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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Moon Glow

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students identify the Earth-Moon relationship and the phases of the Moon. They participate in an activity that illustrates why the Moon has so many different looks within a lunar cycle. They discuss solar and lunar eclipses.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Circular Motion

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students research physical science by completing worksheets. In this gravity lesson plan, students read assigned text regarding the rotation of Earth and the gravitational force caused by the speed of which it rotates. Students complete...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Incredible Light Bulb-Egg Drop Challenge

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Young scholars examine how spacecraft land on Mars. Using eggs or lightbulbs, they design a craft that withstand a drop from a table or ladder, competing in groups to see which module demonstrates the most successful landing.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Now We Teach Six Rs

For Teachers K - 4th
Students explore recycling.  In this ecology lesson, students sort classroom garbage into items that can be reused, reduced, or recycled.  Students brainstorm ideas for reusing items and discuss ways to celebrate Earth Day at...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bringing the Solar System Down to Earth

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students develop a scaled down model of the solar system. In small groups, they calculate the scaled-down diameters of the planets and the sun, the scaled-down distance of the planets from the sun, complete two charts, and create a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Water Planet

For Teachers K - 4th
Students use NASA photographs and hands-on activities to compare the amounts of land and water on our planet. They discover that the world has five oceans and that they cover seventy percent of Earth's surface. Students learn how this...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Taking a Voyage away from Home

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students experience and participate in a journey through a "Voyage" exhibition of the Solar System and the frontier it covers. They build a dynamic model of the Earth and Sun. Descriptions are given on the relative sizes of the Sun and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rust Never Sleeps

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students investigate oxidation-reduction reactions involving iron by conducting an experiment in which they expose iron filings to different atmospheric and ocean conditions. They relate the results to the oxidation banding patterns seen...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

There's More to Light than Meets the Eye

For Teachers K - 4th
Students explore the concept that not all light is visible to the human eye. Although UV light is not visible, it can still be harmful, causing sunburns or skin cancer. They use special beads to detect UV light around the school....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Air and Water in the Environment

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Students demonstrate an awareness of air as a substance that surrounds us and takes up space, and whose movement we feel as wind. They predict and describe how local weather conditions affect living things, including themselves.
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

A New Slant On The Seasons

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students identify how the tilt and position of the Earth causes the seasons. After a discussion of the seasons and when they begin. Using themselves as the objects in the universe, they role play how the rotational movement of the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Do We Explore Strange Environments?

For Teachers K - 4th
Students identify and label the different parts of a robot, rover, or a spacecraft. They discuss and record all of the features their robot will need to accomplish its mission and be able to explain why they chose these features to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Categorizing Celestial Objects

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students work together to develop a classification system for planets. They take a class vote and read an article about an astronomer's classification system. They write an essay on how scientists make decisions for the general public.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rocks, Minerals, and Erosion

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students identify and describe rocks that contain records of the earth's history and explain how they were formed. They formulate questions about and identify needs and problems related to objects and events in the environment, and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rockets Away with Newton's Laws of Motion

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders comprehend Newton's Laws of Motion and to use the scientific method in rocketry sub-unit. They work through the scientific method. Students illustrate how science and Newton's Laws can be used in everyday situations and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Density Challenge

For Teachers 8th - 9th
Students calculate the densities of several liquids that appear similar.  In this physical science lesson, students go beyond understanding the way liquids of different densities behave to researching how this knowledge applies in...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rocket Me into Space

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders study the concept of thrust and how it propels rockets into space. They discover why airplanes cannot travel into space while considering the engineering techniques use in designing rockets. They look at how space...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Third from the Sun

For Teachers 4th - 9th
Students examine images from space.  In this third from the Sun lesson, students examine images from, Landsat, the satellite launched by NASA in 1972.   
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Moon Observations

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students study the science of the moon. In this moon observations instructional activity, students study vocabulary associated with the moon, study a lunar calendar, and a phases of the moon's orbit around the Earth.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Out of This World

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers take a mission to Mars. In this space science lesson, students listen a lecture about space travel to Mars and the planet itself. Middle schoolers then create timelines of exploration and write poetry about...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tools of Modern Astronomy

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers differentiate refracting and reflecting telescopes. In this earth science lesson, students explain how they are closely connected to satellites. They complete the concept map at the end of the activity.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Weather Classroom - Atmosphere

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Meteorology learners explore the weight of air, layers of the atmosphere, and air pressure action through a series of discussions, demonstrations, and hands-on group activities. Enough discussion prompts, background information, student...
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Lesson Plan
US Environmental Protection Agency

Carbon Through the Seasons

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Meteorologists view an animated video by the Environmental Protection Agency to learn how the carbon cycle works, and then move into groups to analyze and graph actual data of the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration from Hawaii's...
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Lesson Plan
Space Awareness

The Intertropical Convergence Zone

For Teachers 3rd - 11th Standards
Young scientists know it is hotter along the equator, but why is it also rainier? Through the process of completing two experiments and a worksheet, scholars discover the answer is the intertropical convergence zone. First, they...