Curated OER
Mineral Scavenger Hunt
Students complete a scavenger hunt worksheet as they find examples in their classroom, at home, etc., of minerals. Excellent worksheet!
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Tornadoes
Middle schoolers examine the characteristics of a tornado.  They practice using new vocabulary and participate in a question and answer session.  They use the internet to gather more specific information.
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How Things Fly
Learners will examine the physics of flight through using experimental inquiry. In this instructional activity, you'll introduce your students to the four forces of flight--drag, lift, thrust, and weight--through a variety of fun-filled...
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Simple Harmonic Motion with Dr. DAQ
Young scholars study the work and accomplishment of Galileo. In this physics lesson plan, students calculate the period of a pendulum's using a mathematical equation. They explain the different factors affecting its period.
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A Readers' Theatre for Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain
Second graders read and perform a reader's theater version of the story, "Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain." They complete a graphic organizer of cause and effect of their part in the story, look up vocabulary words on a dictionary...
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Rocks and Their Properties: Day 5
Young scholars demonstrate their knowledge of rock formation processes in varied ways by sharing their cooperative research projects with the class. They generate well-framed questions in response to each presentation.
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Introducing Biodiversity
Students identify the basic components necessary for biodiversity, the critical and countless benefits of habitats, as well as the serious present and future threats to their ongoing existence.
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Plants and Animals, Partners in Pollination
Learners participate in multiple hands-on activities to explore reproduction and pollination. In groups, using a cotton swab and powder, students simulate being pollinators and plants. They name the parts of the flowers and the function...
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Earthquakes- An Introduction
Sixth graders investigate the concepts related to creating an understanding of how earthquakes occur. They participate in a variety of activities that are tied to each other and focus upon the principle of plate tectonics. Then students...
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How Size Shapes Animals
Students investigate how size affects large and small animals differently.  In this animal lesson plan, students determine how size affects different animals by constructing their own animal out of marshmallows.  Once students create...
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Going...going...gone? Tropical Rainforests-How They Work, What They Do for Us, What's Being Done to Them...
Sixth graders explore the Tropical Rainforest and come to understand what it is and how it affects the ecosystem.  In this rainforests lesson, 6th graders write about the Tropical Rainforest, imagine they are in the Tropical Rainforest,...
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Electromagnetic Bomb (E-Bomb)
Students explain how E-bomb works. In this physics lesson plan, students simulate the effects of e-bombs on electronic targets. They discuss its potential harmful effects when used as a weapon.
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Urban Ecosystems 3: Cities as Population Centers
Middle schoolers discover that throughout history cities have been centers of population but that human exploitation of fossil fuels was key to the growth of large cities worldwide. They research urban growth through a number of websites.
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Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot!
Young scholars study the different types of volcanoes and how they erupt.  In this volcano lesson plan students identify where volcanoes are most prevalent and options for predicting eruptions. 
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Crystal Growing
Students explore the different phases of a crystal.  In this mineral lesson plan students grow their own sugar crystals using a sugar recipe. 
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"Finding" Horsepower
Students investigate horsepower as a unit of power. They examine history and discover that scientists and engineers of high achievement are considered to be among the most valued contributors to their culture.
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It's Just a Barn
Investigate Pennsylvania Barns. Have your class consider the elements common to Pennsylvanian barns and why they are significant to the food production process. They write summaries of Frederick Watts and his impact on agriculture.
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Sweet Candy Comets
Fourth graders use candy to make a comet. In this instructional activity, 4th graders examine the role comets have played throughout history, students watch NASA videos about comets and complete the instructional activity by making an...
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Simple Machines
Students engage in a lesson that is concerned with the concept of a simple machine and uses the law of motion to justify why they operate. Students explore the laws by constructing some simple machines to illustrate the concepts.
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Neanderthals
Students study Neanderthals. In this Prehistoric life lesson, students investigate two main theories regarding the relationship between Neanderthals and modern man. Students will conduct research through several provided web sites and...
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Art and Anatomy: The Vitruvian Teen
Twelfth graders create an artistic version of a Vetruvian teen. In this anatomy lesson, 12th graders design an experiment to test the theory of the ideally proportioned man. They present their findings in class.
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Collecting and Classifying Pollen
Students collect and analyze pollen from different species of plants.  In small groups, they classify pollen according to shape, size and physical characteristics.  They draw the basic anatomy of flowering plants and create a dichotomous...
PBS
Observation
Students study making scientific observations . They conduct a "field study" in their attic and make observations about their family artifacts based upon physical attributes. In addition, they determine what characteristics of an object...
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Field Trip to Mammoth Cave
Students, when given a microscope or a camera, write two observations they have seen using technology that they did not see with just their eyes with 100% accuracy. When given a blank map, they mark the location of Mammoth Cave along...