Curated OER
Build Your Own Parachute
Students study the basics of parachuting. In this flight and aerodynamics lesson plan students make a simple parachute and investigate different variables that can cause potential problems.
Curated OER
African Americans in Aviation: The 1940s- A Decade of Change
Young scholars investigate African Americans in aviation. In this primary resources lesson, students examine primary resources to research the history of African American in aviation. Young scholars answer two research questions and...
Curated OER
Doing More In Less
Students watch segments of a NASA program called "Doing More In Less". In groups, they examine the concept of human exploration and how NASA has contributed to specific research. They are introduced to new vocabulary and answer...
Curated OER
Letters to the Man in the Moon
Students write and communicate mathematically with their classmates. They discuss the mathematics that it took to allow us to conquer space and land on the moon. They sketch a plaque they would leave on the moon.
Curated OER
Unveiling the Secrets of Saturn
Learners read and study an article then answer questions on Saturn. In this investigative lesson students identify ways space exploration has helped humanity and then they search the Internet for space pictures and sketch a drawing...
Curated OER
How Things Fly
Students observe photographs of selected twentieth-century aircraft at the National Air and Space Museum and note differences in the design of aircraft wings, fuselages, and engines.
Curated OER
Battery Depletion and Piecewise Linear Graphing
Students examine a recent flight of Pathfinder. In groups, they use the information to create a table of values showing the battery charge of the space machine. They predict what the charge would be further on in the mission. They use...
Curated OER
Baga Drum
Students examine a Baga Drum in order to explore the history of the Baga people of West Africa. In this art history lesson, students recognize figures used in Baga Drum design that represent aspects of Baga culture. They also design and...
Curated OER
Good Old Earth Materials
Young scholars investigate different types of building structures and how they are able to stand up to earthquakes. Through comparison they determine which buildings are better able to handle earthquakes than others. They create a...
Cornell University
Alka-Seltzer Rockets
Blast off! An engaging hands-on activity has pupils create rockets powered by Alka-Seltzer. They learn about the physics behind these rockets throughout the process.
Indiana University
World Literature: "One Evening in the Rainy Season" Shi Zhecun
Did you know that modern Chinese literature “grew from the psychoanalytical theory of Sigmund Freud”? Designed for a world literature class, seniors are introduced to “One Evening in the Rainy Season,” Shi Zhecun’s stream of...
Curated OER
Weather: It Works, or Not?
Students discover the techniques meteorologists use to examine the atmosphere. In groups, they build their own weather station and observe the various weather conditions. They identify the types of weather patterns that allow the...
Curated OER
Preventing Hypothermia
Students identify the causes of hypothermia. For this biology lesson, students investigate the different types of heat transfer and heat loss. They discuss several practical measures to avoid hypothermia.
Smithsonian Institution
Watching Crystals Grow
Amazing science can sometimes happen right before your eyes! The class gets cozy as they watch crystals grow. They use Epsom salts, rocks, and food coloring to create crystals. They'll observe the entire process, documenting every step...
Curated OER
Revolutionary Money
Examine paper money from the American revolution! Historians study the paper bills and discuss the history of money. How has money changed over the times? Activities are included.
Curated OER
Bird Interdisciplinary Possibilities
Students explore birds, their territory, breeding, and seasonal movement. They research and collect information on birds through writing letters to ornithologists, reading in books, comparing web sites, and observing pictures. Students...
Curated OER
Bat Ecology
Students, through hands on games and activities, discover how bats live and how bats benefit ecosystems. They play a game designed to show them how echolocation works and another to show how mother bats locate their young through their...
Curated OER
Model Rockets
Learners build a model rocket. In this model rocket instructional activity, students explore a rocket launch cycle. Learners investigate the laws of physics for each part of the launch. Students build model rockets and launch at school.
Curated OER
Plants and Animals: Partners in Pollination
Students describe the complementary relationships between pollinators and the plants they pollinate, identify adaptations that flowers have developed to "encourage" pollination, and create and draw their own "designer" flowers.
Curated OER
Mineral Scavenger Hunt
Students complete a scavenger hunt worksheet as they find examples in their classroom, at home, etc., of minerals. Excellent worksheet!
Curated OER
Create a Classroom Exhibit: Rocks and Minerals
Students bring in rocks and minerals from home. They observe them and describe them carefully, completing a worksheet. Finally, a classroom exhibit is created.
Curated OER
Letters from the Japanese American Internment
Learners examine letters of Japanese-American children during internment in World War II. They discover what it was like in the camps and how they were treated once they were released. They also view photographs of the camps.
Curated OER
Plants and Animals, Partners in Pollination
Students participate in multiple hands-on activities to explore reproduction and pollination. In groups, using a cotton swab and powder, students simulate being pollinators and plants. They name the parts of the flowers and the function...
Curated OER
Rocks and Minerals
Students bring rocks and minerals from home to investigate in the classroom. In this rocks and minerals lesson plan, students observe all the rocks and minerals brought into the class and answer 7 questions about the features of the...