Berkshire Museum
Backyard Rocks
You don't have to travel far to learn about rocks, just step outside, pick up a stone, and begin investigating. After taking a class walk around the school grounds collecting rocks, young scientists practice their skills of observation...
Curated OER
Photo Scavenger Hunt
Learners celebrate Earth Day by applying what they've learned about studying the natural world. In this Photo Scavenger Hunt lesson plan, students use a digital camera to capture outdoor imagery and to help them understand the...
Baylor College
Fossil Fuels and the Carbon Cycle
Humans are quickly depleting Earth's fossil fuels and locating them is becoming increasingly difficult! Layered muffins are used for models as young geologists take core samples in order to determine the presence of oil. Consider first...
National Park Service
The Young Naturalist
Beginning with a brief history of our 26th president, Theodore Roosevelt, then followed by a discussion of his interest in nature, young scientists take to the outdoors to locate and observe local plants and insects. Scholars return to...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Lesson 3: Scientific Inquiry with WildCam Gorongosa
When biologists installed cameras in Gorongosa National Park, they ended up viewing a lot more than the lions they were trying to help! Young ecologists observe one of Africa's most beautiful savanna regions with interactive trail camera...
Curated OER
Outdoor Observations
Fifth graders attain data using their senses. They record information. They develop observation skills and explore how to investigate. They gain appreciation for nature through their observations.
Curated OER
Landscape Confection: Pre-visit Activity
Upper graders explore the concepts of landscape art, man, nature and their inter-relationship. This is a critical thinking and analysis activity intended to prepare the class for an up coming trip to a local art museum. They analyze,...
Curated OER
Beauty: Patterns in Nature
Students explore the patterns of nature. In this interdisciplinary instructional activity, students examine beauty in nature and participate in a hands-on simulation that demonstrates how human preferences for beauty have led to an...
Curated OER
The Greatest Show on Earth: The World's Smallest Animals
Students create instruments to capture different types of insects. In this The Greatest Show on Earth: The World's Smallest Animals lesson, students compare the attributes of certain insects and record the data on a chart. After catching...
Curated OER
Our Geometic World
Students walk around the neighborhood and identify various polygons and lines in buildings, nature and other objects. They design a building using various geometric patterns, shapes and lines. Students complete a descriptive writing of...
American Museum of Natural History
Around the World with DNA
DNA analysis could be what saves some animals from extinction. An interactive lesson shows learners how DNA information proves variation among animals of the same species and how stakeholders use that information to make decisions. Easy...
Channel Islands Film
Natural Resources, and Human Uses of Plants and Animals
As part of their study of the restoration projects on Santa Cruz Island, class members demonstrate their understanding of the connections among plant life, animals, and the actions of humans by crafting a model that reveals these...
Cornell University
Polymers: Making Silly Putty
Putty is proof that learning can be fun! Share the wonderful world of polymers with your class through an experiment. Young scientists create their own silly putty, then examine its properties.
Curated OER
Observations and Inferences
Learners observe how to distinguish observations form inferences. For this examining inferences lesson students list observations relating to the activity and discuss the importance of them.
Curated OER
Environmental Studies: The Environment Rocks!
Rock exploration, so exciting! After reading the book Everybody Needs a Rock, the class makes sandwiches to better understand that the Earth is made in layers. They then use a description of the 3 types of rock to conduct an observation...
Curated OER
Nearsightedness
Examine the processes scientists go through to develop their conclusions. Using the internet, research the problem of nearsightedness and identify anyone they know with the condition. Discover the debate in the science world on this...
Curated OER
Water and Ice
Students observe and discuss what happens when water turns to ice and when ice turns into water. In this freezing and melting lesson plan, students observe ice and water and complete hands on activities that change their properties.
Curated OER
Antibiotics: Will They Work?
Students examine why antibiotics are important in everyday life. They examine the decisions that people make and how these decisions can artificially speed up natural selection in bacteria that cause infections such as group A...
Project Noah
Writing Goes Wild
Young scientists develop their observation and writing skills as they craft and then post a detailed description of a plant or animal they have spotted and photographed.
Curated OER
Air Quality
Students observe air quality and monoxide data. In this air quality lesson, students draw conclusions and manipulate data from a one year period on changes in air quality.
University of Minnesota
Mirroring Emotions
Do you ever give your class the "teacher look"? Without saying a word, they become silent and engaged (hopefully). How do they know what you're thinking? Explore the concept of nonverbal communication and how it relates to our mirror...
Omaha Zoo
I Like to Move It
What do lemurs do best? They move! Lemurs like to jump, run, hop, and climb and it's your class's job to document seven fun lemur behaviors. The class starts by discussing why lemurs are considered primates, and then they isolate seven...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Seasons of a Plant
The third in a series of six lessons is an engaging three-part activity defines that discusses phenology, focusing on the cyclic seasons of plants. Pupils then observe phenology outside before determining how climate change can...
Curated OER
Leaf Prints
Creating art from nature teaches learners how to appreciate the world around them while allowing them to practice artistic techniques. After observing and choosing fall leaves from outside, they create leaf prints. They press the painted...