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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Clouds and Your Imagination

For Teachers K - 5th
Students study and illustrate clouds. In this cloud study lesson plan, students study clouds and then illustrate what they see. Students use their imaginations to interpret images from the cloud picture they drew.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Gravity

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders explore the characteristics of gravity. They discuss gravity on Earth and then use cereal boxes to research and compare the weight of objects on Earth to the weight of those objects on other planets.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Bubble Full of Math

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
Students compare estimated lengths with actual lengths.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tornado!: Types and Formation

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students discuss the different types of tornadoes and how they form. Working in groups, they record journal entries by conducting experiments with water bottles simulating vortex formation.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Don't Crack Humpty

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Students investigate the engineering design process and the relationship between distance, time, and speed. Using a generic car base, small groups design a device that will protect an egg on or in the car as it is rolled down a ramp at...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Falling Water

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students drop water from different heights to demonstrate the conversion of water's potential energy to kinetic energy. They see how varying the height from which water is dropped affects the splash size. In seeing how falling water can...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mystery of the Megaflood

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students will use everyday items and speeds to describe the dimensions of a massive flood that occurred in the Pacific Northwest near the end of the last ice age.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Planting Parts

For Teachers 2nd
Each student plants two lima beans in a plastic cup with a paper towel so they can be observed growing. The beans are misted with a spray bottle, and placed in a warm sunny area. Students view the beans each day for the next two weeks,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Land Safely...

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers model the preparation needed for a soft-landing on a planet or object in space. They do this by packaging a raw egg with certain material, and dropping the egg from a given height to test the packaging effectiveness.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Ghost Particle

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students collect evidence to make inferences about a object hidden inside a sealed box. They think critically and logically to raise questions. Students identify questions that can be answered through investigation. They formulate and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Catapults!

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students work together to discover the relationship between the angle of catapults and the flight of different objects. They discover the heavier the object the more force is needed. They examine how engineers use this information to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Milkweed Plants

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders view milkweed plants (or pictures). The describe the plant and discuss ways some butterflies use it as a food source. Students view four pictures of different phases of a milkweed plant's life cycle. They discuss the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Beautiful Caterpillars!

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders investigate the life cycle of the caterpillar. They create a caterpillar habitat and care for it. Students make daily observations that are recorded in a writing journal. During the process of observation the students...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How High Does the Atmosphere Go?

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students explain how relatively thin the atmosphere is, compared to the size of the planet, and determine the relative extent of the four major atmospheric layers.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Line Drive

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders create a 100 year timeline centering on the life of their research subject and place them in the context of local and national history.
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Lesson Plan
California Academy of Science

Global Climate Change and Sea Level Rise

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Ice is nice, and its condition on the planet has a significant effect. Junior geoscientists experiment with ice melting in both water and on land to discover how each affect the rising sea level. This detailed lesson plan outline even...
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Unit Plan
Intel

Composting: Why Bother?

For Teachers 8th - 10th Standards
The first STEM lesson in a group of 10 explores composting. After discussing how to make a better tomorrow, classes are challenged to track garbage in their communities, visit a local waste management facility, and conduct a survey about...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Scientific Search for the Loch Ness Monster

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Young scholars gain an understanding of the real world applications of the scientific method. They design their own experiments to prove or disprove the existence of other modern legends, and they design and carry out an experiment to...
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Lesson Plan
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Science 4 Inquiry

Investigating How Heat Flows

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
It is impossible to cool down a glass of water by adding ice. Young scientists explore heat transfer through videos, experiments, and interactive games. They quickly catch on that the water melts the ice and things aren't always as they...
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Lesson Plan
US Environmental Protection Agency

Sea Level: On the Rise

For Teachers 6th - 10th
With the global temperature on the rise, the effects of climate change are starting to be seen. However, many people have a difficult time conceptualizing the long-term effects, such as sea levels rising. Given an easy and effective...
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Lesson Plan
Cornell University

Atomic Bonding

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Explore the connection of surface area to bonding within atoms. Learners complete lab investigations to model changing surface area with different sizes and concentrations of atoms. A flour fireball demonstration follows the labs to...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Arguing over Area

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd Standards
With the help of the Area Officers and Perimeter Patrol, you learners will develop a better understanding of area and its relationship to perimeter. First, they view a video clip from Cyberchase, and then they visit a website to test...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Circuit Diagrams: Switching Circuits

For Students 4th - 6th
Use a lab sheet on circuit diagrams in your electricity unit. Fifth graders draw two series circuits with diagrams, based on two examples. A science experiment prompts learners to use 3x5 cards to illustrate the way a series circuit works.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Know Your Angles

For Teachers 3rd - 7th
Explore types of angles and the characteristics of each. After observing a PowerPoint Presentation, learners tour the school facilities and use a digital camera to capture prescribed angles. Using the digital pictures and written...