Curated OER
Dilations of 2 and 3 dimentional figures and their effect on area, surface area, and volume.
Seventh graders investigate the area and volume of 2D and 3D figures. In this geometry instructional activity, 7th graders create a storyboard explaining their knowledge of 2D and 3D shapes. They analyze their data and interpret...
University of Wisconsin
Rain Garden Species Selection
The activity really comes to life within its intended unit on starting a rain garden. Working in groups, participants research native plants and coordinate them with the conditions in the designated garden area. Give the class access to...
Forest Foundation
Forest Watersheds
Where does the water we use come from? To understand the concept of a watershed, class members study the water cycle and then engage in an activity that simulates a watershed.
Curated OER
Graphing the Facts
Middle schoolers investigate the correlation between our planet's weather and solar activity. They analyze and discuss data regarding the solar activity cycle, graph annual precipitation and temperature averages over a period of 100...
Illustrative Mathematics
Shape Hunt Part 1
The hunt is on! Send young mathematicians on a search for shapes in the first instructional activity of this two-part series. Each time a child finds a hidden shape, he draws it on his paper, and continues searching for the rest. Perform...
Curated OER
Tour of the Frozen Ground
Students discuss and observe permafrost features in their local community and compare and contrast these features with those described in a novel. In this permafrost lesson, students invite an elder from their community to discuss...
Curated OER
How Many Drops?
Seventh graders hypothesize about the number of drops of liquid that can be placed on a penny before it spills over. They examine both the concept of devising a hypothesis and the idea of surface tension. They determine the difference...
Curated OER
Identifying Pennsylvania Watersheds
Ninth graders study and identify the six major drainage systems in Pennsylvania. In this watershed instructional activity students read an article, complete an activity and take a quiz on what they learned.
Curated OER
Three Dimensional Geology
Here is a fine lesson plan on geology designed for high schoolers. Learners use rocks, fossils, and other geological clues to determine the geology of an area. Then, they make recommendations to a fictitious city council about the...
Curated OER
Water Olympics
A fascinating and engaging lesson on the properties of water awaits you. In it, learners engage in four activities that are designed to teach about the properties of water. This exciting plan has worksheets embedded in it which make the...
Curated OER
Design-a-Lesson-Packaging a Product
Students in a teacher education class address consumer related issues involving packaging. Using volume, surface area and graphs, they create a package for a given volume of a product. They design modifications for this lesson and to...
Curated OER
Traditional American Indian Lodges
Students explore the mathematical properties of traditional American Indian lodges. They examine the effect of increasing sides of a polygon, calculate the surface area of prisms and cylinders, and construct a classroom size pyramid...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Effects of Friction on a Moving Block
Learners investigate how friction affects the movement of a block across surface areas. They test five different kinds of surfaces—smooth surface, wax paper, a paper towel, course, and fine sandpaper. They predict and record the results...
Curated OER
Where Will The Couch Fit?
Students name the area formula and describe how it works. They use area formula to calculate the surface area of various objects. They use the area formula to design a floor plan of an apartment.
Curated OER
Baseball Geometry
Middle schoolers apply various methods for finding the volume and surface area of sphere. They compare and contrast results among these mathematical methods. They work in cooperative groups to discuss their results with one another.
Curated OER
How Bright are the Stars?
Students observe the brightness of stars and are introduced to the concept of apparent brightness as a measure of how much light hits a detector of a surface area during a given time. In this star lesson plan, students make connections...
Curated OER
Seismic Waves
Students identify the four types of seismic waves, their characteristics and effects. Then they predict the level of damage each wave might cause in a residential area and test their predictions against several computer animations. ...
Curated OER
Polydron Fun
Students investigate nets as they relate to volume and area. In this geometry lesson, students use nets as a visual to deepen their understanding of surface area and volume of objects. They make conjectures about different objects and...
Curated OER
TE Activity: Does Weight Matter?
Students design and conduct experiment to determine if weight added incrementally to an object affects amount of friction encountered when it slides across a flat surface. They graph data from their experiments, and calculate...
Curated OER
E3 Ret Lesson Plan
Learners explore friction. In this physics lesson plan, students will cover metal blocks with film to determine the changes caused by static and kinetic friction.
National Park Service
Glaciers and Water
Explore the amazing power of glaciers with a hands-on earth science experiment! After first learning basic background information, learners go on to create their very own chunks of frozen water and gravel in order to...
Curated OER
Mathematics: It's a Wrap!
Young scholars calculate the amount of wrapping paper needed to wrap boxes. They describe how they determined their answers.
Curated OER
Oobleck
Young scholars examine states of matter. In this solids and liquids lesson, students conduct a scientific investigation that requires them to make oobleck and record their observations pertaining to it.
Curated OER
How Size Shapes Animals
Students investigate how size affects large and small animals differently. In this animal lesson plan, students determine how size affects different animals by constructing their own animal out of marshmallows. Once students create...