University of Minnesota
Tell Me About It
Have you ever tried following confusing or incomplete directions? In a hands-on experiment, partners give and follow directions to build a structure. Scholars apply their years of experience taking instructions to prove they know...
Curated OER
Colorado Animals Newsletter and Directed Web Page
Students select a Colorado animal, develop a Directed Web page, and research their animal. Each member of the group combine their research and develop a Newsletter.
Curated OER
People Behind the Parks
Explore U.S. geography with your class by viewing a documentary. Show a portion of the Ken Burns documentary "The National Parks," and identify the individuals responsible for keeping the parks in order. Elementary and middle schoolers...
Curated OER
Gift for the Indians: Model of the Mayflower in the Ocean
Students build a miniature replica of the Mayflower. They make the boat float in a cup of water while studying the concept of gift giving on Feast Day.
University of Wisconsin
Follow the Drop
Young surveyors look for patterns in water flow around campus. Using a map of the school (that you will need to create), they mark the direction of the path of water. They also perform calculations for the volume that becomes runoff. The...
Royal Society of Chemistry
Gas Laws: Converting Units
Given a choice between playing a game or completing a worksheet, which do you think your class would choose? Tap into their reasoning skills with a series of puzzles focused on gas laws unit conversion. You can use the resource online or...
Curated OER
Reverse Engineer a Camera
Students dismantle and reassemble a camera. In this reverse engineering instructional activity, students work in groups to disassemble a one-time use camera while writing directions for reassembly. Students switch cameras and directions...
Discovery Education
Sonar & Echolocation
A well-designed, comprehensive, and attractive slide show supports direct instruction on how sonar and echolocation work. Contained within the slides are links to interactive websites and instructions for using apps on a mobile device to...
Curated OER
Regents High School Examination - Physics 2010
Give every type of learner in your physics class an opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned throughout the year. From analyzing tables and graphs, to evaluating diagrams and solving problems, there is an outstanding variety of...
Curated OER
Allowing Students to Explore Simple Physics and Marketing in English Class
Scientific method, linear measurements, friction, inertia. Imagine learning scientific vocabulary in an ELA class. Before researching and developing a presentation about simple machines, class members build a common, but decidedly...
Big Kid Science
Create Dynamic Art Using the Eclipse!
What happens to light as it passes through a hole? This is the main question centered around the designing of a solar eclipse dynamic art piece that uses a solar eclipse and paper to create a pinhole projection of the art.
Curated OER
An Apple a Day
Students explore the Johnny Appleseed story. In this service learning lesson, students sequence the life cycle of apple trees and recognize how Johnny Appleseed worked as a philanthropist.
Curated OER
Day and Night
Expand your third graders' universe with a science activity about Earth's rotation. They read a short explanation about the direction of sunlight, then draw an arrow to indicate which way the sun is pointed at an illustration of the...
Curated OER
Gotham Equinox
By looking at the direction of the parallel streets of New York and figuring which days the setting sun is directly visible along those lines, your class can calculate the degree and angle of the sun. A really nice lesson, giving a...
Curated OER
Nervous System
After reading through this presentation about nerve impulses, students should be able to complete the sentences given with the correct terms and scientific vocabulary. The basics of the ion channel behavior are detailed along with a...
Curated OER
Innovation for Good
Many historical innovations were created for the common good. Get your students ready for life as a critical thinker with this lesson which defines the differences between innovation and invention. They will conduct Internet research,...
Rainforest Alliance
Growing a Rainforest in Our Classroom
Give your classroom decor a boost with a rainforest themed mural highlighting what class members learned through their five senses—taste, touch, see, smell, and hear. Scholars create a rainforest filled with trees and animals using their...
Center for Learning in Action
Water—Changing States (Part 1)
Here is part one of a two-part lesson in which scholars investigate the changing states of water—liquid, solid, and gas. With grand conversation and up to three demonstrations, learners make predictions about what they think will happen...
Space Awareness
Living in the Milky Way
Get to know our galaxy with an astronomy-themed, hands-on activity. Scholars watch an informative video, answer questions, and construct a model of the Milky Way in order to examine its contents and the distance inside it.
Curated OER
Classifying the Class
Fifth graders create dichotomous keys to create classifications of students in the classroom by writing instructions. In this classifications lesson plan, 5th graders learn how dichotomous keys are used in science observations.
Curated OER
Upwelling - Cold One Day, Warm Another?
Discuss with your oceanographers what forces cause nearshore upwelling and downwelling. Display a line of wind vectors alongside a graph of the temperatures so that they can discover whether or not they are related. Discussion questions...
Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI)
DNA Extraction
What does your DNA actually look like? Use simple materials with this experiment to find out! Geneticists of all ages can follow these instructions to extract their own DNA. For learners who are hoping to extend the activity, there are...
Curated OER
Making Field Journals
Students follow a bookmaking format to create a book and use it as a garden journal. In this science journal lesson, students follow book making directions to create a garden and science journal.
Curated OER
Vectors
Students use both magnitude and direction to locate a place. They use locating techniques to make a temperature field of their classroom.