Curated OER
Piece Like a River
Learners investigate water formations by creating a puzzle. In this water properties instructional activity, students create a giant river puzzle by drawing on large butcher paper as a class, then dividing the image up into many...
Virginia Department of Education
The Hydrologic Cycle
There is the same amount of water on earth now as there was when it was formed. The water from your faucet could contain molecules that dinosaurs drank! Young scientists build their own hydrologic cycle model and observe...
National Energy Education Development Project
Introduction to Hydrogen
Every region has a renewable resource that can be used to make hydrogen. But, what is hydrogen and why can it be used as an energy source? Find out with a presentation that answers these questions and then discusses where hydrogen is...
Cornell University
Glued into Science—Classifying Polymers
Explore the unique characteristics of polymers. A complete lesson begins with a presentation introducing polymers. Following the presentation, young scientists develop a laboratory plan for creating substances using polymers. They...
K12 Reader
Taking Care of Earth
Provide a brief introduction to ecology and conservation with a reading passage. Learners can read the text, answer the five related questions that are included on the page, and discuss the reading.
NY Learns
Geography of the Fertile Crescent by ECSDM
Using Google Earth, a vocabulary assignment, and map handout, your class members will outline the Fertile Crescent in Mesopotamia and identify the source of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. They will then complete graphic organizers...
Tech Museum of Innovation
Seed Dispersal
Engineering challenges are not just man-made ... nature has its own set of them. A hands-on STEM activity has groups designing a seed dispersal system. Each group can only use one sheet of paper — a tough task!
Teach Engineering
Glowing Flowers
What a bright idea! Young scientists conduct an experiment on flowers to finish the last of a six-lesson unit on Cells. Putting the stems into dye-injected water and leaving it overnight results in flowers that glow. This is to simulate...
Beyond Benign
Daphnia Bioassay LD50
De-icing materials may have a harmful effect on our environment; have your class perform an experiment to test the nature of these effects. Scholars monitor the survival rate of a sample of daphnia as the concentration of a de-icing...
California Academy of Science
A Day inthe Life of a San Francisco Native Animal
Although the lesson is specifically about the San Francisco Bay area, it's good enough to be adapted to any local region. Children research what the landscape in San Francisco was like prior to settlement, they consider the types of...
Curated OER
The Water Cycle--Using Inspiration Software
Third graders describe and label the water cycle, and list how water changes from one form to another; students use Inspiration Software to label a blank water cycle diagram.
Curated OER
Testing Your Water
Young scholars perform several water quality tests on groundwater from their area. They use test strips to determine the pH, hardness, alkalinity, nitrates, iron and chloride levels.
Curated OER
ACTIVITY 6: MAKE A FOSSIL MOLD AND CAST and ACTIVITY 7: HOW BIG WERE PREHISTORIC ANIMALS?
Instructions for two terrific ancient history lessons for your primary paleontologists are provided in this resource. The first involves the creation of fossil cast replicas using plaster of Paris. The directions are detailed, but the...
Curated OER
Water and Ice
Students observe what happens to water as it goes from a solid to a liquid. In this exploratory lesson students gain an understanding for the water cycle while working in groups observing what happens to water as it changes...
Curated OER
Limited Resources - Understanding Our Cultural Resources
High schoolers examine and compare preserving natural resources and preserving cultural resources. They conduct Internet research on two topics, and write a position paper on whether cultural resources or natural resources are more...
National Geographic
World Waterworks Activity
As a way to quickly expose your science class to six different freshwater projects around the world, this instructional activity assigns each small group to research and share one. All of the information is gleaned from the website for...
Curated OER
Water Words
Students define words relating to water and its use in Nebraska. They listen to the story, Snail Girl Brings Water, list the water words from the story, and create a class dictionary.
Curated OER
Capturing Watershed Experiences
Young scholars observe organisms found in the water. In this activity on organisms, students collect water from local streams and tributaries in order to study the organisms found in the water. As a culminating activity, young scholars...
Curated OER
Moebius Strips
Students make Moebius strips and use them to demonstrate the interconnectedness of an environment. They explore the natural cycles (water, oxygen/carbon dioxide, carbon, nitrogen) within the environment. They describe how the cycles are...
Redefining Progress
Have and Have-Not
Is there a correlation between a country's wealth and the extent of its ecological footprint? What exactly constitutes an ecological footprint, and how does one country stack up against the rest? This is a unique instructional activity...
Royal Society of Chemistry
The Treatment of Oil Spills—Microscale Chemistry
When oil spills happen, how is the oil cleaned up? Pupils of polymer science discover an amazing substance that turns oil into a solid during a microscale experiment. Individuals observe oil or paraffin before and after addition of the...
Curated OER
A Renaissance of Jazz and Poetry
Students explore, analyze, study and read a variety of poems and listen to jazz that have their roots in the Harlem Renaissance. They then discuss the similarities and differences of themes in the works of different poets and composers.
EngageNY
Analyzing the Central Claim in The Big Thirst
Quench the class's thirst for knowledge while building analytical skills. Scholars listen as the teacher reads excerpt from the book The Big Thirst. They then complete a close read and answer text-dependent questions from pages one...
University of Wisconsin
A Rain Garden Year
Pupils become plants in an interpretive play that depicts what happens throughout the seasons in a rain garden. As you narrate, students bloom, flower, and go to seed accordingly. The activity is first in a series of lessons written for...