1st Grade

For Teachers 1st
Learning about animal habitats can be a lot of fun. This lesson focuses on how God created different habitats to suit different animal needs. Students will conduct library research in order to create a five page habitat slide show using...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Insect Investigation

For Teachers 1st
Investigation is a brilliant way to spark scientific inquiry. First graders will identify, research, and report what they have learned about a mysterious bug found on the playground. They will use multimedia resources for research and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Magic School Bus Goes to Mussel Beach

For Teachers Pre-K - 2nd
Students investigate tides and create a model of an intertidal zone. In this hands-on marine science lesson based on a Magic School Bus book, the teacher leads students in a discussion about tides, then helps students model a tide and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Magic School Bus: The Wild Whale Watch Lesson Plan

For Teachers K - 3rd
Students research information about whales. In this early childhood lesson plan, students create an illustration of a whale to display in a sea scene in the classroom. Students then use the library and internet to research a whale of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

School Lighting Audit

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students identify the data included in an energy audit. They perform an audit on the lighting in their school building. They complete a worksheet and discuss lighting issues with school staff.
Lesson Plan
Advocates for Human Rights

The Right to a Clean Environment in the United States

For Students 8th - 12th
Even if a school has gone digital, chances are there's still plenty of paper being used. The three activities help scholars learn about the environmental impact of paper and another consumer products of their choosing, the issue of...
Lesson Plan
Cornell University

Nano Interactions

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Tiny particles can provide big learning opportunities! Middle school scientists explore the world of nanoparticles through reading, discussion, and experiment. Collaborative groups first apply nanotechnology to determine water...
Unit Plan
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North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences

Weather Watch Activity Guide: Groundhog Day

For Teachers K - 8th Standards
Exactly what do groundhogs know about weather? Not as much as your science students will after completing these lessons and activities that cover everything from the earth's rotation and the creation of shadows, to cloud...
Activity
Star Date

Build Your Own Galaxy

For Students 6th - 12th
Don't just look at pictures of the Milky Way galaxy, build it with this hands-on activity in which scientists recreate the galaxy we live in.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Magic School Bus in the Time of the Dinosaurs

For Teachers K - 4th
Students draw names of dinosaurs out of a hat and write a report about the one they picked. Students write a riddle about their favorite prehistoric animal, post it on a bulletin board, and have other guess which animal it is about....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Magic School bus Inside A Hurricane

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students investigate the concept of a hurricane by using the cartoon series "The Magic Schoolbus" to simulate the fantasy of traveling through a hurricane. The lesson uses a KWL graphic organizer in order to guide student inquiry and as...
Lesson Plan
Cornell University

Forensic Science: Case of the Missing Diamond Maker

For Teachers 5th - 9th Standards
Someone stole a diamond-making machine. Who done it? Scholars use forensic science at six different stations to determine the culprit. They analyze fingerprints, use their senses, and complete chemistry experiments to determine the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

School Temperatures

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Pupils collect and record temperatures throughout the school. Using this information they compare and contrast the temperatures recorded from various spots throughout the school.
Worksheet
Curated OER

How Light Can "Bend"

For Students 4th - 6th
Examine the properties of light with a fifth grade science experiment. Pupils find out how light bounces off the surface of a mirror, as well as how a periscope works. For the science investigation part, kids build their own periscope...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Night Here, Day There

For Students 3rd - 5th
Explore astronomy with a lab sheet for fifth grade scientists. After reading a short explanation about the earth's rotation, they solve a word problem about the differences in times across the world. Next, they make a model of the solar...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Make your Garden Grow

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders role play as certified horticulturists as they study the biology of plants and gardening. They design a garden for their school based on what they researched and a given budget.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Transportation Systems: Two Liter Boat Activity

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers design and build full-size boats made out of two-liter plastic bottles, chicken wire, and plywood. Then they race the boats, with the boat's designers "manning the hull", in the school's swimming pool.
Activity
PBS

Reading Adventure Pack: Oceans

For Parents 1st Standards
Flotsam by David Wiesner and The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor by Joanna Cole, illustrated by Bruce Degen, begin a reading adventure pack focusing on oceans. With story listening and thoughtful discussion, scholars complete several...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

In Case of Emergency

For Teachers 4th - 7th
A natural disaster could strike at any time: do your learners know the school and community emergency plans? Start the school year by honing research and speaking skills in a practical way with this preparedness lesson. Youngsters...
Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Hamlet Research Paper: Find, Evaluate, and Select Appropriate Research Sources

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Help young researchers find credible sources online. Modeling with a Google search for information about Shakespeare’s Macbeth, use a computer projector or Smart Board to show class members how weak the top three search results are....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Simple Machines

For Teachers 5th
Have your class conduct research to learn all they can about simple machines. They use the web, take notes from a video, write a script, then make a film describing various simple machines found in real life. These videos are then...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Environmental Awareness and Children's Literature

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Use an alternative setting for pregnant teens and young mothers, as well as special education children to examine environmental topics through literature. Included in this unit is a visit to neighborhood libraries to select children's...
Lesson Plan
California Academy of Science

The Emperor Penguin's Egg

For Teachers K - 3rd Standards
Here is a game intended for use at home that could easily be adapted to the school environment. The class reads an informational story about emperor penguins and then they watch a clip from the film, March of the Penguins. They focus on...