Curated OER
Energy Jeopardy
While science Jeopardy games are a dime-a-dozen, this one has some pretty unique categories that are still relevant to a middle school physical science curriculum. The topics include: leading nations, famous Americans (who invented...
PHET
Radiation Hazards in Space
Young scientists race from Earth to Mars and back, trying to complete mission objectives while avoiding radiation in this game for 2-4 players. To identify the winner, players must graph their mission points and radiation points at the...
Columbus City Schools
Rocking the Cycle!
Time to rock out! Discover the "life" cycle of the average rock using an illustrative stations lab and stimulating pairs game. Roll the dice to determine your fate: will it be melting in magma or chilling out to form igneous rock? The...
Carnegie Mellon University
International Perspectives to Climate Change 2
A couple PowerPoint presentations are used to stimulate discussion about the perspectives of different countries on the issue of energy consumption. Afterward, they play a game in which each team is assigned a country, considers its...
Curated OER
The Game is Afoot - A Study of Sherlock Holmes
Mystery is an exciting genre for young readers to investigate. The plots are so intriguing! Here is a series of lessons featuring Sherlock Holmes stories that invite learners to enter the world of the mystery genre. Based on what...
Curated OER
Biological Relationships - Coral Reef Memory Game and Chain Game
Middle schoolers familiarize themselves with the interconnectedness of species within an ecosystem, and to use this knowledge to evaluate how the removal or decimation of one species can have far reaching effects.
California Academy of Science
Coincidental Colonization
The Galápagos Islands are an amazing place of isolated adaptation, colonized by an interesting mix of plants and animals. The class plays a game to help them understand how these organisms came to live on the island through a combination...
PBS
Breaking it Down
After challenging themselves to correctly choose the form of erosion and length of time required for a given landform to develop, earth science class members model mechanical and chemical weathering with various lab demonstrations over...
Teach Engineering
Engineering and the Periodic Table
Elements, to the rescue! Scholars first review the periodic table, and then learn about the first 20 elements and their properties and uses in the fourth of six lessons in the Mixtures and Solutions unit. Applying their newfound...
University of Colorado
Astro-Chronology
Class members play a version of the game Chronology to determine when certain scientific events occurred in history. Teams play until someone has 5-10 events in the correct order.
University of Colorado
Patterns and Fingerprints
Human fingerprint patterns are the result of layers of skin growing at different paces, thus causing the layers to pull on each other forming ridges. Here, groups of learners see how patterns and fingerprints assist scientists in a...
Curated OER
Matter Jeopardy
Fourth graders explore science by participating in a Jeopardy style game. In this matter lesson, 4th graders define matter and identify the characteristics and properties of it. Students collaborate in two teams and utilize a SMART board...
Curated OER
All the Universe is a Stage
Students research the solar system and design a storyboard for a video game about the solar system. Then they create an actual video game using Stagecast Creator software.
Curated OER
Geography and Climate
Students investigate geographical locations and their own personal experiences with the environment. In this environmental identification lesson, students participate in a match game using certain environmental and geographical...
Curated OER
Planetary Place Value
Third graders explore place value to the ten thousands place. This incredibly thorough, 24-page lesson has learners construct, order, and compare numbers to 9,999. This three-day lesson includes reteaching and extension activities...
Cornell University
Radical Reactions
The radical reactions of polymers seems abstract to many pupils, but this activity turns them into a fun building game. Scholars use dice and building pieces to build polymers. Then, they determine the theoretical and experimental weight...
Curated OER
Evaporation Inquiry
The evaporation of water and what happens to it as it travels through the water cycle are the focuses of this lesson. The evaporation of water seems like a "magical" process to people of all ages. This lesson takes away the mystery, and...
Curated OER
Dental Detectives
First graders explore the theme of dental health and hygeine. They make tooth loss predictions, count lost teeth, and graph tooth loss. In addition, they listen to dental health stories, read online stories, create spreadsheets, and play...
Teach Engineering
Active and Passive Transport: Red Rover Send Particles Over
I can move about freely, but you cannot. The class models the movement through cell membranes by way of passive and active transport. Members of the class play the roles of various proteins, atoms, compounds, and cell actions and mimic...
Curated OER
Water Cycle Activities
Explore the water cycle in all aspects with a resource packed full of activities and lessons. The 37-page packet comes with vocabulary, a game, writing prompts, printables, and opportunities to journey through the stages in the water...
Lerner Publishing
Meet the Dinosaurs
Take your class of youngsters on a prehistoric adventure with this four-lesson series on dinosaurs. Accompanying the Meet the Dinosaurs books by Don Lessem, these lessons engage children in writing their own dinosaur books,...
Curated OER
Shadow Games
Young scholars create different shapes by putting light on different objects. They change the distance from the object, the light source and angles to make the shadows different. They are to describe the relationship between the light,...
Curated OER
Light Travels As A Game
Students identify ways that light can travel and why. In groups, they develop an experiment to show that light can travel because it is a form of energy. They use this information and apply it to other forms of energy to end the lesson.
Curated OER
Carbon Adventures Game
Sixth graders examine the processes and transformations that occur in carbon pools. They play a game to identify paths taken by carbon through the environment.