Calcareous ooze ... what an interesting name! The 15th installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program focuses on sediments found on the ocean floor. After viewing the slideshow lecture,...

Thoroughly written, this plan walks you through every detail of having your high school astronomers design scale models of the solar system. Complete instructions on building to scale, lesson procedures, and associated worksheets are all...

Life's a beach! The 16th installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program first examines different types of coasts and how they form. An activity then has learners investigate the shoreline...

Learn how ocean currents are vital to humans and marine life. The eighth installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program, focuses on ocean currents and how they affect global climate. The...

Here is a resource with a descriptive approach to explaining the scientific method. It's simple, but effective for both introduction and reinforcement of this concept. 

Space shuttles traveled around Earth at a speed of 17,500 miles per hour, way faster than trains, planes, or automobiles travel! In the 13th installment of 22, groups graph different speeds to show how quickly spacecraft move through...

When you take a simple task and create an exceptionally difficult way to complete it, it is known as a Rube Goldberg machine. These machines are filled with many types of energy transfers and energy transformations. Here, pupils...

There are more than 600,000 asteroids in our solar system. Pupils analyze images of two asteroids in order to determine if they are the same age. They count craters for each asteroid and compare numbers. 

Physical science starters play with a pendulum in order to experience periodicity. Detailed procedures and a worksheet are included for day one. For day two, learners will use a graphing calculator to help them plot orbit data from a...

  Students consider the life span of dams, and what would happen if a dam falls apart.  In this environmental impact lesson, students discuss what the purposes of dams are, how they could be damaged.     

Anytime you make concepts clear with role playing or hands-on experience, it's a win for the whole class. Ping-Pong balls are used to represent carbon in a carbon cycle role-play activity. In small groups, children first discuss what...

The biogeochemical cycle ... no physics? The fourth installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program introduces the biogeochemical cycle by having pupils simulate movement between Earth's...

It's electric! Young anatomists use Virtual Neurons software to build, control, and analyze complex nerve circuits within the body. Colorful and packed with content, class members enjoy interacting with the nervous system...

Students create a simple machine that includes a cart and lever system that could have been used to build the ancient pyramids. In this simple machine lesson, students learn about the wheel and the axle as simple machines that help...

Middle schoolers examine how to locate and access data sets.  In this climate change lesson students import data into Excel and graph it.   

Life in the Bering Sea, food webs, and the ocean ecosystem are introduced with a map activity. The lesson starts as kids explore maps and images of the Bering Sea, then it kicks into high gear as they start to discuss the types of...

Off they go — launching rockets is fun. The lesson plan contains templates to build paper rockets that can be launched from a PVC pipe launcher. Individuals or groups build the rockets and determine the shapes for their fins. Included...

The study of waves is not a quacking matter! Watch as a duck manipulates the behavior of its waves through its motion. Graphs show the frequency and wavelength of the waves. 

The odds are in your favor that your pupils will love this lesson that uses The Hunger Games to launch a study of gender empowerment, as well as the influence of social constructs of gender. Groups discuss how Katniss Everdeen and Peeta...

Bend it, but don't break it. Groups investigate the strength of different materials. Using a procedure in the seventh segment of a 22-part series on aviation, pupils determine how far a rod will bend. They determine the strength-to-mass...

Can your class correctly classify plant species? Individuals explore native plants of the local environment and correctly classify them into their respective categories. They investigate differences in the plants and discuss similarities...

The health effects of mercury exposure if the focus of the first of three activities about the properties of metals. Pairs research mercury to write, prepare, and share posters, articles, or PSAs with the class. 

Students study the weather phenomenon El Nino is and what causes it, and recognize how remote sensing technology can detect and predict El Nino. Students discover how El Nino affects weather conditions throughout the globe through research.

Learners tackle a wide range of intimidating topics in this comprehensive unit that spans piecewise functions, absolute value of functions, and inverse functions (among other topics). Investigative group work alternates with more...