K20 LEARN
Ecosystems, Human Activity, And Interactions, Oh My!: Human/Environment Interaction
Word clouds about ecosystems hook learners into a lesson that explores Yellowstone wildlife. Young scientists create cause-and-effect relationships after examining data and recommend solutions to their observed problems. More data...
K20 LEARN
OPTIC - A Reading Strategy Recipe: Visual Literacy
A visual literary lesson provides learners with OPTIC (Observations, Predictions, Themes, Inferences, Conclusions), a reading strategy to help them understand and interpret visual and written texts. Scholars practice the strategy with a...
Science 4 Inquiry
Layers and Laws: The Law of Superposition and Index Fossils
What can layers of rock teach us about the climate? Young scientists solve a mystery about who stole a cookie by applying the law of superposition. Then, they apply the same concept to solve a more difficult mystery, trying to determine...
NOAA
History's Thermometers
How is sea coral like a thermometer? Part three of a six-part series from NOAA describes how oceanographers can use coral growth to estimate water temperature over time. Life science pupils manipulate data to determine the age of corals...
NOAA
Journey to the Unknown
What's it like to be a deep-sea explorer? Tap into the imaginations of your fifth and sixth graders with a vivid lesson, the second part of a six-part adventure. Learners close their eyes and submerge themselves in an expedition aboard...
Towson University
Case of the Crown Jewels
Can your biology class crack the Case of the Crown Jewels? Junior forensics experts try their hands at DNA restriction analysis in an exciting lab activity. The lesson introduces the concept of restriction analysis, teaches pipetting and...
Towson University
Looking Into Lactase: Structured Inquiry
Why is lactase important? Biology scholars explore enzyme function in a structured inquiry lab. The activity tasks lab groups with observing how temperature and pH affect enzyme activity, as well as determining which milk products...
Towson University
Looking Backwards, Looking Forward
How do scientists know what Earth's climate was like millions of years ago? Young environmental scholars discover how researchers used proxy data to determine the conditions present before written record. Grouped pupils gain experience...
Towson University
Mystery Tubes
How do scientists know they're right? Truth be told, they don't always know. Explore the scientific process using mystery tubes in an insightful activity. Young scientists discover how to approach and solve problems in science, how ideas...
NOAA
What Little Herc Saw
See the underwater world through a different pair of eyes! Middle school marine biologists identify deep-sea organisms by examining images taken by an ROV from the Okeanos Explorer. After determining what creatures lie beneath the...
Curated OER
What are Igneous Rocks and How are They Formed?
Crystals form before your very eyes! What sixth grader wouldn't enjoy this lesson on igneous rock formation? Using hot Salol, junior geologists observe the crystal formation process as the material cools. This comprehensive lesson plan...
Curated OER
The Rise and Fall of Joseph McCarthy
Students analyze documents, cartoons, speeches and articles about Joseph McCarthy and his crusade against "Un-American" activities. They guide their research with a worksheet and participate in class discussions about their findings.
Curated OER
Observation vs. Inference
Student observe two cups, one slightly smaller and skinnier than the other, with one put inside the other. The cups are turned upside-down and the smaller one is caught as it falls out of the larger cup. The larger cup is filled up about...
Curated OER
Learning Inference
Making inferences can be a tricky proposition for middle schoolers. In the lesson presented here, pupils practice the skill of drawing a conclusion and making a judgment - which are what making an inference is all about! There are five...
Curated OER
Fishy Behavior
Here's a lab that may make you rethink that morning cup of coffee. Biology scholars test the effects of caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine on the behavior of zebrafish through an intriguing experiment. Learners observe fish...
Curated OER
Transparent Shoebox Dig
Take this simulated archaeological dig one layer at a time with your young pupils to encourage observation, critical thinking, and careful attention. Using a transparent box full of layers of sand and artifacts, pupils examine the...
NASA
The Big Climate Change Experiment Lesson 3: Climate Change Lines of Evidence
Consider the preponderance of evidence when making a verdict. The third of five lessons in Unit 1: The Big Climate Change Experiment focuses on the evidence for climate change. Learners study graphs, diagrams, and pictures regarding...
Curated OER
Go Fish!
So much science in one tiny fish! Introduce young biologists to the zebrafish, a common aquarium inhabitant. The small, unassuming organism presents an opportunity for learners to study habituation using an easy-to-care-for species. Lab...
Beyond Benign
Chemical or Physical Reaction?
Ready to take your chemistry class on its first big lab adventure? Dive in to differentiation between chemical and physical changes with a thoughtfully designed set of experiments! Partners conduct a series of reactions, describe their...
Curated OER
Inference By Analogy
Students infer the use or meaning of items recovered from a North Carolina Native American site based on 17th-century European settlers' accounts and illustration.
Curated OER
Rudyard Kipling's "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi": Mixing Fact and Fiction
"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi," from The Jungle Book, offers young readers a chance to examine how Rudyard Kipling uses setting and personification to bring to life the brave mongoose who battles cobras to protect his family. Class members...
Curated OER
Settlement Exploration: Then and Now
NASA has crafted an imaginative and memorable series of lessons, "NASA and Jamestown Education Module." This lesson is one of the five components. In it, middle schoolers connect history and science by comparing the settlement of...
University of Georgia
Energy Content of Foods
Why do athletes load up on carbohydrates the evening before a competition? The lesson helps answer this question as it relates the type of food to the amount of energy it contains. After a discussion, scholars perform an experiment...
Curated OER
Observations and Inferences
Students examine coral skeletons. In this science lesson, view real coral skeletons. Students explain the differences between an observation and an inference. Students draw a coral skeleton.