Curated OER
School Lighting Audit
Students identify the data included in an energy audit. They perform an audit on the lighting in their school building. They complete a worksheet and discuss lighting issues with school staff.
Curated OER
The Magic School Bus in the Time of the Dinosaurs
Students draw names of dinosaurs out of a hat and write a report about the one they picked. Students write a riddle about their favorite prehistoric animal, post it on a bulletin board, and have other guess which animal it is about....
Curated OER
The Magic School bus Inside A Hurricane
Students investigate the concept of a hurricane by using the cartoon series "The Magic Schoolbus" to simulate the fantasy of traveling through a hurricane. The instructional activity uses a KWL graphic organizer in order to guide student...
Curated OER
Sunlight and Warm Air
Young scholars examine the different ways heat can be felt. In this radiation and conduction instructional activity, students recognize that the sun radiates heat. Young scholars conduct three experiments to find how the sun warms...
Curated OER
Who's Wild?
Students explore the differences between animals of the wild and domesticated animals. In this wild animals lesson, students understand that tame animals ancestors were once wild. Students illustrate the differences by...
Curated OER
Hot Stuff
Very young scientists who are learning about solids, liquids, melting, and freezing will use this worksheet to identify things that would melt if put in a warm place. There are eight objects altogether, and learners place a check mark...
Curated OER
Plants have needs, too!
Plants can die if they don't get enough sunlight and water. Kindergartners observe a picture of a hanging plant and grass under a tree, and interpret which each plant has died. Next, they grow watercress seeds in wet cotton to compare...
Curated OER
Getting nosy
A nose knows! Connect animals to their noses with a fun science activity. Animals include elephants, rats, pigs, and even humans. For a science exploration, kindergartners answer questions about what they can smell. A great addition to...
Curated OER
Growing
Growing is part of being a living thing. Kindergartners decide which illustrations represent the life cycle of a living thing, then put a check mark next to the correct pictures. They then examine their own growth on a height chart.
Curated OER
My Shadow and Me
Practice making shadows with a kindergarten science experiment. After deciding which picture would represent the biggest shadow, kids use a flashlight to experiment with their own shadows. For extra fun, have kids mark their shadows...
Curated OER
Name That Critter
Young learners classify five different animals into their proper category. The animals pictured are a pigeon, a lizard, a cat, a frog, and a goldfish. Pupils are also asked to tell why they know it's a certain kind of animal. An...
Curated OER
Food chains at sea
Fifth graders interpret a table of data about food chains in the ocean. They create a food chain to represent the information on the table. Periwinkles eat seaweed, and crabs eat periwinkles - so who eats crabs? Extend the activity with...
Curated OER
Bend It! Stretch It! Squash It!
Some items keep their shape no matter what happens! Have your kindergarten class choose which items would stay the same if they were bent, stretched, or squashed. The last activity prompts kids to see what happens when they stretch a...
Curated OER
Ring-A-Ding-Ding!
What sound does metal make when you hit it? Kindergartners and first graders conduct an experiment about the properties of metal. First, they draw a line between metal items and descriptions of each. Next, they use a magnet to see which...
Curated OER
Magnets are forceful
You could use this activity two different ways. As is, or you could have learners actually do the experiment shown. They are to determine which magnet is strongest by counting the number of paper clips hanging from it. Why not get five...
Curated OER
Plants are yummy!
Is it a fruit or a vegetable? Youngsters place an F next to each fruit they see and a V next to the vegetables. Corn is tricky. It is a grass, so it's actually not a fruit or a vegetable, but a grain!
Curated OER
Non-living Things
Very young scientists circle the things on the learning exercise that they think are living things. Most of the pictures are of non-living things. A handy learning exercise to use during any initial discussion about living vs. non-living...
Curated OER
Local River Life
Students identify rivers in their county, state, or province, and
research various kinds of animals and plants living in or near the rivers.
They write short summaries about the animals and plant life, draw pictures, and compile...
Cornell University
Radical Reactions
The radical reactions of polymers seems abstract to many pupils, but this lesson turns them into a fun building game. Scholars use dice and building pieces to build polymers. Then, they determine the theoretical and experimental weight...
Curated OER
Jumanji
Third graders read the book, Jumangi. Then they divide into groups of four or five and choose a habitat - desert, wetlands, Arctic/Antarctic, etc. Then each group can research the habitat to learn what kind of animals live there.
Curated OER
Make a Model of a Wright Flyer
Students recreate a model of the 1903 Wright Flyer out of Styrofoam. Students practice following instructions, and discover information about the Wright brothers' engine-powered glider.
Curated OER
Hurricanes-Disasters In the Making
Sixth graders discover the proper methods for plotting hurricanes while developing their understanding of hurricanes by researching and gathering tracking data from technological sources. Students develop a newsletter about hurricanes,...