Space Awareness
History of the Universe
Your pupils may believe that you and their parents are the oldest things in the universe, but surprise! There are elements of the universe that are even older. Elementary scientists create a class timeline to demonstrate the...
National Gardening Association
Migration Mishaps
Elementary ecologists pretend to be migratory hummingbirds. They fly between wintering and nesting grounds, trying to reach a habitat haven. In a musical-chair fashion, some birds will miss out, and are removed from the game. To further...
National Security Agency
Time After Time
Save those precious minutes and hours spent planning math lessons with this mini-unit on telling time. Offering a series of engaging hands-on and collaborative learning activities, these three lessons teach children how to read...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan for The Little Red Hen
Cultivate young performers while teaching them about helping one another with this interactive storytelling lesson plan. Elementary schoolers read or listen to the story The Little Red Hen by Mike Lockett and then act out the story while...
Curated OER
Connect the Spheres: Earth Systems Interactions
Is everything really connected? Take your class on a walk outside, where they will make observations and write them down on a worksheet. Once they are back in the classroom, learners will work to determine if and how things like birds,...
National Security Agency
Backyard Building - Area and Perimeter
Turn young mathematicians into landscape architects with this four-lesson series on area and perimeter. Beginning with a basic introduction to calculating perimeter and area using non-standard units of measurement, this...
University of Florida
Protecting Our Water Resources
Teach young environmentalists to protect their planet's resources with a set of interactive experiments. Kindergartners and other youngsters learn about watersheds and the water cycle, while older elementary learners focus on fertilizer...
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
Size and Scale – Learning about Measurement
Can you visualize one billionth of a meter? It's not easy to understand the scale of a nanometer. Learners use a hands-on lesson to develop an understanding of the size of a nanometer in comparison to common objects. They walk away with...
Curated OER
Earth Science
Students explore the planets and celestial bodies in our solar system. In this outer space lesson, students identify the planets and record journal information about them and other celestial bodies. Students define outer space words.
Curated OER
Making Regolith
You may not be able to take a field trip to the moon, but that doesn't mean your class can't study moon rocks. Using graham crackers as the moon's bedrock and powdered donuts as micrometeorites, young scientists simulate...
Baylor College
Modeling Earth's Atmosphere
Life on Earth is made possible by the unique composition of its atmosphere. Working collaboratively, a scale model is created as young scientists learn about the different layers of gas that surround the planet. Cards are included that...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Classroom Paper Recycling
After reading about the history and recycling of paper, creative crafters collaborate to think of a new process for making recycled paper. A complete teacher's guide and student worksheets are included. There is no written procedure for...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Exploring at the Nanoscale
Nano-nano! Nanotechnology can seem like it's from another planet! After learning about this tiny technology, collaborative groups experiment with how smaller particles affect chemical reactions. They do this by immersing a whole and a...
McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center
Global Warming in a Jar
This well-organized lab activity introduces earth science pupils to the greenhouse effect. They will set up two experiments to monitor temperatures in an open jar, a closed jar, and a closed jar containing water. Ideally, you would have...
Oklahoma Ag in The Classroom
Bee Smart Bee Happy
Here is a wonderfully designed lesson on bees and pollination designed for early elementary learners. After a class discussion on bees, pupils pretend to be a bee by picking up nectar off of "flowers" in the class. The flowers are...
Curated OER
Using High School Students to Teach Biology to Deaf Elementary Students
Students teach Biology concepts to elementary students, in particular deaf students, by traveling once a month to the elementary classroom with activities / lessons that have been selected and prepared by the older students.
Curated OER
Ducks in the Flow: Resources about Surface Ocean Currants for the Upper Elementary Classroom
Students investigate surface ocean currents. In this oceanography activity, students work in small groups to create models that demonstrate surface currents, the Coriolis Effect, and how surface currents move debris. This activity...
Curated OER
Themes to Encourage Awareness of Environmental Changes on the Shoreline of Connecticut in Elementary School Students: The Case of Kelsey Island
Students begin the lesson by developing a map of Kelsey Island by following specific instructions. In groups, they are given a block of ice in which they tie a rope around and drag over various rocks for different distances. They...
Curated OER
Science and Technology Timeline
Students develop a time line of discoveries that have occurred in their lifetime. In this time line lesson plan, students research scientifically or technologically related events of interest to them, write a brief description on a 4x6"...
Curated OER
Paper Airplane Science
Fifth graders recognize the need to follow the scientific method carefully and be aware of variables in experiments. In this airplane lesson plan, 5th graders design and test an airplane, and complete a data sheet. Students retest...
Curated OER
Five Senses Lesson Plan
Students listen to The Brave Little Monster, by Ken Baker. In this five senses lesson, students identify the different senses that characters experience in the book they are listening to. They review the senses as a class with hands on...
Curated OER
Biology In Elementary Schools
Students classify animals into six major animal groups and describe the characteristics of the animals found within each group. In this living and non-living animals lesson, students observe a variety of animals, both living and...
Curated OER
Lesson Plans for Sweet Dreams: How Animals Sleep
Students explore the sleeping patterns and sleeping habitats of animals. In this where animals sleep lesson, students research different animal species. Students also write and illustrate an animal picture book, make connections...
Curated OER
Ecology Lessons
Students examine the relationship between animal adaptations, habitats and community interactions. In this ecology lesson students complete a skull detective worksheet then use their knowledge to analyze a skull.