National Park Service
Caves, Canyons, Cactus, and Critters
Mother Nature's Gravel Company is open for business! The unit includes four lessons covering weathering and erosion. Experiments are simple to complete and young geologists compare notes to see who makes the biggest ice wedge, moves...
Curated OER
Plate Tectonics: Fourth Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
The pre-lab portion of the lesson introduces emerging geologists to the various layers that make up Earth. After completing a sheet on the identification of the layers, class members simulate plate boundaries and their...
Nuffield Foundation
Investigating Transport Systems in a Flowering Plant
Some weddings have flowers in a unique, unnatural color to match the theme. Young scientists take part in this process to learn about the function of the xylem as they observe colored water moving through a flower. Then, they experiment...
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
How Dry am I? Exploring Biomimicry and Nanotechnology
Help your classes feel like they can walk on water! An engaging inquiry-based activity has young scholars experiment with different surface coatings. They make observations about their properties and how they relate to the surface...
Windows to the Universe
All About Magnetism
Enjoy magnets and space science with a fun learning exercise. With a word search, a coloring page of Jupiter, and a connect-the-dots activity, kids are sure to learn about magnetism and astronomy.
Baylor College
Energy Sources
Take the concept of burning calories to a more literal level in the second of seven lessons about energy in the realm of food and fitness. Using simple materials, groups will burn breakfast cereal and a pecan to see which one gives off...
It's About Time
The Rear End Collision
Did you know one in every four car crashes are rear end collisions? The lesson explains what happens to your neck when you are involved in a rear end collision. Scholars experiment and apply Newton's Second Law of Motion.
It's About Time
Elements and Their Properties
How did ancient scientists classify elements? Answer this question and others as young chemists create a device to test the properties of various elements. They classify elements as metals or nonmetals, learn to differentiate between...
It's About Time
Oil and Gas Production
Would you consider a power failure a current event? This lesson uses multiple experiments, guided inquiry activities, and group discussions to cover the topics of oil and gas production. This is the seventh lesson in a series of eight.
Curated OER
Glaciers and Ice Wedging
Fourth graders observe and identify a variety of weathering and geological activities in the area in which they live. This focuses primarily on what happened during the Ice Age, and how, even today, glaciers are shaping and re-shaping...
American Chemical Society
Developing Tests to Distinguish Between Similar-Looking Liquids
Each group talks about how to test unknown liquids based on their findings in the previous experiment. In this second of four activities, they test unknowns on wax paper, newspaper, and construction paper. As a stand-alone, this lesson...
Scholastic
Lesson Three: The Earth, Movement in Space
If you feel like you're standing still, you're wrong! The Earth is constantly rotating and orbiting under our feet. Demonstrate the Earth's movement within the solar system with a collaborative activity. With a candle or lamp in the...
Curated OER
Getting the Dirt on Soils
Students examine soils and the components that make them up. In this hands-on soil science lesson, students receive soil samples and must identify the various aspect which make up soil.
Curated OER
Testing for Life’s Molecules
Want to hear a joke about sodium? Na. Young scientists test various materials to identify if they include protein, starch, and glucose by using the Biuret test, iodine starch test, and Benedict's test respectively. After practicing with...
Science 4 Inquiry
Enzymes in Action
Enzymes play a role in almost every function in the human body. Scholars explore three variables related to the use of enzymes. They observe a catalase reaction, experiment with substrates, and examine reactions rates.
Curated OER
Watershed Works: Unit 2
The second of a three-unit lesson plan, this focuses on how human-made structures affect watersheds. Using watershed models that were built during the first unit, junior geologists now place buildings, dams, or levees into the models and...
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...
Scholastic
A Reading Guide to A Wrinkle in Time
Accompany a reading of Madeleine L'Engle's classic tale, A Wrinkle in Time, with a detailed guide equipped with 15 informative and useful chapters. Scholars discover who the author is, why she wrote the book, and crucial story elements...
Physics Classroom
Color Filters
Filters provide amusing changes to images in applications other than just Instagram! High school pupils apply their knowledge of colored filters to three different interactive sets of puzzles. They identify light colors that pass through...
Curated OER
Balancing Act: Olympics, Winter Sports, Ice Skating, Gravity, Physics, Science
Students, by way of the Olympic Games event of ice skating, are introduced to the concepts of gravity. They try some hands-on gravity experiments and explore the concept of gravity through art.
Curated OER
Dissolving: Learning About Solutes and Solvents
You can use these hands on activities to teach students about solutes, solvents, and solutions.
Curated OER
Science: Einstein's Big Idea
Students explore the various aspects of Einstein's energy equation and discover how energy is transferred from one form to another. In teams, they rotate through seven stations to experience such aspects of energy change through...
Curated OER
Food & Science - How Healthy is Your Diet?
Learners experiment with various foods to determine fat and starch content. They rub jam, peanut butter, bananas, and other foods in a small circle on a piece of paper, and observe the results. If there is a high fat content in the...
Curated OER
Hummingbird Nests
Now here's a hands-on activity that little ones are sure to love. Using melted chocolate, coconut, and jelly beans they'll be able to shape tiny nests perfect for tiny birds. Kids love getting their hands dirty and the tactile experience...