NASA
Space Transportation: Reshooting the Moon
What does it take to get stuff to the Moon? Design teams create subsystems for a space transportation system to go to the Moon. The teams study Earth transportation components along with historical space transportation systems to guide...
Columbus City Schools
Experiencing Eclipses
Don't be caught in the dark! Young scientists investigate the causes of both solar and lunar eclipses using an interactive to help them understand the development of an eclipse over time. They then research facts and characteristics of...
Teach Engineering
An Inflated Impression of Mars
Help your class understand the magnitude of the distance between Earth and Mars with an activity that asks small groups to use balloons to create scale models of the Earth, Moon, and Mars. Class members figure out the distances between...
Vosonos
Interactive Minds: Solar System
Travel through space as you learn about the galaxy, solar system, planets, and much more. An extensive resource for studying astronomy in upper-elementary and middle school classrooms.
Earth Day Network
Forms of Energy
Give me a home where electric buffalo roam and I'll show you an ohm on the range. Introduction your classes to potential and kinetic energy, electricity, and renewable resources with a resource that combines observation, direct...
Colorado State University
What Is a "Model"?
Model the transfer of energy during a typical 24-hour period. Young scholars use a game-like approach to learning the patterns of heat transfer through the day and night. Groups of four exchange different tokens as the energy transfers...
Colorado State University
If Hot Air Rises, Why Is it Cold in the Mountains?
Investigate the relationship between temperature and pressure. Learners change the pressure of a sample of air and monitor its temperature. They learn that as air decreases its pressure, its thermal energy converts to kinetic energy.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Winogradsky Columns: Microbial Ecology in the Classroom
Winogradsky columns are ideal for observing the role of bacteria and other microorganisms in an ecosystem. This student activity guide is complete with data tables for observations and analysis questions for processing what was observed....
NOAA
Wet Maps
How do oceanographers make maps under water? Junior explorers discover the technologies and processes involved in creating bathymetric maps in part three of a five-part series designed for fifth- and sixth-grade pupils. The lesson...
Curated OER
Tide Types
Students record hourly reading for water height for 24 hours and determine whether a location experiences diurnal, semi-diurnal or mixed tides. Links are present for the information. Students predict high and low tide, and answer a set...
Curated OER
Volcanoes in Space
Students research volcanoes on the Internet to compare/contrast the volcanoes on Earth to the ones found on Io, a moon of Jupiter. Students list the similarities and differences in science journals, and illustrate pictures of the volcanoes.
Curated OER
Why Is It Hotter At the Equator?
Students investigate the different heating effects of sunlight. They conduct an experiment that demonstrates the way sunlight strikes the equator, the poles and other parts of the globe.
Curated OER
Radiation Budget Lesson: Exploring Albedo
Students experiment with sunlight and temperature. They study the definition of albedo, or the percentage of incoming sunlight that is reflected, rather than absorbed.
Curated OER
Satellites and the Radiation Budget
Students engage in a prelab discussion about the earth's radiation budget and global warming. They use "trading cards" to find specific websites to research radiation budget questions.
Curated OER
Albedo and Irradiation of Surfaces
Here is a physical science activity where pupils place thermometers inside of a white and a black paper pocket and place them under a lamp. They record and compare the temperature increase over a ten-minute period. Have your class...
Curated OER
Antibiotic Resistance
Students 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.
Curated OER
The Water Cycle - Main Components
Present the water cycle to your middle schoolers with this lesson. After an anticipatory set, they participate in a Q & A session about the terms associated with the water cycle: evaporation, transpiration, condensation, and...
Curated OER
When Trees Are Red, Color in Remote Sensing
Student learn about "chromatography" in a hands-on experiment. Students make a chart showing what the colors represent.
Curated OER
Water and Ice
Students investigate how water goes from a solid to a liquid then back again. In this experimental lesson students conduct their own experiment and see how water changes form.
Curated OER
Groundwater Movement
Students study groundwater movement beneath the surface of the Earth. In this agriculture lesson, students experiment with how water moves through rock materials such as sand, gravel, and clay.
Curated OER
Fossil Fuels: Facing the Issues
Young scholars explore energy by researching fuel usage on Earth. In this fossil fuel lesson, students define fossil fuels, the energy created by burning them, and the impact on the environment when using them. Young scholars conduct...
Curated OER
Cooler In The Shadows
Students investigate the concepts of shadows and how they are projected with objects different positions in relation to the sun. They conduct an experiment by observing objects in different positions. Then students record the observations.
Curated OER
Earthquake
Learners view a video and conduct a problem solving activity to explain the effect different waves have on the earth's structure and what effect they have on different structures.
Curated OER
Follow the Water Cycle
Students explore the stages in the water cycle, evaporation, condensation, and precipitation. They hypothesize about the source of rain and search for forms of water on Earth.