Lesson Plan
Earth Day Network

Healthy Earth, Sick Earth

For Teachers K - 5th Standards
Earth is sick and needs our help! Read the children's book Planet Earth Gets Well to explain the various problems facing the planet, discussing what young conservationists can do to heal the planet along the way. A great Earth...
Lesson Plan
Education Outside

Papermaking

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Imagine recycling food scraps and using them to make paper. The directions are all here in a seven-page packet that details several paper-making strategies.
Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

The Big Bang Theory: An Evidence-Based Argument

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
What evidence supports the big bang theory? Individuals analyze scholarly resources about the the theory and develop arguments backed by evidence. They brainstorm, share ideas, watch a video, and read articles to complete a graphic...
Lesson Plan
Discovery Education

Fuss About Dust

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
Dust is everywhere around us; it's unavoidable. But what exactly is dust and are certain locations dustier than others? These are the questions students try to answer in an interesting scientific investigation. Working independently or...
Lesson Plan
Sea World

Ocean Discovery

For Teachers Pre-K - K
Immerse your young marine biologists in the world of marine animals. The lesson includes several activities that are age-appropriate for preschoolers and kindergartners, including coloring pages, gluing feathers and sand onto paper...
Lesson Plan
WolfQuest

The Return of Gray Wolves to Yellowstone National Park: Right or Wrong?

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Should gray wolves be removed from Yellowstone National Park? After researching the complex relationships between the various habitats and species at Yellowstone National Park,  including humans, class members take a position...
Lesson Plan
NASA

Tools to Study Tornadoes and Galaxies

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Take your class on an intergalactic journey as they explore the galaxy and various meteorological events taking place in our atmosphere each day. Learners investigate electromagnetic waves and the Doppler Effect before gathering radar...
Lesson Plan
Code.org

Functions and Top-Down Design

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Let me break it down for you! Introduce your class to a way of breaking up a complicated task into its component pieces. Individuals draw a complex figure using JavaScript and then break it down to help determine the...
Handout
Curated OER

Reflection and Refraction

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
What is a prism? A place for light waves that commit minor refractions! The thorough resource includes three hands-on investigations covering light reflection and refraction; mirrors, lenses, and images; and optical systems. Subject...
Unit Plan
Polar Trec

Talk Story: A Native Way of Knowing

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
The steps of the scientific method examine a problem, make a prediction, and attempt to solve the problem—similar to the path most stories take. In the activity, individuals see how stories can explain natural events similar to the way...
Activity
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Michigan State University

Create an Animal

For Teachers K - 6th Standards
Think beyond the animals and habitats we've already discovered and allow scholars to dream up their very own habitat and an animal that lives there. Class members present the new habitat and animal on a poster alongside an...
Lesson Plan
NOAA

The Cycle of Water

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd Standards
Young water cycle enthusiasts discover the water they have been using has been cycling around the earth for billions of years. Through presentations, learners will understand that water has three states and how these forms...
Lesson Plan
California Academy of Science

Parts of an Antelope

For Teachers K - 2nd Standards
There are so many wonderful parts to an animal: fur, antlers, tails, and legs, to name a few. A large diagram of an antelope is used to start a matching game, where the class matches body parts made of the same material. They discuss...
Lesson Plan
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Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation

Greenhouse Gas Game

For Teachers 7th - 12th
You will need to gather a number of tokens, bags, and other various game components in order to incorporate this activity into your curriculum. Different tokens represent carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. Printable 8.5"x11"...
Lesson Plan
University of Hawaiʻi

Taxonomy and Me!

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Taxonomy is the study of organisms and how you phylum. Three biology activities are included, helping scholars understand four of the six kingdoms, specifically Protista, Plantae, Fungi, and Animalia. Scholars observe and classify...
Lesson Plan
University of Connecticut

More Than Just Dust Bunnies

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Teenagers will never complain about cleaning their rooms after this activity. In the first activity of a four-part series, budding scientists collect samples of dust, chalk, and other particulates from various areas of the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Little Auk Survival Challenge

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
A bird's life is one of danger and intrigue as it struggles for survival in sometimes harsh environments. To understand how difficult surviving in the wild can be, children play a simulation game where they act as little auks, birds from...
Lesson Plan
California Academy of Science

Natural Resources Bingo

For Teachers 2nd - 8th
Bingo isn't just a silly game, it's a great way to practice all types of skills. After reviewing that the earth is composed of natural resources, what those natural resources are, and sustainability, the class plays a game of bingo. The...
Lesson Plan
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Baylor College

We Need Water

For Teachers K - 3rd
There's nothing quite like a glass of ice-cold, freshly squeezed lemonade. Lesson seven of this series explains how the water humans need to survive can come in many forms. Teach your class about how much water humans require every day...
Lesson Plan
NASA

Lava Layering

For Teachers 4th - 10th
Take the old baking soda and vinegar volcano to the next level by using it to study repeated lava flows over time, examine geologic features on Earth and Mars, and speculate about some of the formations on Mars. 
Handout
National Institute of Open Schooling

Environmental Concerns

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Every year, more than 14 billion pounds of garbage is dumped into the oceans of the world, most of which is plastic and toxic to ocean life. Lesson 32 in the series of 36 focuses on environmental concerns, specifically pollution. Under...
Lesson Plan
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Serendip

Food, the Carbon Cycle and Global Warming

For Teachers 6th - 12th
As the world population increases, demands on the carbon cycle also increase. A well-designed lesson first explores the greenhouse effect and its impact on global warming. Further sections have pupils study the effect of greenhouse gases...
Lesson Plan
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American Chemical Society

Air, It's Really There

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Love is in the air? Wrong — nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide are in the air. The final lesson in the series of five covers the impact of temperature on gases. Scholars view a demonstration of gas as a type of matter before performing...
Lesson Plan
Code.org

HTTP and Abstraction on the Internet

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Introduce your class to the layers of abstraction of the Internet with a lesson on the HTTP protocol. Pupils review previous lessons on levels of the Internet, then investigate new high levels by examining the HTTP traffic on...