Curated OER
WORM WATCHING
Students investigate how earthworms help build good soil. They examine the worms carefully to find the ringlike segments and swollen band at the front of the earthworm's body. Students take turns dampening the soil every day and adding...
Curated OER
Topography of Africa
Students study Africa's diverse landscape and investigate how these features impact the available water supply, food sources, and population distribution of the continent. They compare topographical features and
their affect on each...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Muddy Water!!
Investigate water pollution. Learners start out by completing the know and want to know portions of a KWL chart on water pollution. They read a story that stimulates thinking about water pollution and view an online resource related to...
Curated OER
Water Cycle Stories
Students create water cycle stories. In this water cycle lesson plan, students review the parts of the water cycle. They create a story that describes the journey of a water molecule as it makes its way through the cycle and into...
Curated OER
A Day In My Life
Students brainstorm how they can conserve energy in their daily lives. In this energy lesson plan, students discuss how they use energy and ways to conserve it.
Peace Corps
Weather and Water in Ghana
Young scholars investigate the climate of their region. Students research statistics and conduct interviews. Young scholars take a virtual tour of Ghana and discuss its climate. Students consider water conservation and the role it plays...
Curated OER
Planet/Constellation Mobile
Middle schoolers construct three-dimensional solar system mobiles.
Curated OER
The Water Cycle and Sources of Pollution
Students make an island that has a construction site on it. They spill siulated pollution and trash on top of the island and then water it to simulate rain. They will observe how the rain washes dirt, sand, and pollution off the island...
Curated OER
Garbage Pizza
Students examine amount of garbage disposed of by average household weekly, classify different categories of garbage and describe composition of landfills, investigate what happens to waste after it is collected by garbage trucks, and...
Curated OER
Ecological Footprint
Eighth graders discover their own ecological footprint and create a plan for reducing this figure. They extend this to the school and community to see how they are doing on this scale. They discuss the concept of the ecological...
Curated OER
Shrinking Spaces
Students describe the impact of population growth on the environment. They describe how cities affect their surrounding environment and explain how cities are handling growth and its resulting effect on the quality of life. They visit...
Curated OER
Quality of Life
Students discover that people influence the quality of life of those around them. They read the literature selection 'Berenstein Bears, Don't Pollute' and discuss the many ways people have changed the environment by polluting.
Curated OER
WHO CARES FOR THE LAND?
Young scholars explore the importance of natural resources. They are given copies of the story, "Who Cares For The Land," and students follow
along as the teacher reads it. Young scholars identify the key points in the story. (Soil,...
Curated OER
Nitrogen Cycle
Students identify the main concepts and ideas of the nitrogen cycle.
They review key concepts covered up to this point in ecology including food chains, food webs, energy pyramids, and bio-geochemical cycles.
Curated OER
The Universe
Middle schoolers describe what scientists mean by an "expanding universe" in their own words. They explain how scientists comprehend the universie is expanding. Students comprehend the vast scale of the universe. They comprehend how...
Curated OER
Seismic Waves
Students identify the four types of seismic waves, their characteristics and effects. Then they predict the level of damage each wave might cause in a residential area and test their predictions against several computer animations. ...
Curated OER
Lights, Camera, Action!
Students explore various images and recognize that in order to make a visible image using a camera or using our eye, light is required. In small groups, they observe how the eyes respond to changes in light and record their observations...
Curated OER
Center of Gravity
Fourth graders conduct experiments to identify the center of gravity. In this gravity instructional activity, 4th graders do two hands-on experiments to increase their understanding of this concept. This self-discovery instructional...
Curated OER
How Solar Cells Work: Converting Sunlight to Electricity
Students examine how to convert sunlight to electricity. In this renewable energy sources lesson students explain how solar cells are used and use a voltmeter to measure the energy produced by a solar panel.
Curated OER
Ceres and Pluto: Dwarf Planets as a New Way of Thinking about an Old Solar System
Students examine the new categories of planets and how planets were reclassified. For this solar system lesson students complete activities using Venn diagrams and images of planets.
Curated OER
After the Garbage Can: Where Does Our Trash Go?
Students explore how waste disposal has changed over time and what the current issues are. In this disposal lesson students collect data and create graphs.
Curated OER
Sea Level Trends ~ Ocean Front Property: An "Immerging" Market
Young oceanographers take a look at sea level data from several cities over a few centuries. They use the data to fuel a discussion about what kind of changes are taking place and the impact they are having on the coastal ecosystems....
Curated OER
Dirt: Making Dirty Water Clean!
Fourth graders study soil and water. In this water lesson students work in groups and use a filter to clean water.
California Academy of Science
Measuring Earthquakes
After a brief discussion on earthquakes, make a makeshift seismograph to record the shaking of the table that it sits upon. While the background information will be useful to you as a teacher, the seismograph does not seem like it would...