Curated OER
Energy Content of Foods
Learners collect data, organize and analyze the data and compare it to real life scenarios. This assignment requires two class periods.
Curated OER
Types of Behavior: Animal Behavior Research
How does one determine what influences animal behavior; Is it nature or nurture? After a short reading explaining different types of conditioning and other learned behaviors, scholars examine six scenarios to determine whether the...
Curated OER
Energy: Light -- Spinning Color Wheel
Second graders make spinning color wheels to determine how energy effects what colors look like. They paint or color a color wheel with the seven colors of the spectrum. Next, the spin the wheel to determine what happens. In order to...
Curated OER
Ice cream in a Bag
Students make ice cream from scratch. They discuss the Food Guide Pyramid and what constitutes healthy and unhealthy food choices. Students experiment states of matter - solids, liquids, and gases. They predict each stage of the ice...
Curated OER
Apple Science
Sixth graders explore agriculture by viewing a fruits and vegetables video clip. In this apple characteristics lesson, 6th graders discuss how fruits and vegetables deteriorate after being exposed to oxygen and identify methods to defend...
Curated OER
A Salty Experiment
Young scholars study salty and fresh waters. In this harbor estuary lesson plan students complete a lab activity on salinity and describe what happened.
Curated OER
Topic: Math, Chemistry, and Food
Learners listen as the teacher tells the story of Sisyphus rolling the stone up the mountain. Students prepare two batches of jello, one with fresh pineapple, and one with canned pineapple. While the jello is setting, learners work on...
Curated OER
The Science of Papermaking and Paper Recycling: A Research Experience for Teachers
Students explore the concept of paper recycling and the fiber that is yielded from the process. Students perform a coarse screening of recycled fiber and calculate the yield of the process.
Curated OER
Mixing in the Kitchen
Students identify the different types of mixtures. They identify examples of solutions, suspensions, colloidal dispersions, and emulsions through a game and basic experiments.
Exploratorium
Your Sense of Taste
A simple and sweet activity shows students how important smell is in interpreting flavor. Pairs of pupils hold their noses and eat Life Savers®, only to find that they can't identify the flavors until they let go. You will appreciate...
US Environmental Protection Agency
Role of Plants in Water Filtration
Investigate the amazing ability of plants to filter contaminants from water with this series of in-class demonstrations. After placing six small, potted plants in plastic cups, different solutions and mixtures are poured into them that...
Nuffield Foundation
Controlling Body Mass
Many variables impact your body mass, not just diet and exercise. Scholars collect and study data about body mass to better understand the complexity of a sensitive topic. They learn about leptin deficiency, the hypothalamus, and more.
Discovery Education
Blueprint for Life
DNA is the code for all biological traits, both plant and animal. Using an exploratory lesson, learners begin to explore the concept of a biological code by decoding word puzzles. They then extract DNA from plant cells using detergent to...
Curated OER
All About Teeth
Chomp chomp! Learn which teeth perform which tasks with a thorough worksheet on molars, incisors, and canines. Based on descriptions of each kind of tooth, fifth graders label a diagram that points to particular teeth. They then color in...
Curated OER
Where is Sophie?
Students use GPS to scrutinize the movements of a grizzly bear named Sophie. They answer a series of questions like; where she forages, her zone of influence, and human interaction. They read the story of Sophie, the collared bear in...
Curated OER
Pollination of Flowers by Moths
Turn your classroom into a pollination station as your kids transform into moths or predators trying to survive and aiding in plant reproduction along the way. Using silent party blowers as proboscises, the moths will have two minutes to...
Polar Trec
Foraging for Fish in a Melting Arctic
How much do you know about the black guillemot of the Arctic region? With great background information, images, and a quick discussion, the class will learn all about the plight of the foraging seabird as they play a fun game. First,...
Science Friday
Sublime Sublimation
Dry ice isn't dehydrated water, and young scientists learn why in this fascinating presentation. After watching a video, they complete three different activities using dry ice. Upon completion, they discuss the scientific...
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
Silver Nanoparticle Synthesis and Spectroscopy
Certain materials do not always maintain the same physical properties when they exist in the nanoscale. Help your classes to explore this idea through an experimental instructional activity. Scholars use spectroscopy with samples of...
Wild BC
Maple Trees and Marmots
Kinesthetic activities simulate animal activity as the seasons progress in a lesson that introduces climate change to primary pupils. The kids role-play maple trees collecting what they need to survive, but as each year comes...
Curated OER
Oobleck
Here is a good lesson which aptly describes how to do the classic "Oobleck" lab with your young scientists. Unfortunately, the "Oobleck Investigation Sheet" in the plan doesn't open. However, this is a very clear description about how to...
Curated OER
Eutrophication
Students observe the effects of eutrophication and determine why it is harmful to aquatic ecosystems. They create mason jar ecosystems to observe the growth of algae in pond water. In addition, they observe the effect of introducing...
University of Colorado
Can Photosynthesis Occur at Saturn?
In the 19th activity of 22, learners determine if distance from a light source affects photosynthesis. Participants capture oxygen in straws and find that the amount of water the gas displaces is proportional to the rate of photosynthesis.
Curated OER
Being Alive
Young biologists use a activity to fill in the blanks of five sentences. Each one needs a word from a word band at the top of the resource. All of the sentences are about things that are alive, and how we know they are alive. The words...