Curated OER
Protozoans
Students examine protozoans and their advantages and disadvantages. In this chemistry lesson students explain what a protozoan is then draw and label one.
Curated OER
Micro-Ecosystems
Students create a sustainable, self-contained ecosystem in a ten-gallon aquarium.
Curated OER
A Distant View
Students investigate the essential concepts of how lenses work to magnify vision, and then build simple telescopes to demonstrate their understanding. They write a description of how their telescope could be improved and how it works.
Curated OER
Magnify It!
Students view objects of various sizes from several viewing distances to discover that their visual field is limited. They record what they see and compare their observations with classmates. They conduct more structured experiments.
Curated OER
Text Structures in Science Writing
Students recognize that science writing is organized in identifiable patterns called text structures. Understanding and using these different text structures help refine students' abilities to read and write in science.
Curated OER
Exploration of Light
Fifth graders observe the video, Exploring Light and Color. They access a website to create their own light show. They conduct lab experiments to investigate refraction, reflection,and other light-related topics.
Curated OER
Mystery Powders
Fifth graders evaluate the physical properties of 5 powders. Each powder is subject to different conditions. They describe each observation as with a chemical change or a physical change.
Michigan Sea Grant
Invasive Species
Learners identify invasive species to the Great Lakes and analyze their impact on the ecosystem. Using photo cards with pictures and facts, young scientists work in small groups to match invasive species with their corresponding...
Curated OER
Food Webs in a Pond
Students explore food chains and food webs in a pond and identify common creatures found in ponds. They look for tadpoles, fish, mites and other creatures in a pond during a field trip for first hand research.
Curated OER
What Do Bread and Beer Have in Common?
Students listen to an explanation of yeast cells and how they effect bread and beer. They discuss the ways alcohol affects the human body and participate in an indirect observation about cell respiration in yeast-molasses cultures.
Curated OER
Create a Microbe
High schoolers construct models of microorganisms recognizing size relationships-comparing the size of viruses with the sizes of bacterial and eukaryotic cells. They put into perspective just how small microbes are by comparing the size...
Curated OER
Digestible Computers
Learners examine the pros and cons of 'embedded computing' in the field of medicine. They invent and describe a computer that would be embedded in an individual to improve their education or school and write essays critiquing their...
Curated OER
Ecological Succession in Pond Water Cultures
Students collect samples of pond water, dried grass, and soil in a jar. They predict the order of ecological succession in their pond water cultures. They compare their expected results with their observed results.
Curated OER
Biological Concepts
Students perform a transection of a redworm. They discuss spinal cord injuries in humans. Students compare the ability of the redworm to regenerate the ventral nerve cord with the inability of humans to repair damage to the dorsal nerve...
Curated OER
What Does Your "Homunculus" Look Like?
Young scholars investigate the density of touch receptors in various parts of the body. They discover how the body senses various stimuli, then maps a picture of the "homunculus" of the experimental subject.
Curated OER
Why is a salt marsh important?
Young scholars discuss the salt marsh. They define the following terms: habitat, water, land and air. Students work in small groups. They are asked why are they going to a salt marsh? Young scholars discuss whose habitat is it at the...
Curated OER
The Effects of Temperature Variations on the Heartbeat Rate of Daphnia
Students use DigiScope technology to investigate Daphinia, popularly known as water fleas. They design, conduct, and report on an experiment to determine the effects of varying water temperatures on the heartbeat rate of Daphnia.
Curated OER
Ocean Voyage Scavenger Hunt
In this ocean voyage worksheet, students utilize the Internet to access one specific website to find the answers to five short answer questions about oceans.
Curated OER
Now You See It, Now You Don't
Students explore organic and inorganic objects. In this environmental lesson students perform a composting experiment using flowers in different soils. Students record their observations.
Curated OER
Inventions- The Impact
Students discuss the impact of certain inventions. In this technology lesson, students research Thomas Edison and the light bulb on the Internet and discuss how the invention impacted society. Students create their own simple inventions.
Curated OER
Classification of Cerealites
Students create a dichotomous key. In this categorizing lesson, students create a dichotomous key for different types of cereal. Students classify the cereal into groups such as flakes and cereal with holes. Students discuss their...
Curated OER
The City Inside a Cell
Learners compare cell structure to the structure of a city. In this cell structure lesson, students investigate differences and similarities between cell structure and city structure. Learners create a 3-dimensional, edible model of a cell.
Curated OER
Magnetorheological Fluids
Young scholars conduct a series of experiments on magnetorheological fluids. In this physics instructional activity, students explain how these fluids behave in varying magnetic field strength. They give practical applications of...
Curated OER
Cell Cycle, Mitosis and Meiosis
Seventh graders describe the processes involved in mitosis and meiosis. In this life science lesson, 7th graders create chromosome models using strings and beads. They play a jeopardy team game at the end of the unit to review concepts...