Curated OER
How Mutations Lead to Changes in Cell Structure and Function
Students investigate how mutations lead to changes in cell structure and function. They construct an oligonucleotide, identify a protein sequence, design a step-by-step mechanism of how they think cells repair damaged DNA, and prepare...
Curated OER
Sea Changes: A New England Industry
Learners conduct research in order to use primary and secondary sources. They interpret and analyze information from textbooks and nonfiction books for young adults, as well as reference materials, audio and media presentations, oral...
Curated OER
Basic Needs of Living Things - Lesson One
An interesting way of teaching about basic needs of different organisms awaits your fourth graders. Pupils take part in class discussions and demonstrations which should lead to a greater understanding of how to determine basic needs. As...
Curated OER
Half Man, Half Limping Rabbit
Read your class a folk tale from Romania then discuss it. As they listen they discover how the author sets the mood using English conventions such as foreshadowing, magical elements, and they look for descriptive language while looking...
Center Science Education
Glaciers: Then and Now
Cooperative groups compare pairs of photos of Alaskan glaciers. They match a historical photo to the recent photo of the same glacier. The class discusses what conditions are necessary for glaciers to retreat. This abbreviated activity...
Curated OER
Sources of Energy
Fifth graders take a close look at how energy changes from one form to another within their surroundings. They also study the ten different sources of energy and determine which are renewable and which are non-renewable. This seven-page...
Nuffield Foundation
Investigating Factors Affecting the Heart Rate of Daphnia
What variables change heart rate? Young scientists observe the beating heart in Daphnia to understand these variables. They make changes in temperature, chemicals, and other factors as they graph the heart rates. Analysis questions help...
Serendip
Understanding and Predicting Changes in Population Size – Exponential and Logistic Population Growth Models vs. Complex Reality
Salmonella poisoning impacts over 200,000 people in the United States each year. Scholars learn about the growth of these bacteria using multiple approaches. Then they apply the same growth calculations to endangered species and think...
Illustrative Mathematics
DVD Profits, Variation 1
The idea in the resource is to understand the connections between proportional relationships, lines, and linear equations. To stay within the context of the standard, skip the part of the resource that solves with unit rates. Instead,...
NASA
Making Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide
Some like it hot! Scholars observe both exothermic and endothermic reactions as part of the carbon dioxide oxygen cycle. First, scientists demonstrate (or watch) a chemical reaction to create pure oxygen using fire for...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Making Sense of Sensors
Have small groups in your class construct working hygrometers as an example of the benefits of using sensors in engineering. This activity can be used during a weather unit when covering humidity or in a STEM activity as a preparation...
Curated OER
Faux Fossil Fun
Elementary schoolers investigate how fossils are created by reproducing the process of creating an impression and filling it with a hardening material. The art lessons from this source are just fantastic! The lesson plan is well-written...
Growing Minds
Apple Exploration
Turn your classroom into a farmers' market! Reading Applesauce Season by Eden Ross Lipson or Monica Wellington’s Apple Farmer Annie, launches this investigation of apples, farmers' markets, and the people selling products. The class...
Described and Captioned Media Program
Malcolm X: Make It Plain, Part I
Malcolm X was a complicated man that few in white America understood. After sharing what they know or think they know about this civil rights leader, about nationalism and Black Nationalism, class members view a two-part documentary...
Curated OER
Melting and Freezing
Students explore how various substances change from a solid to a liquid or from a liquid to a solid and how temperature, pressure and nature play an important role in this process. For this melting and freezing lesson,...
Science 4 Inquiry
States and Phases of Matter
Plasma is the most common phase of matter in our universe. Scholars explore the change of energy as molecules change phases of matter. They rotate through stations, graphing the changes in energy level.
Science 4 Inquiry
Carbon and Climate
The carbon cycle is natural and has happened for millions of years, so can humans change it? Young scientists play the role of carbon as they travel through the carbon cycle. They complete two rounds, once before the industrial...
Curated OER
Deep Convective Clouds
Students observe clouds. In this deep convective clouds lesson, students analyze cloud data recorded over one month and draw conclusions based on results. Students predict "Thunderstorm Season" and prepare to defend their decision...
National Wildlife Federation
It's A Bird...It's A Plane...It's...CARBON!
An interesting lesson takes pupils on a trip through the carbon cycle. A reading passage allows scholars to take notes and make choices about what happens to the carbon on its journey. This third lesson in a series of 21 discusses...
National Wildlife Federation
Get Your Techno On
Desert regions are hotter for multiple reasons; the lack of vegetation causes the sun's heat to go straight into the surface and the lack of moisture means none of the heat is being transferred into evaporation. This concept, and other...
Curated OER
Air Pollution: The Issue of Global Warming
Here is an outstanding 10-page lesson plan on global warming. Learners discover that there is a lot of controversy surrounding this topic in that the science behind global warming is difficult to prove. The best thing about this plan is...
Curated OER
One of the Many Ways
Explore the concept of polynomials and determine the value and number of zeros for a given polynomial using the Rational Root Theorem. Then graph the polynomials and relate the number of zeroes to the degree of the polynomial.
Curated OER
Anne Frank: One of Hundreds of Thousands
Students conduct research to put Anne Frank's diary into historical context. They use maps, timelines, essays and websites to examine the early victories of the German army, paying special attention to the Netherlands and experiences of...
Curated OER
Modern Advocates for Change
Learners make a list of "modern day prophets" and explain how they have made considerable contributions toward the common good. They write a letter to a community leader in which they advocate the solution to a problem or issue in their...