Curated OER
Aquatic Exotics
Students identify and describe the aquatic exotic species found in Illinois. Using the internet, they research the species origins and discover their effects on native species in the area. They discuss how appropriate it is to introduce...
Curated OER
4th Grade Food Safety Lesson
From a high-speed hand-washing lesson to identifying important nutrients in fruits and veggies, this resource has several activity ideas and worksheets for teaching food safety to your learners.
Curated OER
Water, Water Everywhere
Students observe and describe ways water is used in their homes and communities. They determine the source of their water. Students determine ways they can save and protect their water.
Curated OER
Water Cycle: Weather Lesson 1
First graders go on a water walk, collect weather data, and measure rainfall for a month. They examine the water cycle in this series of lessons.
Curated OER
The Water Around Us
Students discuss importance of reading maps and knowing about the geography of the United States, and locate bodies of water on different types of maps and examine how they are used in the state or local community.
Curated OER
Water Pollution Experiments
Fifth graders conduct experiments in simulated water pollution using a box of items to hold "pollutants"and an aquarium, representing a waterway. They observe how "rain" from a watering can poured into the box washes the pollutants into...
Curated OER
Water Into Gas
Learners investigate how temperature and pressure cause a material to change phase. They heat water to reclaim a gas. They demonstrate that different liquids evaporate at different temperatures.
Curated OER
Water Erosion and the Effects of Earthquakes
Students participate in an activity in which they simulate geological events such as earthquakes and erosion. For a fifteen to twenty minute time period, they shake a jar with 100 grams of marble chips and water. They measure the mass of...
Curated OER
Colorimetric Determination of the Concentration of Blue Food Coloring in Sport Drinks
Seventh graders determine the amount of blue food coloring in sports drinks and plot the concentration and absorbance data. They summarize the data and determine why companies need to know the amount of chemicals in their products.
Curated OER
Fruit Color Wheel
Students create color wheels using painted pictures of fruit in this fun and decorative Art lesson about color mixing, primary, and complimentary colors. It is suggested that younger children be provided pre-drawn fruit shapes for this...
Curated OER
Proper Noun Gallery Walk Activity
Students are divided into groups. Each group is given a different colored marker or crayon and a piece of chart paper. Students are given 5 minutes to write on the chart all the proper nouns they can come up with. At the end 5 minutes...
Curated OER
Spring Butterflies
Students create Spring butterflies. In this art activity, students use coffee filters to make butterflies. Students add food coloring and water together for paint. Students use an eyedropper to drop the colors onto the filter. Allow the...
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Temperature and Water Density
Students consider the effects of temperature on water density. In this Earth Science lesson, students evaluate a demonstration of cold and hot water currents in a model. Students use two liter bottles and varied water temperatures with...
Curated OER
Balloon Water Fun
Students put a few pennies into a balloon and blow it up. Students attach the balloons to a clothes line. Students draw targets on the balloons and use water guns to hit the target.
American Chemical Society
Does Temperature Affect Dissolving?
When making sweet tea, why do people dissolve the sugar in hot tea instead of cold tea? The class discusses the previous lab and builds upon it. Working in groups, they design an experiment to determine how temperature affects the...
National Park Service
Rock Ranking
Junior geologists sort rocks and soil. They separate a sample of river gravel by size, shape, color, and other characteristics. To include Common Core standards, you could have little ones graph the number of particles in each sample.
Chicago Botanic Garden
Greenhouse Gas Emissions – Natural and Human Causes
Part three in the series of seven has pupils discussing the different greenhouses gases, learning about the carbon cycle, and then watching a short video about the carbon cycle. Based on their knowledge, individuals complete a greenhouse...
Discovery Education
Urinalysis
What do lab tests reveal about a patient's health? Scholars perform a simulated urinalysis on two different patients by testing color, pH, glucose levels, and protein levels. Then, they compare their findings to what they know passes...
Curated OER
Mixing Primary Colors
Students demonstrate ways to mix primary colors. In this visual arts instructional activity, students use gelatin and food coloring to create various color mixtures. Students also use tempra paint to mix colors together.
Curated OER
Habitat Breakdown
Students investigate the fragility of insects and organisms and their survival needs. In this habitat instructional activity, students discuss what elements they need to survive day to day, then hypothesize what they would need to live...
Curated OER
Periodic Table
Students investigate the structure and development of the periodic table. In this periodic table lesson plan, students are given colored strips of paper that represent different atoms. They classify the atoms based on the paper's...
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Chromatography Lab
Students discover the components of primary and secondary colors. In this physical science lesson, students create a set up in which water will separate a color into the component colors along a piece of filter paper. Students will then...
Curated OER
Surface Tension Grabbers
Students use the following quick activities to comprehend what surface tension is: 1. Fill a gas bottle with water. Place an uncentered burner screen over the bottle. Hold the screen in place with your finger and invert the bottle on...
Curated OER
Rainbow Electrophoresis Lab
Students are introduced to the principles of gel electrophoresis. They practice loading gels and pipetting. In this laboratory activity, food color is separated into constituent pigments. The lab can be run with standard electrophoresis...