Curated OER
Essential Elements
A color-coded periodic table identifies organic elements, major minerals, and trace elements. Oxidation states are highlighted and types of chemical bonding are annotated. The electron energy level chart is explained. Though not all of...
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Holy Starbucks Batman
Students investigate caffeine as a potential new pollutant in a northwest river system. Effects of caffeine on invertebrates and salmon fry will be explored through field work and lab work.
National Science Teachers Association
Adopt-a-Dino
Earth historians research a specific dinosaur, write a paper about the Mesozoic era that it lived in, create an artistic rendition of the environment, and give a presentation in class about what they learned. Be aware that there are...
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Antibiotic Resistance
Pupils using the scientific method, study bacteria as a covering surface of the earth in many forms. They discover that not all bacteria is bad and introduce the topic of antibiotic resistance. Science Fair expectations are addressed.
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A Journey with a Scientist
Students work in groups as they read chapters of Charles Darwin's, Voyage of the Beagle. They take notes on the chapter and in their group make a timeline of the chapter. They tape the timelines together in order to depict the entire...
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Amazon Food Chain
Explore food chains in the Amazon Rainforest using this resource. Learners discuss the predator vs. prey relationships in the food chain. Then, they create a food web to describe this relationship. This is a simple and effective way to...
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Costa Rican Food Chain
Discuss the animals and plants in the rainforest food chain using this lesson. Learners talk about and do research on the top predators from the Costa Rican region and create a model of one of them in class. They also make a visual model...
Out of Africa Wildlife Park
A Thematic Learning Guide to Lions
Written as an accompaniment to a field trip to the Out of Africa Wildlife Park in Arizona, this is an interdisciplinary, themed instructional activity on lions. Even if you cannot take your upper-elementary kids to this attraction, there...
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Frog Dissection
Students explore the anatomy of frogs. They complete a frog dissection to complete an accompanying worksheet which includes questions, diagrams and pictures.
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Making Cladograms
Students construct cladograms (evolutionary trees), showing how shared derived characters can be used to reveal degrees of relationship. They interpret and analyze cladograms, and determine where unclassified vertebrates would fit on a...
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Time Machine: Evolution, Geology
Students are taken on a simulated "voyage" backward in time, to the beginning of our planet. They "witness" that beginning, the origin of life, and a number of key events from then to the present.
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How Much is That Monkey in the Window?
Students investigate exotic pets and the ecological and personal risks involved in trading and owning such animals. They synthesize their knowledge by creating advertisements that promote the sale of exotic pets and picket signs that...
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National Parks
Students conduct research on the U.S. National Parks. They conduct Internet research, analyze maps, and create and solve riddles that present specific clues pertaining to a selected national park and it's location.
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Seed Dispersal
Students determine seed dispersal methods. In this life science activity, students make predictions about how seeds might move, then look at seeds under micrographs or microscopes to analyze the seed coat and how this helps dispersal. ...
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Arsenic and Human Health
Ninth graders concentrate on arsenic poisoning as an example of the connections among health, geography, and geology as they develop a persuasive presentation about the dangers of arsenic in the drinking water, targeting a specific...
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Design and Construction of an Eco-House
Students are able to design, construct, evaluate and recommend materials for planned Eco-house to be built on campus. They investigate about good design and plan for construction. Students have a greater knowledge and appreciation of...
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A Summer Reading List for Science Teachers
Summer can be a time to read enjoyable books that can give you lesson ideas you can take back to the classroom.
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Shadows of North Carolina's Past
Students construct a timeline of four major culture periods in Native American history from studying archaeological evidence cards.
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Coral Bleaching: Making Our Oceans Whiter
Students study coral reefs and the controversy over coral bleaching. They role-play a debate over the issue and come up with a compromise to protect the reefs and the economies that depend on them.
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Biodiversity Study -- A Unit Study
Students sample a site with low human impact, one with moderate human impact, and a third with high human impact. Students chart the data for each site and then compare the sites and discuss.
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Studying Fossils: Hominoid Skull Comparison
Learners collect data on the differences in Hominid skulls using acrylic casts of fossil skulls. They measure a series of structures on skulls from six different species then use the data to determine evolutionary relationships between...
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Human Body Systems
Students explore the systems that comprise the human body. In this human physiology lesson, students create a model of the human body and research a disease from a particular system. Students will then choose to either interview a person...
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Investigative Case - Protistan Tales of Atlantic White Cedar Swamps
Learners use this WebQuest to explore the vast diversity of microbes, especially those microbes of the Atlantic Cedar Swamps. They tell a story about the protests of the Atlantic Cedar Swamp in the form of anthropomorphism.