Desert Discoveries
Creating a Garden Journal
Youngsters create science journals which are used to record observations from the school garden. The goal of this activity is to help kids tune into nature by making daily observations on the growth of the plants, and also to take note...
Curated OER
The Human Impact on the Environment
Despite the typos and formatting issues, the Word document found here has some great potential. There are two questions that ask learners to put several events in a logical order; these could easily be made into a card sort activity....
Curated OER
Weather Instruments
Middle school meteorologists get acquainted with basic weather instruments: the thermometer, barometer, psychrometer, and anemometer. For each, the question is asked, "Do you think you can make a _______________?" At these points, you...
Curated OER
What Is Important to Me?
Students respond to prompt with awareness of personal value of possessions. They list the criteria used to determine worth and value. They listen and ask questions or add comments and check their own measures of value with those the...
Discovery Education
Sonar & Echolocation
A well-designed, comprehensive, and attractive slide show supports direct instruction on how sonar and echolocation work. Contained within the slides are links to interactive websites and instructions for using apps on a mobile device to...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Gorongosa: Making Observations Activity
Do you have young scientists wanting to make new discoveries rather than just completing the same experiments? Young scientists use their observational skills to identify animals and patterns in animal behavior. Through tracking...
Curated OER
Testing for Life’s Molecules
Want to hear a joke about sodium? Na. Young scientists test various materials to identify if they include protein, starch, and glucose by using the Biuret test, iodine starch test, and Benedict's test respectively. After practicing with...
Journey Through the Universe
Where to Look For Life?
Every year we discover new planets including more than 1,000 in 2016 alone. Will we ever find life on another planet? The lesson includes two activities to help scholars understand this concept. First, they analyze the temperature range...
California Academy of Science
Kinesthetic Astronomy: The Meaning of a Year
How many times have you traveled around the sun? Aspiring astronomers grasp what a year is and they differentiate between orbit and rotation by walking around the sun right within your classroom. Place a lamp in the center of the room to...
Captain Planet Foundation
Solar Cooking Race
Study heat transfer with activities that focus on how heat energy works. Using a solar cooker, ice cubes, and heat transfer bracelets, kids experiment and record what they find by keeping ice cubes cold and vegetables hot.
Norwich Institute for Language Education
Simple Machines
Planning a unit on simple machines? Save some time and energy with this collection of lessons and activities that explores how these devices are used in the real world to make life a little easier.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Human Feet Are Strange
Feet are neat! So, if you've already walked the path of examining animal footprints with your class, put them in the shoes of early humans! A well-designed lesson incorporates video, discussion, and hands-on learning to demonstrate how...
Curated OER
Fossil Hunt
Students ask questions about the nature of science as they experience a 'Fossil Hunt'. They reconstruct a book that has been literally destroyed, just as the fossil record has been changed by billions of years of geological processes.
Curated OER
To Go Where No Student Has Gone Before
Eighth graders participate in interactive video teleconference with employees of NASA Johnson Space Center. Students visit inside of space station module, take video tour of Russian-built Service Module by Astronaut Bill Shepherd, visit...
Curated OER
Collaboration via Slime Mold
Students combine the skills and concepts that they have developed to ask a simple question which can be answered on a Petri plate. They ask questions and design experiments for verification through collaboration with their classmates.
Curated OER
Cosmic Poetry: Words and Ideas Bring the Cosmos to Life
Sixth graders study the cosmos and their thoughts and feelings about the universe. In this cosmic poetry lesson students create a venue where they can "safely" ask questions and discuss ideas.
Curated OER
Conducting and Analyzing Local Studies
Young scholars carry out the class weather study: recording, organizing and discussing data daily and keeping track of this work in their journals. They look for patterns and relationships in data, link these with what they know and with...
Curated OER
The Scientific Method (Senior, Science)
Student's recall from memory the steps in the scientific method. TSWBAT describe in detail the various steps of the scientific method. TSWBAT analyze a problem or situation and apply the steps of the scientific method to it.
Curated OER
Physical or Chemical? That Is the Question
Students find examples of physical and chemical changes using the five Web World Wonders camera sites.
Curated OER
Pendulum Lab in 9th Grade Physical Science
Ninth graders conduct experiments to determine what affects the rate of a pendulum's swing. Working in small groups, they identify an independent variable to study and create an experiment to test their hypothesis. When tests are...
Curated OER
Paper Airplane Science
Fifth graders recognize the need to follow the scientific method carefully and be aware of variables in experiments. In this airplane instructional activity, 5th graders design and test an airplane, and complete a data sheet....
Curated OER
Capturing Light: The Science of Photography
Students explore light, and how it travels in straight path, recognize that light-sensitive chemical processes can be used to create images using light as catalyst, discover that light can be refracted by convex lens to focus camera,...
Curated OER
Ask Rustle the Leaf About...Acid Rain
In this acid rain worksheet, students read about acid rain from a leaf's perspective. They fill in the blanks with 9 terms to complete a paragraph about acid rain. They also are given 8 clues to complete a crossword puzzle. Their is a...
Curated OER
RISKS AND BENEFITS
Students explore how to assess and weigh the risks and benefits associated with innovations in science and technology.