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Lesson Plan
Cornell University

Sometimes You Behave Like a WAVE, Sometimes You Don't!

For Students 10th - 12th
Electromagnetic radiation behaves like both a wave and a particle. Help classes explore this concept through a lab investigation. Young scientists create optical interference patterns on a glass slide using a carbon layer. They analyze...
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Lesson Plan
Baylor College

The Heart is a Pump

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Circulate this news: the heart is a pump containing one-way valves! Following the previous instructional activity on the external structure of the heart, learners now take a look at the inside. They use a three-color diagram to label a...
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Food for Thought: Climate Change and Trophic Cascades

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
Learners examines the arctic food web with a short video about polar bears and an article about bears and warming temperatures. They design an arctic food web and discuss the trophic cascade that could come from climate...
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Lesson Plan
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Diseases

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
During a cholera outbreak, scientists presented two theories; one theory was based on miasma and the other on germs and contaminated water. The lesson looks at the scientific process for finding the real culprit. 
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Lesson Plan
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Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

Don't Mess with Mercury (Lesson C)

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
The health effects of mercury exposure if the focus of the first of three activities about the properties of metals. Pairs research mercury to write, prepare, and share posters, articles, or PSAs with the class. 
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Lesson Plan
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American Chemical Society

Using the Properties of Materials to Improve a Model Boat

For Teachers 2nd
Work together to stay afloat. Using a paper boat, pupils connect properties of materials to their usefulness. They test different paper to determine how many pennies each boat will hold and learn that combining materials with different...
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Lesson Plan
Teach Engineering

Both Fields at Once?

For Teachers 11th - 12th
An MRI uses both a magnetic and electricity, so how do the two interact with each other? Class members observe the effects on a charged particle when it is subject to both an electrical and magnetic field. The teacher background...
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Lesson Plan
Teach Engineering

Optimizing Pencils in a Tray

For Teachers 8th - 10th Standards
What do you call a story about a broken pencil? Pointless. Scholars may not be telling stories when using the resource, but they are solving optimization problems involving the maximum number of pencils that can fit on a tray. They...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Physical Changes and the Water Cycle- Three

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders take note of the changes in the water level in a cup of water that is left out. Using a model of the water that depicts a lake and landscape that is being heated by a heat lamp, the students observe precipitation, and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Polar Day: Living in the Canadian North

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students study the Canadian North. In this Canadian North instructional activity, students study the physical characteristics and the lifestyles of people in that region. Students complete map making and creative activities that help...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Recycling Relay

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students improve their locomotor skills and their knowledge of recycling. They participate in a relay as they recycle different objects into their proper containers.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Science: Liquid Matter

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders examine the properties of liquids and their classifications. They compare and contrast cups of different liquids and record their findings in journals. Students observe how liquids flow at various speeds and that unlike...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Safety in the Auto Shop/Laboratory Environment

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners evaluate typical auto shop sectons and layout. They identify safety hazards in the auto shop. Students examine measures to prevent common shop accidents. They discuss general safety rules for the auto shop. Learners identify...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Science: What Happens to Create the Lode?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students understand how mineral deposits are formed and why they are not evenly dispersed. They create and describe three different precipitates from four solutions simulating mineral ore deposit formation in sedimentary rock.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Science-Unit on Matter-Gases

For Teachers 1st
First graders understand that gases take up space even though you can't see or smell it. This is done through many experiments like trapping air in different sized bags, using balloons and plastic bottles, and blowing bubbles. They...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Surviving in Our Ecosystems

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders identify the characteristics of a frog and compare them to a human child. They draw and describe the best environment for a human to live in and the best environment for a frog to live in based on their physical...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

ChromaCool!

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders watch a video about physical and chemical changes. In groups, they participate in a variety of activities involving color. They write their observations in a journal. To end the lesson, they use a checklist to classify...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Colonial Life

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders explore American colonial life. In this interdisciplinary history and science lesson, 5th graders participate in several hands-on activities that require them to make colonial products that involve physical or chemical...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sorting and Classifying with Tree Products

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders sort and classify wood.  In this sorting tree products lesson, 4th graders sort and classify tree parts and pieces of wood, both natural and manufactured according to their properties. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Time Travel

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students investigate the concept of time travel and quantum physics. They complete a Webquest, read excerpts from the book, 'The Time Machine,' play an online time traveler game, and read and evaluate newspaper articles about time.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Changing Matter

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders conduct an experiment.  In this changing matter lesson, 5th graders receive a cup of crystals, record their observations, add water to the crystals and record new observations. Students then discuss the differences...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Science: Generating Electricity

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders examine the various methods of generating electricity and explain their commonalities. They determine what is the most common source of energy and what are the potential environmental health hazards due to electrical...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Kansas Land

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders discover the geographic regions of Kansas. In this geography lesson plan, 4th graders explore the different regions of Kansas and determine how the different geography affects daily life in Kansas.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Factors That Shaped Indiana

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders construct a model of Indiana which displays the effects of the glacial period on the state's physical structure. Students work in groups to plan and execute their model based on an established rubric.