Curated OER
Science: The Changing Life of Air Pressure
Fourth graders observe demonstrations how heated air rises and becomes a low pressure area. After watching several teacher-conducted experiments, 4th graders, in groups, discuss and answer questions in their journals. Finally, they...
Curated OER
Science: A Tree for All Seasons
Students observe trees in their schoolyard and record the seasonal changes by drawing pictures. In this ongoing lesson, they discover the names of the seasons and place green paper leaves on a paper tree in the classroom, which are also...
Curated OER
and and Ocean Views of Earth by Remote Sensing
Students explain how satellites help scientists to see more than with the unaided eye and how Landsat technology works. Students identify vegetation and fire sites in the rainforest and detect erosion along rivers. They are able to use...
Curated OER
Physical Science: Dying for a Tan?
Learners assess how much harm UV radiation can have on your skin and how much protection is provided by sunblock, sunglasses and clothing. They experiment with UV index numbers and the amount of exposure risk of skin damage for any given...
Curated OER
Earth
Fourth graders engage in a study of the solar system. The teacher constructs an outside model of it. They walk through it making constructive observations. Students conduct a class discussion about the solar system and planets. They...
Curated OER
Rock Cycles, Crayon Cycles
Learners examine the rock cycle and the path that rocks go through to rearranged in different ways. They define key vocabulary terms, then in small groups conduct a variety of experiments using crayon shavings as simulated rocks and...
Curated OER
Space - In Your Face or Not?
Second graders, in groups, examine how it doesn't matter if they can see the planets in the solar system or not--they're there.
Curated OER
Timelines
Students examine evolutionary history; the earth's timeline by creating timelines. They determine the timeframes of era, epochs, and periods and study the species that were evident in each.
Curated OER
Permeability of Earth Materials
Students observe and classify the permeability of a variety of materials.
Curated OER
Mother Earth - Father Sky
Third graders research and write about Cyrus Dillan. They explain one of Dillan's sculptures. Students locate six constellations and two planets. They research and write about the daily life of the Pawnee.
Curated OER
Planets in a Bottle
Students experiment with yeast. In this environmental conditions lesson students test the viability of samples of yeast. Students investigate the effects of environmental conditions on the yeast.
Monroe City Schools
Clouds! Clouds! Clouds!
Here is a beautiful lesson on clouds designed for your 1st graders. Learners study three different types of clouds. They construct drawings of cumulus, cirrus, and stratus clouds. The Cloud Book, by Tommie dePaola is used to...
PHET
Mapping the Field of a Dipole Magnet
High school scientists build their own magnetometer and use it to map the field surrounding a bar magnet. Excellent background resources is included, as well as a diagram of how to build the magnetometer.
Curated OER
Exploring Mars
Students, working in small groups construct scale models of the planets and solar system. They examine images of Mars and discuss what might have caused the features. They record facts about their planetary research in their journals and...
Cornell University
Constructing and Visualizing Topographic Profiles
Militaries throughout history have used topography information to plan strategies, yet many pupils today don't understand it. Scholars use Legos and a contour gauge to understand how to construct and visualize topographic profiles. This...
Curated OER
My Angle on Cooling: Effects of Distance and Inclination
Students discuss what heat is and how it travels. They discover that one way to cool an object in the presence of a heat source is to increase the distance from it or change the angle at which it is faced.
Curated OER
Comparing Graphs of Temperature and Radiation
Students study plots and use a Live Access Server to generate plots. In this temperature instructional activity students examine the process of incoming and outgoing radiation.
Science Friday
Capturing Carbon Dioxide
Why don't we just capture carbon dioxide in the air and store it somewhere else? A hands-on lesson allows scholars to explore a complex concept. First, they will create a carbonated beverage, and then they will determine...
Curated OER
Thirsty Rocks: Please "Porous" a Drink!
A simple activity goes a long way in demonstrating the property of porosity to your rock hounds. They will mass a specimen of dry sandstone and then soak it in a pre-measured amount of water. After seven minutes, they once again measure...
Curated OER
Does Humidity Affect Cloud Formation?
Learners use S'COOL data to identify factors that affect cloud formation. They find a data set using the S'COOL database , and use Excel to manipulate the data. Student isolate relevant data, create meaningful graphs from a spreadsheet,...
Curated OER
A Comparison Study of Water Vapor Data to Precipitation over North America
Students use NASA satellite data to compare water vapor over the United States. In this data analysis lesson students use an Excel spreadsheet to map their data.
Curated OER
Air Pressure
Learners participate in a series of demonstrations about Bernoulli's principle. They explain how air pressure varies with air speed. They write a detailed lab report about the activity. This is a great way to explore this concept.
NASA
Mystery Planet
What can one learn about a planet based on a small surface sample? Learners will explore artifacts from a mystery planet and see what they can determine about the planet based on the evidence in front of them.
LABScI
Potential and Kinetic Energy: The Roller Coaster Lab
Ron Toomer, a famous roller coaster designer, suffered from motion sickness. Pupils design their own roller coasters, learning about potential and kinetic energy in the process. Labs focus on the importance of drop height, energy...