Curated OER
Survival Under a Rock
Students investigate ways that animals adapt to their environments through hands-on activities using isopods and an interactive video.
Curated OER
The Endocrine System: Who Is In Control Here?
Students participate in hands-on activities to explore the endocrine system. Students research and write about the endocrine system to demonstrate their knowledge. Handouts and worksheets are included in the lesson.
Curated OER
Customary Measurement Conversions
Fifth graders discover in hands-on activities the relationships between the measures. They work in groups to create conversion tables using familiar measuring tools. Students solve problems requiring conversions.
Curated OER
EXPLORING OUR HUMAN BODIES
Students observe and investigate the human skeletal and muscle systems. They become aware of the versatility of movement as well as gain experience through the use of diagrams and hands on activities. An extensive vocabulary is covered...
Curated OER
Wetland Metaphors
Students are presented with a selection of hands on objects for investigation as metaphors for natural functions of wetlands. A 'Mystery Metaphor Container' is presented to the class with everything having to do with a wetland in some...
Curated OER
Not A Drop To Drink
Fifth graders discuss ways that humans pollute our natural water supply. They observe a video about water pollution. Students identify eight different ways water is contaminated. They investigate an oil spill by conducting a hands-on...
Curated OER
Thunderstorms and Lightning
Middle schoolers, in groups, investigate and demonstrate the science behind the development of lightning and thunderstorms.
Curated OER
Understanding the Water Cycle
Investigate the water cycle and how water moves from the land to the air and back to the land. Create a terrarium and observe the water cycle at work. Define weather terms including evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.
Teach Engineering
Let's Take a Spin: One-Axis Rotation
Investigate the effect of one-axis rotations on geometric figures. Scholars learn to use snap cubes and the right-hand rule to draw figures after rotations about the x-, y-, or z-axes. They try their hands at examples created by the...
Curated OER
A Relatively Far Out Idea: Estimating
Students investigate methods of estimating through cooperative group activities, hands-on activities, the use of tables and graphs and an interactive video.
Curated OER
An Egg-cellent Osmosis Experiment
Students investigate the problem of osmosis by conducting an experiment. They use eggs with the shells dissolved to tell whether fluid can move across the membranes. The experiment provides high interest for all kinds of students to keep...
Curated OER
You Are Here
Students simulate a course with and without a guide as if they were an airplane with and without air traffic control. They read and discuss the article "For Airlines, Hands-On Air Traffic Control". They discuss challenges that air...
Curated OER
Measurement: Stream Flow & Stadium Capacity
Eighth graders study the scientific fields and how information can be monitored and recorded. For this scientific inquiry lesson students view a PowerPoint presentation and complete a hands on activity.
Teach Engineering
Flow Rates of Faucets and Rivers
Go with the flow and use a helpful resource. A set of two activities has learners investigate flow rates. They first determine the flow rate of a faucet by measuring how long it takes to fill a bucket. Using the results, they make a...
Rural Science Education Program
Bees and Flowers – Partners in Pollination
Why are bees so important? After several activities where kids investigate the form and function of flowers, they learn about the different types of bees and label them. They then examine pollen under a microscope and decide which bees...
Virginia Department of Education
Work and Power
Assist your class with correctly calculating the values for force, work, and power as they determine the amount various activities require. They gather data and participate in a group discussion to compare results upon conclusion of the...
Curated OER
Fantastic Fractions
Fourth graders work with fractions using hands on experiences and reasoning skills and use fractions to communicate the idea of a part of a whole.
Curated OER
Air: It's a Gas!
Young scholars investigate the properties of air through hands-on activities in conjunction with the demonstrations in a 3-2-1 Contact Video.
Curated OER
Earth: The Water Planet
Students elicit data on the water cycle, ocean topography, and island formation in this six lesson unit. The ocean floor and the properties of water are examined through a variety of discussions and hands-on experiments.
Curated OER
Cell Division and Differentiation
Tenth graders investigate about mitosis, meiosis, and cell differentiation and their purposes and implications in the development and functioning of multicellular organisms. Students use individual journals and a variety of hands-on...
Curated OER
The Working of Scientists
Students define and explain the basic concepts of experimental design. In this scientific method lesson students complete a hands on activity, develop and present proposals to test their explanations.
Virginia Department of Education
Electricity and Circuits
Electrify your classroom as you lead pupils through a series of steps to demonstrate basic principles of electricity and magnetism. They design a simple circuit and test this for static electricity and current electricity. Next, they...
Discovery Education
Cushion It!
Sugar cubes, collide! Groups design protection systems using bubble wrap to protect sugar cubes from being destroyed by falling batteries in the STEM lesson. They consider how the experiment relates to collisions in real-world...
Curated OER
Discovering Planet X
Students investigate the movements of the planet Pluto. Students participate in a hands-on activity to record data similar to the movements of the planet Pluto. Students compare their data to that found on a website.