Five steps walk scholars through the process of drawing a Monarch butterfly. Participants research the insect, make observations, trace, then color. 

Long considered the symbol of safe harbor and steadfast waiting, the lighthouse gets a mathematical treatment. The straightforward question of distance to the horizon is carefully presented, followed by a look into the...

Students are introduced to the different types, designs and nature of bridges. They observe a historical look at the bridges in and around the Pittsburgh area through a video presentation. Connections are made between science and...

In this tree identification lesson, 2nd graders read A Tree is Growing, discuss what makes up a forest, brainstorm characteristics of leaves, gather samples of leaves and examine their samples. Students will sort leaves and compare them...

In this energy source worksheet, 3rd graders read a short passage about the history of natural gas. Students must then answer several multiple choice questions about the passage.

How does radiation affect our daily lives? Answer that question and others with a lesson that discusses radiation and its use in thermal energy transfer through electromagnetic waves. Pupils investigate vaporization and...

Young scholars investigate a variety of animal behaviors, examine various modes of animal communication, and develop a catalog analyzing, interpreting, and reporting their results.

Jump into the classification of animal and plants cells, through this inviting lesson comparing Elodea leaves and Epithelial cells. Middle school learners will create wet mounts, write journal entries that compare specimens, and finally...

Students construct cladograms (evolutionary trees), showing how shared derived characters can be used to reveal degrees of relationship. They interpret and analyze cladograms, and determine where unclassified vertebrates would fit on a...

Students count the number of varves (annual layers of sediment) in shale billets, taken from the Green River Formation in Wyoming. The count is then extended to reflect the entire 260 meters of sediments where the billets originated.

Students are taken on a simulated "voyage" backward in time, to the beginning of our planet. They "witness" that beginning, the origin of life, and a number of key events from then to the present.

Go ahead. Spill the ink! Combine the study of art, social studies, and science with a Suminagashi (spilled ink) activity that produces "unique and unreproducible" works of art.

Students learn the mechanisms of natural selection by deducing information from the physical appearance of the animal.

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,...

Students complete a narrative paper and a drawing depicting how the formation of oil and natural gas taken from the Earth's crust were once plants and animals millions of years ago. In this oil and natural gas lesson plan, students read,...

Students study silicon and where it comes from.  In this solar mining lesson students complete an Internet search of mining and a lab activity. 

Pupils read about specific instances of arsenic in history and share these stories with each other. They identify, after reading the articles and sharing, what role arsenic played, how arsenic enters the system and what its effects are....

Pupils participate in a webquest about the plants and animals that inhabit an estuary. They role play as environmentalists researching this habitat and present the results of their research in a creative way.

Students investigate how scientists sort and classify organisms. In this sorting and classifying lesson plan, students examine what systematics are as tools that scientists use. They examine images of invertebrates and sort them while...

Young scholars discover how coroners use insect life cycles to estimate the time of death in cases. they describe how forensic entomologists combine environmental factors with insect life cycles to note the changes. Students examine an...

Ninth graders explore the historical perspective of nature and the environment.  In this American History lesson, 9th graders examine materials in a variety of formats to understand the contexts of America's concern for the...

Students identify and illustrate how changes in DNA cause mutations and evaluate the significance of these changes. They illustrate a chromosomal mutation such as duplication, deletion, inversion, and translocation.

Students explore how present biotechnology has evolved. They create a timeline is included referencing major scientists and major events in history which have led to our current understanding and use. A teacher time line is included.