Curated OER
Summer Sky Tour
Students explore space science by participating in a constellation identification activity. In this astronomy lesson, students view star charts based on the different seasons and define a list of astronomy related terms. Students...
Curated OER
The Sky Show
Learners use lecture and research to answer the question: Why is the sky blue? students research a variety of other sky phenomena, chart their observations and participate in experiments.
Curated OER
Amelia the Pigeon: What Am I?
Students investigate photos and images both close and far for different types of information.
NOAA
It All Runs Downhill
Examine how pollution makes its way into an ocean with help from a model watershed. Scholars use household items to recreate a mini-watershed, equipped with pollutants, that when mixed with rain drain into a model's body of water. After...
Curated OER
Sky 4: The Moon
Students will draw the moon's shape for each evening on a calendar and then determine the pattern in the shapes over several weeks. Students' understandings should be confined to observations, descriptions, and finding patterns.
Curated OER
Sky 2: Shadows
students will explore making shadows and tracking the movement of an object over the course of a day to look for patterns. It is best to couple this shadow activity with reading the book, Bear Shadow, and making a map of Bear's...
Curated OER
Sun's Path
Students explore the movement of the sun across the sky. In this science instructional activity, students use clear plastic hemispheres and markers to record how the sun moves across the sky. Students write directions so the activity...
Curated OER
Journal Introductions
Students explore the idea of scientific observation and the use of a journal to record their observations. They examine the proper vocabulary used when describing scientific inquiry. Students observe a science experiment and they discuss...
Curated OER
Lesson 4 Lesson 2(cont.) Its a Small World (Day 4)
Young scholars watch and discuss observations of condensation on the plastic "sky" of the container. They draw a sketch of what they see and record their observations on the Its a Small World mini booklet. Sudents investigate...
Curated OER
OSAE Can You See
Students observe, speculate, analyze and evaluate conclusions about Mississippi River locations as well as illustrate their findings in drawings. They enhance themselves with their surroundings and landscape pictures at various places...
Curated OER
Too Bright At Night?
Students explain what causes light pollution and how it can be curtailed. They consider the negative consequences of nighttime lighting, enabled by the invention of electric lights at the close of the 19th Century.
Curated OER
Observational Astronomy
Students research about the characteristics of celestial bodies using a database. In this space science lesson, students collect data such as brightness, apparent color and size by observing the night sky. They share their findings with...
Curated OER
Star Gazing: Understanding the night sky
Students observe star charts to understand the difference between a star and a planet. In this star lesson plan, students also explain why we see different stars at different times of the year.
Curated OER
Sundials: Observing and Using Shadows
Students build sundials and observe changes in shadows over the course of one or more days. They identify patterns in the shadows and discuss how shadows may be used to tell time.
Curated OER
Observing the Outer Planets
Learners observe the outer planets. In this science lesson, students use a telescope locate the outer planets of the solar system. Learners create a video of their observations.
Curated OER
Moon Observations
Students study the science of the moon. In this moon observations lesson, students study vocabulary associated with the moon, study a lunar calendar, and a phases of the moon's orbit around the Earth.
Big Kid Science
Measuring Shadows Using an Ancient Method
How did ancient peoples determine the height of really tall objects? Young scientists and mathematicians explore the concept of using shadows to measure height in a hands-on experiment. Paired pupils measure shadows, then calculate the...
Intel
Starquest
Almost every ancient culture observed the stars and saw pictures in the patterns. Studying stars allowed them to guide travelers, determine when to plant crops, when to harvest food, and the stories surrounding the images include some of...
Curated OER
The Hydrologic (Water) Cycle
Learners construct a model of the hydrologic cycle, and observe that water is an element of a cycle in the natural environment. They explain how the hydrologic cycle works and why it is important, and compare the hydrologic cycle to...
National Wildlife Federation
Is It Getting Hot in Here, or Is It Just Me?
Currently, only 2.1% of global warming is felt on continents, while over 93% is felt in the oceans. The fourth lesson in the series of 21 on global warming is composed of three activities that build off one another. In the first...
Curated OER
See The Wind!
Students learn about wind at different altitudes above the earth. In this wind lesson plan, students use kites or balloons with attached streamers to observe the wind speed, wind turbulence and shear at different elevations. Students...
Curated OER
Supernova Chemistry
Using spectroscopes, high school astronomy, physics, or chemistry learners observe emission spectra from several different sources. This stellar NASA-produced lesson plan provides terrific teacher's notes and a student handout. Make sure...
National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science
Mask of the Black God
Finally, an astronomy lesson for the high schooler! Explorers are able to read star maps for finding objects in the night sky by determining celestial coordinates. In particular, they locate the Pleiades and read about a Navajo legend...
Curated OER
Introduction to the Elements of the Water Cycle
The basic elements of the water cycle and how water is recycled through our environment is focused on in this lesson. Your students construct classroom terrariums and learn to make and record observations relating to the water cycle....