Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Measurable You!

For Teachers 6th - 11th
Conduct guided experiments and discussions while collecting anthropometric measurements. Your class will explore impact of experimental errors in a scientific system, and explain their observations/findings in writing. An introduction to...
Lesson Plan
NASA

Discovering the Milky Way

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
What do you call a tiny collection of galaxies? A puny-verse! Young scholars graph data gathered by scientists studying Cepheids. They attempt to identify a relationship between the variables through standard and logarithmical...
Lesson Plan
NASA

Measuring Dark Energy

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
You're only 10 minutes late? Do you know how much the universe has expanded in those 10 minutes? Scholars graph supernovae based on their redshift and see if the results verify Hubble's Law. If it does confirm it, the universe is...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring Microclimates

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Students compare the land cover and temperatures in different microclimates to begin to explain why organisms live where they do. While exploring microclimates, students record temperature readings and detailed observations.
Lesson Plan
Polar Trec

Animal Monitoring Introduction

For Teachers 3rd - 4th Standards
Not only do mealworms taste great, they are also great for classroom science lessons. In pairs, young scientists observe and record what they see as they check out what their mealworms are doing from minute to minute. Each minute...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ecology

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Students explore, experience and experiment identifying the human impact on the environment of vegetative differences within the same biome. They assess what causes deserts, rain forests, savannahs, tundras and saguaros and how these...
Lesson Plan
Chymist

Temperature

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Three Dog Night isn't just the name of a band; it is also the way an Australian tribe, who used dogs to stay warm, would describe the temperature on a cool evening. After reading about many different ways of measuring temperature, the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Nature of Meteor Showers

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders describe, in general terms, the distribution of matter in space and identify evidence for, and describe characteristics of, bodies that make up the solar system. They then investigate predictions about the motion,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Styrofoam Relief Prints

For Teachers K
Using Styrofoam trays, kindergartners carve and create their own prints. They create an image in the Styrofoam, ink it up, and then use it to create prints. It would be great to mention and show how ink blocks or block prints have been...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Tale of a Whale: And Why It Can Be Told

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars examine the characteristics of particular whales. In this whale characteristics instructional activity, students discover the methods scientists use to track whales and attempt to match the unique pattern of callosities...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Natural Resources

For Teachers K - 12th
Students explore Iowa geography and topographic maps. In this geography and topographic maps lesson, student investigate maps, newspapers, Iowa flora and fauna. Students gain an understanding of how different landforms can be identified...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

If Peter Pan Can Fly, Why Can't I?

For Teachers 2nd - 6th
Students redesign a human, using data in research, so that s/he can fly. In this flying instructional activity, students examine the characteristics and adaptations of groups of animals that can fly.  Using this research, students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

History of Saturn Discoveries

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Learners interpret how scientists have explored Saturn. In this NASA based astronomy instructional activity, students create a timeline depicting the study of Saturn from 1610 until 2010. Each student will write a letter to Galileo...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Introduction to the Nature Journal

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students create nature journals. In this introduction to the nature journal lesson, students discover the uses of nature journals and begin their own. Students are challenged to use vivid, concise terms in their descriptive language....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

History Detective

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students study the effects of the Great Exchange on the Americas.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Prairie Restoration and Prairie Ecology

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students collect data as they identify and classify native prairie plants and insects. They create their own population study using a variety of sampling techniques to determine the population density of various species. Students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Use of Myths in Science

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers are told stories, myths and legend to explain their world. After telling the tales and discussion them, students are assigned to write a myth that describes a familiar situation, such as why the school garbage cans are...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Use of Myths in Science

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students examine folk tales to determine the basis for scientific myths. They demonstrate through the discussion of the folk tales that the perception of the world has changed as new information is gained. They write their own folk...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Destructive Impact of Environment on Artifacts

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners recognize that artifacts are destroyed over time.  In this environmental factors on artifacts lesson, students experiment and observe through the microscope to find the environmental impact on artifacts.  Learners make...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

History of the Periodic Table

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Students sort a group of manipulatives and then explain their organizational system to the class. They discuss the work of scientists trying to organize the elements into a system that made sense and the development of the periodic table.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Harriman and Plant Identification

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students observe and record botanical details from the plant specimens. They identify plants using sorting key and field guide and classify specimens for preservation and display purposes.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Elements of Myth

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students read and act out myths. In this world mythology instructional activity, students read and analyze myths from various cultures and then recognize their attributes as they prepare presentations of myths that explain natural...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Make a Comet Model and Eat It!

For Teachers 6th - 11th
Students construct a comet model based on procedure provided. In this space science lesson, students compare the physical properties of comets to the models they made. They record their observations and share them with the class.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Be a Scientist: A Kindergarten Unit

For Teachers K
Students conduct observations using their five senses. In this science lesson, students describe different states of matter. They investigate the factors affecting mold growth.