Diamonds are a girl's best friend! Crystal labs can be a science teacher's best friend because watching crystals develop is fascinating, and it results in such a pretty product! This activity is unique because the crystals are grown...

Explore the potential for bias in the news and in scholars' own attitudes and opinions. Begin with a quiz on youth crime to see how learners perceive crime among their peers. After looking at the correct answers, put individuals in...

Whether you have your class plant seeds or begin when sprouts are visible, math skills are used here to predict and track growth over time. Straw bar graphs show plant height on a given day while the graph as a whole shows changes over...

Use consonant digraphs to introduce learners to word patterns and high frequency words. They observe a chart with the digraphs /sh/, /ch/, /th/, and /wh/. After listening to each of these phonemes, scholars watch as the teacher...

This complete set of instructions for creating your very own butterfly garden and habitat is so cool! With some seeds and the handy resources in this activity, you and your class will be able to determine which type of habitat is best...

Refuse to alienate your scientific-minded young scholars during your creative writing unit. Learners explore how literary writing can reflect observable fact, and be based in actual science. The links include examples of fiction and...

I love lessons that incorporate the arts, they're so engaging and address a more diverse set of learners. Your class will investigate the reasons fish from the coal reef have adapted such colorful fins. They design a fish that uses color...

What do graphs of atmospheric gases over time show us? Do they indicate that carbon sources and carbon sinks are not in balance? Up-and-coming meteorologists watch video clips, read information, and analyze data from the HIPPO...

What will viewers see when they watch this video about vision? They will observe RJ and Sam hanging out during a power outage with Rookie, the dog. The boys discuss the structure of the eye (pupil, iris, cornea, lens, retina,...

In session one, demonstrate for your class how a flame eventually goes out when enclosed in a jar in order to teach that oxygen is required for combustion. In session two, class members then burn sugar in a spoon to observe how it...

Small groups place sand and ice in a covered box, place the box in the sunlight, then observe as evaporation, condensation, and precipitation occur. These models serve as miniature water cycles and demonstrations of the three phases of...

Take your class to the moon and back with this compact slide show. A mix of computer-generated images and photographs are supported by explanatory text. Observers learn about the moon's movements, its physical features, and its phases....

Those lovely ladybugs are so cute, and so very useful! Use a short unit to explore insect anatomy, the ladybug life cycle, and the help ladybugs provide organic farmers. The unit is comprised of four short thirty-minute lesson plans that...

By overlapping combs and window screening and by looking at a printed set of consecutively larger circles, learners observe Moire patterns, which provide a visual of what happens during wave interference. 

Kindle knowledge of how light travels by using this activity in your physical science curriculum. By setting up a candle flame or flashlight bulb and viewing it through a slit, observers of light see evidence of its wave characteristic....

Jacque's soliloquy from Act II, scene ii of As You Like It sets the stage for a close reading exercise that models how to approach difficult, dense text and enables readers to practice reading comprehension and analysis...

Second of six lessons in a unit on dissolving, this one focuses on how sugar behaves in different liquids. Learners stir it into water, alcohol, and oil and make observations. This instructional activity can stand alone, but is best used...

The first in a six-lesson mini unit, all using M&Ms® candies, this physical science activity gets kids to observe a single piece and discover what happens when it is placed in a plate of water. The activity can be used to...

Physical or earth scientists construct this clever contraption to demonstrate how size effects frequency. Several paper rings of various sizes are taped onto a board and shaken to create vibrations. The resonant frequencies are easily...

Learn about George Washington Carver's important contributions to agriculture by studying the sweet potato. First graders read about the inventor's observations and prepare sweet potato slips for the class garden. Additionally, they...

As an anticipatory set, young environmental technicians watch a video about how ocean temperatures seem to be changing along with the global climate. They perform a laboratory demonstration with the purpose of observing what happens to...

Second graders observe, identify, and document birds sighted at the library feeder station. They observe and document birds in order to begin their birder's life list. They apply scientific concepts and principles by using library...

Students observe what happens when bread is handled by dirty hands. They read and discuss the book "Germs." Students participate in an experiment. Students touch bread with a variation of hands: dirty, washed with soap and water, washed...

Get your class outside to observe their surroundings with a lesson highlighting weather patterns and seasonal changes. First, learners take a weather walk to survey how the weather affects animals, people, plants, and trees during...