California Academy of Science
What's on a Penny?
As a lesson plan on scientific observation, have your class investigate the features of a penny and a nickel. Working in pairs, they practice writing detailed descriptions using their senses and a ruler to gather information. This is an...
PBS
Climate Change as a Scientific Theory
Get your class thinking about climate change as a scientific theory. Guided by a handout, emerging earth scientists read articles and take notes about glaciers and sea ice. To conclude, they write an evaluation of the evidence for...
Curated OER
Science-Observation Skill Builders
Pupils explore observation while making connections between observation skills and careers (like how farmers observe the weather). They view a variety of nature photographs on the computer and practice their observation skills by...
Curated OER
Answering Carnival Questions with the Scientific Method
Through the use of a Reading Rainbow episode, clever in-class games and activities, and an ITV Series video, second and third graders engage in a study of the scientific method; what it is, and how scientists use it. This well-designed...
Curated OER
The Scientific Search for the Loch Ness Monster
Learners gain an understanding of the real world applications of the scientific method. They design their own experiments to prove or disprove the existence of other modern legends, and they design and carry out an experiment to test a...
Perkins School for the Blind
Introduction to Scientific Inquiry
Every great scientist knows that the process of inquiry is a very important skill. Provide your learners with visual impairments with an opportunity to explore objects scientifically. They examine several pieces of fruit and generate...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Recognizing Change (Observation vs. Inference)
What is the difference between making inferences and making observations? Young climatologists refer to a PowerPoint to make observations on each slide. They record their observations in a provided worksheet before drawing a...
Scholastic
Study Jams! Scientific Methods
Middle school scientists learn the steps of the scientific method by watching this phenomenal film and by singing a karaoke song! They are introduced to making observations and hypotheses, determining variables, data collection, and...
Bethel School District
Observations and Inference
What's the difference between qualitative and quantitative observations? Learners make observations, inferences, and predictions about their environment with a set of questions and activities that are applicable to either language arts...
California Academy of Science
Composting: A Scientific Investigation: California Academy of Sciences
Garbage, recycle, compost: Does it really matter where we put our trash once we are done? By making detailed observations over seven weeks, kids will see which materials break down naturally to become a healthy part of the soil, and...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Lesson 3: Scientific Inquiry with WildCam Gorongosa
When biologists installed cameras in Gorongosa National Park, they ended up viewing a lot more than the lions they were trying to help! Young ecologists observe one of Africa's most beautiful savanna regions with interactive trail camera...
Curated OER
Steps of the Scientific Method
Steps of the scientific method are summarized, and then an example experiment is presented to allow practice identifying the steps. The graphics and animations are a little blurry, but this otherwise well-formulated presentation will...
Curated OER
The Scientific Method, Blood Typing, and Antibiotic Resistance
Students are given some components of an experiment, where they are able to identify and fill in missing parts, such as hypothesis, conclusion, results, etc. They form a hypothesis given general scientific facts. Students apply the...
Curated OER
A'planting We will Go
Germination is an amazing process that results in amazing things. The book The Tiny Seed is the inspiration for a set of activities that will help build early literacy, observation, language, and writing skills. The class observes how...
Curated OER
Cholera and the Scientific Method
Five individuals in the class are "infected" with cholera! The rest of the class serves as investigators to discover the source of the outbreak. They test drinking fountains around campus for contamination. You, of course, will secretly...
Berkshire Museum
Nature Journaling: Experience the Outdoors Through Writing and Drawing
Step into the great outdoors and develop young scientists' skills of observation with a nature journaling lesson plan. Given a specific focus or goal, children practice making and recording observations of nature through written...
Curated OER
Scientific Method Experiment: Factors Affecting How Ice Melts
Students demonstrate the scientific method by conducting an ice cube melting experiment. They make predictions and observations, and conclude what factors make ice melt more slowly or quickly than normal.
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
Independent Plant Growth Experiment
This is an awesome lesson filled with tons of engaging learning activities. Over a period of weeks learners will make observations, collect plant and analyze plant data, read and review agricultural articles, design and conduct an...
Curated OER
States Of Matter
Delv into the states of Matter. Students engage in the scientific inquiry process to uncover the exciting world of Matter. They watch a series of videos, and conduct experiments in order to collect and analyze data on the various state...
University of North Carolina
Scientific Reports
IMRAD isn't text-speak for I'm cool. It's actually the format for scientific reports. As part of a larger series on specific writing assignments, an informative handout explains the nuts and bolts of writing a lab report. First, however,...
PBS
Observation
Students study making scientific observations . They conduct a "field study" in their attic and make observations about their family artifacts based upon physical attributes. In addition, they determine what characteristics of an object...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Gorongosa: Scientific Inquiry and Data Analysis
How does the scientific process begin? Introduce ecology scholars to scientific inquiry through an insightful, data-driven lesson. Partners examine data from an ongoing research study to determine the questions it answers. The resource...
Mr. Science
The Scientific Method
First, ask a question and then, do research. Next, form a hypothesis, and conduct an experiment. Make observations, gather and analyze data, and then state a conclusion based on the results. This is the scientific method, and here is a...