American Museum of Natural History
They Glow!
Would you believe marine animals can make their own light? An online resource describes the process of bioluminescence and how animals in the ocean use it to survive. The lesson features a catchy tune that describes the behavior of ocean...
Curated OER
Understanding Climate Change
The young scientists in your class will appreciate a resource about different elements of climate change. The packet includes factual materials, informational text, and clear visuals, perfect for sharing with your environmental...
US Department of Energy
Electromagnet Experiment Stand: A Variable Power Electromagnet
Electromagnets come in both large and small scales—from big machinery in scrap yards to hard disk drives. Here's a resource that provides directions for building a variable electromagnet on a stand. Scholars then experiment with the...
College Board
2011 AP® Environmental Science Free-Response Questions
Beetle population, climate change, and acidification are all real environmental threats. Scholars display their knowledge of these threats and offer solution strategies in a four-question assessment resource. Questions from the AP® exam...
College Board
2017 AP® Microeconomics Free-Response Questions
How much corn does a farmer need to grow if he wants to make a profit? A prompt from College Board asks learners to put themselves in the boots of a farmer growing crops for the alternative fuel market. Additional prompts consider the...
Alabama Wildlife Federation
Big Fish, Little Fish
Tag, you're eaten! A lesson on predator-prey relationships uses the game freeze tag as a model. Learners become either a predator or prey and play a game of tag as the prey tries to reach areas that house food and shelter. During the...
Bonneville
Macro-Scale Solar
There's no substitute for the power of the sun. The second of four installments of the Solar Resources Assessment unit looks at macro-scale photovoltaic (PV) technology. Future scientists first learn about PV modules with a PowerPoint...
Curated OER
The Periodic Table
A huge collection of slides introduces chemistry learners to the periodic table of elements, electron configuration, and electronegativity. It opens with the history of today's periodic table, and then details the arrangement. After...
Curated OER
What Does It Cost to Use It?
Students investigate how electrical usage is counted. In this electricity lesson, students research an electric bill and define terms such as watts and kilowatts. Students calculate the average electricity cost per year by using a...
Curated OER
Corn Harvest
Learners read Corn Belt Harvest and write sentences about corn's uses. They visit a cornfield and a grain elevator or have guest speakers come to class. They design posters about harvesting or processing corn into grain.
Curated OER
Ocean Power
Students explore the energy resources of the ocean. In this energy lesson, students participate in 4 activities focused on energy resources from the ocean.
Curated OER
Wind Power for Educators
Students explore wind power as a renewable resource. In this wind power lesson students build models of wind turbines and experiment with different changes to see if it increases efficiency.
Curated OER
Robot Earth
Middle schoolers construct a simple robotic energy transformer. In this space science lesson, students explain how energy is transformed from one form to another. They identify the different uses of robotic devices.
Curated OER
Photosynthesis and Biomass Growth
Sixth graders examine renewable energy sources such as ethanol. In this photosynthesis and biomes lesson students complete a project on farming techniques.
Curated OER
Cell Wall Recipe: A Lesson on Biofuels
Biotech engineers discover that changes in the DNA code for cell wall formation can help create crops better suited for biofuel production. They extract DNA from wheat germ. They decode paper strips with codes and relate the activity to...
California Academy of Science
Greening Your Middle School
Middle schoolers redesign their school to make it more energy efficient, and create a model of their design. Learners get together in groups of 5, and they take on the task of making their school more energy efficient. To do this, they...
NASA
Dark Matter NASA Conference
Young scholars calculate the escape velocity of planets in our solar system and use that knowledge to calculate the escape velocity for NGC 2300 group. They then suggest reasons for the escape velocity to be higher than possible given...
NASA
The Science of the Sun
There's more to that glowing ball of light in sky than most children realize. From the overall structure of the solar system, to the changing of the seasons, these hands-on lessons open the eyes of young scientists to...
American Chemical Society
Temperature Changes in Dissolving
Alia-Seltzer tablets cause a very obvious chemical change, but do they also cause a temperature change? Each class member explores hot/cold packs, discussing how these temperature changes occur. Groups then design and carry out their own...
National Wildlife Federation
I’ve Got the POWER Wind Energy Potential at Your School
The 20th lesson in a 21-part series connects the wind data and expectations of a turbine to whether such devices should be built in your area. Scholars begin with estimating the wind potential at school by using long-term climate...
Science 4 Inquiry
Investigating How Heat Flows
It is impossible to cool down a glass of water by adding ice. Young scientists explore heat transfer through videos, experiments, and interactive games. They quickly catch on that the water melts the ice and things aren't always as they...
Curated OER
How Bright are the Stars?
Learners observe the brightness of stars and are introduced to the concept of apparent brightness as a measure of how much light hits a detector of a surface area during a given time. In this star lesson, students make connections...
Curated OER
Conserving Energy Resources
Seventh graders research on energy conversion. After they have researched several types of energy resources, teams of two to four create posters which depict how these resources can be conserved.
Curated OER
Renewable Energy Plants in Your Gas Tank: From Photosynthesis to Ethanol
Young scholars examine the role photosynthesis plays in plant survival. In this renewable energy lesson students document their observations and analyze and interpret their results.