Students investigate the planet Earth's infamous ring of fire and the life that thrives from it.  In this ocean environment lesson plan, students investigate hydrothermal vents and how organisms thrive off their heat.  Students...

Students study orienteering. In this science instructional activity, students study the parts of a compass and use the compass to set a bearing and follow the bearing on the compass.

Students explore whales and how they have adapted to survive in the ocean.  In this whale adaptations lesson students complete several activities that allow them to investigate animal adaptations.

Students study seabirds and how they have adapted to their environments.  In this activity based lesson plan students will play a card game that will allow them to have a better understanding of seabirds and their adaptations. 

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...

Students lexplore environmental trends in the troposphere- temperature, dew point, pressure and wind speed- by checking their hypotheses against data collected by weather balloons.

Sttudents examine populations of living things and identify variations in physical features.

Learners improve their locomotor skills and their knowledge of recycling. They participate in a relay as they recycle different objects into their proper containers.

Why are the properties of the water important when exploring the ocean? Young scientists discover the tools and technology used in deep sea exploration in the fourth installment in a five-part series. Groups work together to...

What do cereal, fog, and space shuttles have to do with newspapers? A collection of science investigations encourage critical thinking using connections to the various parts of the newspaper. Activities range from building origami seed...

By measuring the wavelength, frequency, and intensity of electromagnetic radiation, scientists determine the temperature, density, and composition of far away items. Scholars rotate through ten lab stations using a spectroscope at each...

Teams use the design process to design, build, and test a model levee to protect the town from a wall of water. A handout provides a price list for the materials learners can use to build their levee within a budget.

How is sea coral like a thermometer? Part three of a six-part series from NOAA describes how oceanographers can use coral growth to estimate water temperature over time. Life science pupils manipulate data to determine the age of corals...

Life science learners construct lung-o-meters from gallon-sized milk jugs and then measure their lung capacities. For older students, have them graph the vital lung capacities of each person in the class. Cross-curricular pieces are...

Groups design the ultimate roller coaster by considering potential and kinetic energy. They test their designs using marbles and then go on to rate each group's design based on aesthetics, loop diameter, and cost.

How do robots assist ocean explorers in collecting data and images? The final installment in a five-part series has science scholars examine underwater images collected by robots and identify the organisms shown. Groups then calculate...

Show young chemists what a chemical reaction looks like with two parts of a hands-on experiment. First, learners conduct a wet lab where they observe the reactants (baking soda and calcium chloride, with phenolsulfonphthalein)...

When it comes to eating a balanced diet, portion control is paramount, but what is the difference between the serving size on the nutrition facts label and a portion as determined by the USDA? In a comprehensive look at portion control,...

Encourage peer collaboration and assist with the creation of visual aids to identify carbon, water, and nitrogen cycles as your class learns more about nature. They discuss relative information, create a visual aid...

Seamounts in the Coral and Tasman Seas are home to more than 850 different species. Groups explore hydrothermal vents, researching the organisms found there and their energy source. They also learn about seamounts, exploring their unique...

Mass and density are difficult topics for kids to understand, and even more difficult when you have visual impairments or blindness. Learners will make boxes and fill them with cotton, sand, or crushed paper. They will feel the density...

Investigate the properties of rocks and minerals through a rockin' hands-on activity. Learners test rocks for various properties and, using a guide, attempt to identify different samples. They use various properties including hardness,...

Focus on inquiry-based learning in your science class with a series of activities designed for middle schoolers. A helpful packet samples four different texts, which include activities about predator-prey relationships, Earth's axis...

Discover firsthand the effects of internal waves on coral reefs. Through a series of experiments, learners simulate internal waves and upwelling events as they make observations on the movement of water and other debris. They then...