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Sketch a Scientist
Students draw their perceptions of a typical scientist, evaluate stereotypes in their drawings quantitatively, and then discuss the origins of these stereotypes.
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Biological Control of Purple Loosestrife
High schoolers examine the role of Purple Loosestrife in Illinois and Indiana rivers. In groups, they collect a wide variety of plants in a wetland and raise beetles in a controlled environment. They introduce the loosestrife into the...
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Auburn Cord Dusenberg Field Trip
Fifth graders compare two different vehicles and determine why the cars are designed differently. They write four facts learned from the field trip in their science journals including a fact about how force affects the performance of the...
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Fossils
Students complete a unit on fossils. They read and discuss informational handouts, define key vocabulary terms, answer discussion questions, create a geologic timeline and a timeline of their own life, analyze bones, and create a fossil...
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Air Is All Around Us!
Students design an instrument to show that air is all around. In this air lesson plan, students research, construct, and present a design that proves that air is all around, even though they can't see it or touch it. A teacher and self...
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Heat Loss and Cool Gains
Fifth graders predict what happens when cold and hot water are mixed together. In this physics lesson, 5th graders discuss how heat transfer takes place. They record temperature readings and compare it with their prediction.
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Sounds Like Music
Students define and examine the connections between sound and music and how engineers design instruments. They listen to examples of musical instruments, view a demonstration of a tuning fork and bottles filled with varying amounts of...
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The Three Little Pigs' Straw House
Second graders design and sketch a model house. In this technology lesson, 2nd graders construct their house using teacher provided materials. They present their finished project and explain their design in class.
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Speedy Trials
Fifth graders investigate how forces affect the motion of an object. In this physics lesson plan, 5th graders calculate an object's speed using a mathematical formula. They discuss how force and mass affects the speed.
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Energizing Resources
Seventh graders describe electrical energy and how it is produced. In this natural resource lesson, 7th graders explain the various ways of obtaining and using natural resources for energy and the environmental consequences. They will...
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Inventing Inventions
Students identify how inventions can be used in different ways. In this inventions lesson students brainstorm different uses as a group and fill out a worksheet.
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Gone But Not Forgotten
Third graders examine animals and organisms that have become extinct and their similarities to living organisms. In this extinction instructional activity students divide into groups and research extinct animals.
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Tools to Live By
Third graders compare life in the early 1900's with the life today. For this technology lesson, 3rd graders research about the development of a certain technological tool. They collect data and report findings in class.
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Don’t Cry Over Spoiled Milk!
Seventh graders explore how milk spoils over time. In this biology lesson plan, 7th graders discover how pH changes as microorganisms enter the food and multiply. They explain the benefits of pasteurization process.
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Fossil History
Learners examine the similarities and differences between living organisms and fossils. In this fossil activity students reenact the process of creating a fossil.
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Breaking It Down
Seventh graders explain the mechanism of digestion. In this biology activity, 7th graders perform an iodine test to check for the presence of starch. They discuss how energy travels through the food chain.
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Sugar Solutions
Seventh graders study biological systems and how they reach equilibrium. In this system balance lesson students divide into groups and complete an osmosis lab activity.
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Relationship between Potential and Kinetic Energy
Fifth graders explore the relationship between potential energy and kinetic energy. For this energy lesson, 5th graders examine objects and describe potential and kinetic energy of the objects. Students complete two worksheets.
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Environmental Limitations
Seventh graders study the environmental factors that affect population growth. In this biology lesson, 7th graders create a city following certain criteria. They present their posters in class.
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Juicing the Differences
Seventh graders investigate the vitamin C content of orange juice. In this chemistry lesson plan, 7th graders analyze the variables that cause result variation in their experiment. They design a new experiment to test variables in question.
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Catch a Rainbow
Second graders listen to a book read to them entitled, WHAT MAKES A RAINBOW and recall and describe their five senses and what parts of their bodies use their five senses and then complete the Catch a Rainbow activity sheet using a...
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Caesar Ciphers: An Introduction to Cryptography
Students brainstorm and discuss the concept of cryptography, the science of secrets in today's world and then focus on a system for sending secret messages used by Julius Caesar. They make a Caesar wheel assessing encrypting and...
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The Flying Paperclip
Students investigate items that interrupt magnetic fields. In this physics instructional activity, students explain why the paper clip in the experiment seems to fly. They write a detailed explanation of what they did in this activity.
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Rainbows
Second graders investigate how a rainbow is made. They listen to the book "What Makes a Rainbow," and discuss how a rainbow is created. Students then conduct an experiment involving pouring a cup of milk into a bowl and adding drops of...