Earth Day Network
Staying Green While Being Clean
Clean up the environment with a activity that focuses on replacing hazardous cleaning supplies with green, environmentally-friendly products. Using a dirty patch of surface as a control area, kids clean other parts of various...
Curated OER
Be a Scientist: A Kindergarten Unit
Students conduct observations using their five senses. In this science lesson, students describe different states of matter. They investigate the factors affecting mold growth.
Curated OER
Galactic Inquiry
Students view NASA images of galaxies and develop a galaxy classification scheme. They compare and contrast their classification scheme with that developed by Edwin Hubble. They recognize that galaxies are collections of billions of stars.
Curated OER
The Science of Ghana
Students explore the climate and food sources of Ghana. In this lesson on climate students view diagrams of global convection and complete a convection experiment.
PHET
AM Radio Ionosphere Station
Tune in! Young scientists use an AM radio at home to monitor solar output. The long-term project would be ideal in a flipped classroom or as an out-of-class project.
NASA
Gravitational Waves
Young scientists participate in a hands-on experiment to explore Einstein's theory of relativity in a creative manner. They investigate various waves and compare their characteristics as they discuss how each wave is created....
Education Outside
Papermaking
Imagine recycling food scraps and using them to make paper. The directions are all here in a seven-page packet that details several paper-making strategies.
University of Colorado
Are All Asteroids' Surfaces the Same Age?
Did you know scientists can tell the age of an asteroid by looking closely at its craters? This final lesson of a six-part series focuses on two asteroids, Gaspra and Ida, in order to demonstrate the concept of dating asteroids. Scholars...
Sea World
Marine Animal Husbandry and Training
Step into the role of a zoo director with several activities about animal training and running a zoo. Kids calculate the amount of food each animal needs, design a habitat for penguins, decide how to breed bottlenose dolphins, and train...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Reflecting on What I Learned About Climate Change
After three eye-opening lessons about our environment, scholars revisit a 10-question survey, reflect on their new-found knowledge, and take action by writing to a representative or creating a public service announcement about...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Stickleback Evolution Virtual Lab
How quickly do animals evolve? Can comparing different samples of the same fossil answer timeline questions? Scholars use virtual labs to examine fossils and learn about stickleback evolution. They compare pelvic morphology in lakes...
Mathematics Vision Project
Quadratic Functions
Inquiry-based learning and investigations form the basis of a deep understanding of quadratic functions in a very thorough unit plan. Learners develop recursive and closed methods for representing real-life situations,...
PBS
Cloud Clues
It's cloudy with a good chance of learning! An inquiry-based lesson begins with an exploration of transparent, translucent, and opaque materials. Young scientists then connect their learning to the different cloud types as they take the...
Curated OER
Are We Scaring Ourselves to Death?
Interesting! Have your high schoolers watch this 13-minute clip from the documentay, "Are We Scaring Ourselves to Death?" It examines the fear we have as a culture about death and whether or not the media increases those fears. The focus...
Curated OER
The Scientific Method
Students study the steps involved in the scientific method. They apply the scientific method to their science fair projects.
Curated OER
Genetically Modified Foods in Perspective
Students research the concept of genetically modified foods. The purpose of the research is to increase science content knowledge and comprehension of the controversy surrounding the subject.
Curated OER
Antibiotics: Will They Work?
Students examine why antibiotics are important in everyday life. They examine the decisions that people make and how these decisions can artificially speed up natural selection in bacteria that cause infections such as group A...
Curated OER
Exploring Ecosystems
Students examine the relationships between plants, animals, and the environment in ecosystems. They sort animal cards, collect natural materials from the schoolyard, and record an ecosystem web in the form of a poster.
Curated OER
Series or Parallel?
Physics classes that are studying electricity connect photovoltaic cells into both series and parallel circuits. Inquiry and critical thinking come into play as learners try to determine which circuit is more productive. They associate...
Curated OER
Ice Cube Experiment
Students explore the rate at which ice melts. In this science lesson, students place ice cubes on colored index cards and place them in direct sunlight. Students observe which ice cubes melt fastest and slowest.
Curated OER
Where In the World Are the Resources?
Students use the internet to research the amount of natural resources in a specific area on Earth. In groups, they locate the supply of each natural resource on a map in that area and what can be done to reduce their usage. They also...
Curated OER
Inquiry and the Nature of Science
Students identify questions that can be answered through scientific investigations, design and conduct a scientific investigation. They also use appropriate tools and techniques to gather, analyze, and interpret data.
Field Museum
The Case of Darwin's Finches
One of the most striking pieces of evidence for Darwin's Evolution of Species was his observations of finches and how their beaks differed from island to island, depending on their primary food sources. So what would happen to the theory...
Curated OER
Applied Evolution: How Will We Get There from Here?
Students explore the basic process of natural selection and how people can manipulate that process today. The consequences of natural selection on daily life and the implications of evolutionary biology in basic and applied science is...