Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Minerals, Crystals, and Gems

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Learners discover the relationships between minerals, crystals and gems. They bring in rocks that they find at home, in the schoolyard, etc. and examine them and attempt to identify them. They set up a classroom exhibit that includes all...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Climate and Cultures of Africa

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students gain an understanding of the relationship between climate and culture in the sub- Saharan Africa. Students will complete short exercises pertaining to the various cultures of Africa and the climate in which they live....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Continents and Oceans

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Students identify oceans and continents and their locations on a map. They color-code and label their own map of the world's continents and oceans. They play the game Continents and Oceans to identify specific areas.
Writing
Curated OER

Hello, Is Anybody Out There? (cont.)

For Students 6th - 8th
In this space science worksheet, students read an informative passage about radio waves and the possibility of sending messages in space. The passage describes a "Sounds of Earth" record on the Voyager satellite which contains messages...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Wonderful Whales

For Teachers Pre-K - 3rd
Primary marine biologists consider the largest living animals on Earth, the whales. Introduce them to general anatomy, unique adaptations, and behaviors. Teach them to sing a song that will help them remember some of these facts....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jeopardy

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers played a game of Jeopardy where there was five categories with five questions each in order to assess the retention of concepts taught over the semester. The categories included: Graphing/Summarizing/ Scientific Method,...
Handout
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Molecules to the Max!—Teacher's Discovery Guide

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
Molecules to the Max! refers to a movie released in 2009 about the world of atoms and molecules. A helpful discovery guide provides five posters on science topics typically covered at the middle school level. It also explains the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Water

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders study different bodies of water and how they fit into the water cycle. They explain that materials exist in different states (solid, liquid and gas) and change from one to another, that there are systems, order, and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Primary Songs about Recycling

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Students compose songs about recycling. In this ecology lesson, students use vocabulary and concepts related to recycling to generate lyrics for an original song. Students construct musical instruments out of discarded materials.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pollution is Not a Solution

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Young scholars explore the environment by completing science worksheets in class. In this water conservation lesson, students identify ways water is used in our society and how we abuse the privilege. Young scholars discuss methods to...
Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

Watching Crystals Grow

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Amazing science can sometimes happen right before your eyes! The class gets cozy as they watch crystals grow. They use Epsom salts, rocks, and food coloring to create crystals. They'll observe the entire process, documenting every step...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lewis and Clark: The Language of Discovery

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars replicate some of the trailblazing methods of Lewis and Clark on a fifteen-minute "writing journey" through the school or neighborhood.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Animaters and Lego Mania!

For Teachers 2nd - 7th
Learners use various technology elements to storyboard and create an animal animation story based on a nonfiction story they've read. In this animation story lesson, students work in groups and read nonfiction animal stories. Learners...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Musical Plates

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders engage in a study of the plates and how they are part of the formation of the ever changing landscape of planet earth. They access web sites that have applications for observation and conducting different activities. The...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Life Cycle of a Butterfly

For Students 3rd - 4th
In this worksheet on the life cycle of the butterfly, learners look at 4 pictures representing the life cycle stages, and choose words from a word box that match each picture. Students then number the pictures in the correct order of...
Unit Plan
Colorado Unit Writing Project

Fun with Phonemic Awareness

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st Standards
The phonemic awareness activities in this packet are designed to help kids develop skills in rhyming, syllabication, blending onsets and rimes, and beginning and ending sounds. Well worth a place in your curriculum library.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ride the Road to Freedom

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders discover that people can connect the dots of the stars to make pictures in the sky and have been doing so for thousands of years. They understand that throughout the United States people worked together to plan an escape...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Paper Plate Sunflowers

For Teachers Pre-K - 2nd
A great way to recall the parts of a flower is to make one. Little learners create sunflowers out of paint and paper plates. They also discuss and label the various parts of their flowers. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Watercolor Rainbows

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
Who doesn't love a rainbow? Little ones adore them, so why not make rainbows the subject of your next art project. Your class can use watercolor to paint rainbows. As they do, have them identify the colors in the rainbow, talk about how...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mantle Motions

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students define vocabulary words associated with lithospheric plate motions. They create and write down a motion to act out each vocabulary word, and participate in a game of demonstrating the actions associated with each word.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Under the Sea

For Teachers K - 3rd
Students culminate a science and language arts unit by participating in a performance. In this performance lesson, students make costumes and scenery before performing a play entitled, "The Mystery of the Missing Jewel Fish."
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Music in Us

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore the origins of human music. Students watch a video and participate in a variety of activities. They examine evidence, conduct research on he various animals, and create a concept map.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Learning from Letters and Other Mail

For Teachers Pre-K - 3rd
Students explore the history of our mail system. In this postal lesson plan, students evaluate mail as a means of communication, create a mail system in their classroom where they can send and receive mail. Once the students receive...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Playing Historical Detective: Great Grandmother's Dress and Other Clues to the Life and Times of Annie Steel

For Teachers Pre-K - 8th
Students draw conclusions about an mystery person based on documents and artifacts provided. In this drawing conclusions instructional activity, students become detectives by reading and analyzing evidence provided. This instructional...