Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Let's Learn About Plants!

For Teachers K - 1st
Young scholars discover different plants and plant parts by observing their campus.  In this plant life lesson plan, students take a guided walk around their school with a magnifying glass examining everyday plants as well as...
Lesson Plan
Arts & Humanities

Let's Go Buggie!

For Teachers 1st - 5th
To celebrate art youth month, little ones get out the magnifying glasses and get close-up with bugs. They make scientific observations of bugs you bring into the classroom. Then, they use markers, clay, paint, or crayons to make artistic...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Thumbprints

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
Thumbprints are fascinating! Here is a clever lesson that allows kids to discover that everyone has a unique thumbprint - no two are alike! They use magnifying glasses to closely observe their own, and someone else's thumbprints. Then,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Magnify It!

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students explain that there are limits to what the eye can see and that a magnifying glass can help extend those limits. They examine an object with the magnifying glass and draw the size and shape of what they see as accurately as they...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Urban Life: What Lives in Our Schoolyard?

For Teachers K - 7th
Students research living organisms by exploring their school grounds. In this microscopic observation lesson plan, students gather materials, insects, and objects from their playground and schoolyard and bring them into class. Students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bugs Every Which Way

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Students, after gathering information about insects through observation and the internet, explore and examine tiny insects that crawl through a magnifying glass and then draw their favorite bugs from different angles. They create a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Seed Diversity

For Teachers 1st - 4th
Learners explore agriculture by researching different seeds. In this seed identification lesson, students collaborate in small groups to analyze a package of different seeds. Learners utilize a magnifying glass to examine each seed...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Crystal Ice Art

For Teachers K - 5th
This isn't just an art lesson, it's a science lesson too. Kids draw a lovely winter scene and then paint over it with a solution of epsom salts and water. They make predictions, then observe how crystals form as the water evaporates...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fall Leaves Fall

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students explore fall leaves. In this leaf lesson, students collect leaves to investigate. Students also measure, compare and contrast, draw and look at leaves through a magnifying glass. Students sing songs and use movement in this...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Richmond Nature Park Field Trip

For Teachers 1st - 5th
Pupils identify different plants and their uses by attending a field trip. In this Canadian plant lesson, students explore the great outdoors of Vancouver, B.C. and discuss the uses of plants by the Native Americans that once resided...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Measuring Permeability of Soil, Sand and Gravel

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students investigate the different materials in their environment.  In this geology lesson, students collaborate in groups to examine the differences in sand, soil and gravel.  Students utilize a magnifying glass or microscope...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Parts Are There to a Plant?

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students explore botany by completing plant science worksheets. In this plant anatomy lesson, students examine real vegetables in class using magnifying glasses. Students identify the plants anatomy and complete worksheets discussing...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Habitats of the Pond

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students explore biology by researching habitats for organisms. In this water environment lesson, students utilize a magnifying glass to examine the different organisms that live on a nearby pond or lake and explore their habitats....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Activity Plan 5-6: Bugs, Bugs, Bugs!

For Teachers Pre-K - K
Learners become entomologists for a day. In this life science lesson plan, students go on an insect hunt and investigate insects and their homes. This leads to the creation of an insect by each student. Lesson includes a take-home...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Capturing Light: The Science of Photography

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Students create their own cameras to understand how artists use light to capture an image in a photograph. In this light lesson plan, students use tape, wax paper, rubber bands, and more to create their cameras.
Lesson Plan
Art Institute of Chicago

Color Combinations

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Explore color through an examination of pointillism and light. Class members view Georges Seraut's famous painting on a computer, zooming in and out to see the details and effects of the technique. They then cover how light and color are...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Micro-Organisms

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Students investigate microscopic life by viewing video clips.  In this organisms activity, students view photographs and video clips on the internet of micro-organisms and discuss the harms and benefits of the creatures. ...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bug Sweep

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Students observe and categorize insects. In this insects science lesson, students create a bug catcher out of a coat hanger and plastic bag, then collect bugs from the schoolyard. Students count and categorize the insects according to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Plant and Animal Cells

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students investigate parts of a cell. In this plant cell lesson, students determine the difference between plant and animal cells. Students discover that coral is an animal based on cell characteristics. Students create puppets to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Human Fingerprints: No Two the Same

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders explore scientific observations by analyzing a group of data. In this fingerprint identification lesson, 6th graders identify the reasoning behind fingerprinting and create their own ink fingerprints. Students discuss the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Clearly Classified

For Teachers 3rd - 10th
Young scholars review the classification system for living organisms and apply it the classification of insects and flowers in the still life by Ambrosius Bosschaert. They create a chart classifying the animals and plants in the painting...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Camouflage: A Study of Stealth and Survival

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Students study insect camouflage. In this organisms lesson, students design and create their own 3D insect models to blend into a habitat. Students write a paragraph about the camouflage their insect has and explain how their insect is...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Forest Ecosystem Field Trip

For Teachers 2nd - 6th
Students investigate the environment by participating in a class field trip. In this botany lesson plan, students attend a field trip through their local park or forest while listening to a nature guide. Students practice using their 5...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Take a Hike!

For Teachers Pre-K - K
Students explore the benefits of staying active by going on a hike.  In this physical education lesson plan, students discuss the concept of a hike, where a good place to hike is and what types of foods are necessary to stay...