NOAA
History's Thermometers
How is sea coral like a thermometer? Part three of a six-part series from NOAA describes how oceanographers can use coral growth to estimate water temperature over time. Life science pupils manipulate data to determine the age of corals...
Curated OER
Memories to Last: Observing Monuments
Students use scientific observation and inference to examine the Hazen Brigade Monument. In this observation lesson, students review the reasons for building monuments in society. Students then recall monuments they have seen and draw...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Human Feet Are Strange
Feet are neat! So, if you've already walked the path of examining animal footprints with your class, put them in the shoes of early humans! A well-designed lesson incorporates video, discussion, and hands-on learning to demonstrate how...
NOAA
What Little Herc Saw
See the underwater world through a different pair of eyes! Middle school marine biologists identify deep-sea organisms by examining images taken by an ROV from the Okeanos Explorer. After determining what creatures lie beneath the...
Curated OER
Pop Rock Chemistry
For this pop rock chemistry worksheet, middle schoolers suck on pop rocks, they mix open pop rocks with water and they observe them on a paper towel with water. Students write down as many observations as they can and they write down as...
Curated OER
Inference Makes the Difference
Students explore how archaeologists make inferences from artifacts to explore what life was like in the past. In this archaeology lesson, students work in groups and make inferences about an imaginary household based on modern day...
Curated OER
Colored Drops
Students examine the properties of a liquid that contains water and food coloring and a liquid that contains water, food coloring and a liquid detergent. They interpret their data, describe properties, and make reasonable explanations...
Curated OER
Fishy Behavior
Here's a lab that may make you rethink that morning cup of coffee. Biology scholars test the effects of caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine on the behavior of zebrafish through an intriguing experiment. Learners observe fish behavior before...
Curated OER
Transparent Shoebox Dig
Take this simulated archaeological dig one layer at a time with your young pupils to encourage observation, critical thinking, and careful attention. Using a transparent box full of layers of sand and artifacts, pupils examine the...
NOAA
Journey to the Unknown
What's it like to be a deep-sea explorer? Tap into the imaginations of your fifth and sixth graders with a vivid activity, the second part of a six-part adventure. Learners close their eyes and submerge themselves in an expedition aboard...
K20 LEARN
The Cold, Hard Truth
Things are really getting heated in the lab! Science scholars scope out the facts about heat energy transfer using a simple lab from the K20 Center. Groups collaborate to observe temperature changes between hot metal and water, then use...
Towson University
Looking Into Lactase: Structured Inquiry
Why is lactase important? Biology scholars explore enzyme function in a structured inquiry lab. The activity tasks lab groups with observing how temperature and pH affect enzyme activity, as well as determining which milk products...
Colorado State University
Why Are Clouds White?
Is it possible to change the color of clouds? A three-part activity explores the scattering of light by the water droplets that make up clouds. After observing a demonstration, curious scholars conduct their own investigations of the...
Teaching for Change
Selma in Pictures: Socratic Seminar
Photographs from the freedom movement in Selma, Alabama serve as the basis of two Socratic Seminars. Class members prepare for the seminars by closely observing the images, form a hypothesis, and use evidence from photo to support a...
Curated OER
Inferences: An Experiment with Ice
In this inferences: an experiment with ice worksheet, students follow the procedure for the experiment with ice, then write inferences from their observations.
Curated OER
Egg In a Bottle
In this scientific investigation worksheet, students observe a demonstration where paper is ignited and placed in a bottle with a hard-boiled egg at the opening. Students predict what will occur, they make observations and they make...
Curated OER
The Scientific Method
In this scientific method learning exercise, students complete a crossword puzzle given 21 clues about the steps of the scientific method. Topics include observations, hypotheses, variables, inferences, results and conclusions.
EngageNY
Making Inferences About Informational Text: Science Talk on How My Insect Contributes to the Rainforest Ecosystem
We need to talk. Learners participate in a science talk by discussing the idea of how insects are important to the rainforest. They record notes about their conversations as they talk. For homework, pupils add to their field journals.
It's About Time
Inferences of Waves
Building on the previous lesson, scholars use Slinkies to create standing waves. They graph waves on a calculator and then apply their knowledge to both sound and light waves. This is the fourth in a series of nine lessons.
Curated OER
Inference By Analogy
Students infer the use or meaning of items recovered from a North Carolina Native American site based on 17th-century European settlers' accounts and illustration.
Polk Bros Foundation
I Can Identify and Infer Character Traits
Use the guiding questions on this page to fill out the two graphic organizers included in the materials tab. All of the materials focus on character or personality traits and ask pupils to find textual evidence of the traits they...
Curated OER
Archaeology
Students compare and contrast the role of scientists with that of archaeologists. They also describe the roles of observations and evidence in science.
Curated OER
Project 1
Students are given a coin to observe and make inferences about. Using a worksheet, they make two columns to list their observations and inferences in an organized manner. They develop a hypothesis based on one of the inferences and...
Curated OER
Scientific Thinking
Students participate in four different activities which reinforce an understanding of they way scientists think about the world. They make careful observations of two different pennies, write the procedure for making a peanut butter and...