Curated OER
Seed Germination
Students explore plants and the scientific method. In this plant growth lesson, students follow the steps in the scientific method to perform a seed germination experiment as a whole class. Students work in a group to create their own...
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Wild Weather Word Hunt
In this weather worksheet, students and their families search for weather news in the newspaper, media or Internet. Students record a list of weather words. Students then research and write down a one week forecast for their city.
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Flight 2
Students are introduced to two of the four principles of flight: drag and thrust. As the class watches a video on these principles, they utilize ballons, straws and clothepins to simulate what they're seeing in the show. Nice, hands-on...
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Solar System Slide Show
Pupils work in small groups to research a planet in our Solar System in order to compare it to Earth. They examine the planet's size, atmosphere, rotation and revolution periods, temperature, and other attributes. They collect...
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Introduction to Correlations
Students investigate correlations between human body height and other human features. They select ten subjects and record each subject's age and gender and measure for height, wingspan, distance, and size of hands. After measuring, they...
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Mythbusters
Eighth graders watch an episode of Mythbusters and answer questions that arise in the video about the scientific process. In this Mythbusters lesson plan, 8th graders complete a scientific investigation based on the video.
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Believe It...Or Not
Students critically analyze data regarding climate changes using a glossary of terms generated by examination of climate related articles. They examine and graph climatic data, and discuss, hypothesize and test apparent discrepancies in...
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Petri-fied of Bacteria
Young scholars examine the existence of bacteria all around them and consider the roles, both positive and negative, that bacteria play. Over a period of several days, students conduct an experiment in which they predict, determine, log,...
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Photosynthesis Investigation
Can scientists increase the rate of photosynthesis to help clean the air? Scholars complete an experiment determining net photosynthesis. Then, they apply knowledge from the activity to design their own investigations of the factors that...
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You Gotta Have Heart: Congenital Heart Defects and Heart Surgery
Assess anatomists' understanding of the structure of the mammalian heart by giving a pretest. Have them visit some websites to further learn about heart anatomy. Then take them into the laboratory to perform a dissection so that they get...
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Research Ethics
Young scientists discuss the results of carelessness during experimentation and the temptation to misrepresent findings. These activities are intended to develop the ability to identify scientific error, misconduct, and fraud. Use this...
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Potato Launcher Energy Lab
Pupils investigate conservation laws using a potato launcher. In this physics lesson, students measure angles, time and distance of the potato. They discuss applications of experiments like this.
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How Do We Generate a Large Amount of a Specific DNA Sample?
Students investigate the Polymerase Chain Reaction technique that is used to create larger amounts of a gene. They watch and discuss a PowerPoint presentation, explore a website, and write a report listing the materials needed to...
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Investigating the Earth-Moon-Sun System
Eighth graders research Native American legends involving the sun, moon, and stars and compare them to the origin of present day knowledge. They create a written report and make an oral presentation of their findings to the class.
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Ocean Floor Properties and Near Shore Environments
Students explore and model the characteristics of the ocean floor and near shore environments through in-class demonstrations, laboratory activities, and internet research. They use classroom materials to research the characteristics of...
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Elements and Compounds
Eighth graders explore the chemical and physical properties of a variety of elements in a lab setting. They organize the data they collect onto a spreadsheet and then choose one element from the periodic table to research. They...
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Fish Parasite Survey
Students survey and dissect as many fish as possible. They count nematodes, cestodes and crustaceans on the fish, fill out autopsy reports, and transfer data to a chalkboard data table. Students graph the results of the entire class...
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Acid Rain
Students investigate the effects of acid rain. The lesson plan contains a lab background for the teacher to use before the implementation of the lesson plan. They conduct an experiment to collect data and then report the results of the...
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Biomes and Ecosystems
Students study biomes and ecosystems. They watch videos on rainforests and the food web and select a country of ancestry or interest to research. They write a report on the flora and fauna of their selected country. They present to...
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Fish Parasite Survey
Learners count nematodes, cestodes and crustaceans on approximately one-hundred and fifty fish. They fill out autopsy reports for external and internal parasites then complete and discuss guide questions to make inferences about parasite...
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Biology Research Assignment
Students become aware of and develop an appreciation for science in the world around us.
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Clouds: an Internet Based Lesson Plan
Students watch a teacher demonstration of cloud formation. They research cloud formation on the Internet to write reports that summarize the process of cloud formation.
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Corrosion/Plating/Electrolysis
Students familiarize themselves with half cell reactions, potential circuits, etc. They participate in a lab that includes a worksheet that guides them through an inquiry pertaining to the content. They complete a series of questions...
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Enzyme Activity: An Inquiry Based Approach
Using an inquiry approach to studying biochemical reactions, cooperative teams of young scholars investigate hypotheses about living materials that contain enzymes which break down in hydrogen peroxide. They perform experiments,...