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Exploring the Biomes of South America
Sixth graders complete a five-week unit investigating the eight major biomes of South America. They conduct Internet research, collect short-term and long-term climate data, and create a HyperStudio slideshow stack about a selected biome...
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Examining Samples and Asking Testable Research
Students formulate a testable research question containing a comparison and a
quantitative measure. They state the null and alternative hypothesis for a testable research question. In addition, they describe some of the abiotic
and...
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Eyeing the Next Einstein
Students complete a KWL chart on Albert Einstein. After they read an article, they discover more about his iconic status and how future scientists view him. In groups, they create trading cards about Einstein and another scientist of...
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Discoveries of Titanic Proportions
Students analyze various statements on the moon. After reading an article, they discuss the findings about a new moon around Saturn. In groups, they re-create a press conference in which the new findings were released to the public. ...
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A Site to See
Students identify the risks and benefits of living next to a volcano. After reading an article, they discuss the behaviors of an active volcano. Using the Internet, they work together to research volcano-monitoring techniques and create...
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Plasma 101
Students examine the definitions and characteristics of plasma. After reading an article, they analyze new technologies to study plasma. In groups, they create a poster on how the different types of plasma work and write letters to their...
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Trash! How Cities Work: Dealing with Garbage in the US and India
Students identify how different cultures deal with the challenge of trash. Read an excerpt from a chapter book based on real life written from the Southern Indian perspective. Describe the life of a street child in Southern India....
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Battery Power
Sixth graders examine how much energy they use in the form of battery power. They examine the cost of using regular vs. rechargeable batteries and examine the effect on the environment of the two types of batteries. They discover that...
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Water Cycle
First graders research for information on the water cycle. They use a hot list to find pictures of the water cycle, and create a movie in Kid Pix about the water cycle.
They present Kid Pix movie to the class.
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3-D Ocean Animals
Fifth graders research an animal from the ocean, using the internet and encyclopedias, with at least 5 out of 5 topics covered. They also construct a 3-dimensional model of their animal and give an oral presentation about their animal...
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Aquatic Times
Young scholars identify a diversity of issues related to aquatic organisms and habitats and develop their own opinions concerning some issues involving aquatic life and habitats. They investigate, write and produce a newspaper that...
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Sink or Float: Exploring the Laws of Buoyancy
Students explore the relationship between density and buoyancy. After watching a video explaining buoyancy, students discuss displacement and floating. Students have a raft building competition. Afterward, they conduct experiments to...
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Planets in a Row
Learners use Internet to research and take notes about each planet for a fact book. They then illustrate each page in the fact book and check their facts with a solar system key. When finished, they display their work and share new facts...
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Everything You Do Makes a Difference
Students choose a current environmental issue and research historical conditions as well as present conditions. They assess
the changes in ecosystems, populations of specific species, air quality, or any other aspect of an ecosystem.
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What is a Raptor?
Students explore, analyze and discover the characteristics of raptors and generate a word bank for owls and raptors. They identify attributes shared by raptors and practice various key vocabulary words to master and utilize in sentence...
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Orienteering
Young scholars acquaint with co-participants and identify the practice basic compass functions and orienteering procedures. They also work together to solve a small challenge. Students then identify how the challenge of orienteering...
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Rain Forest Adventures
Students identify and describe where tropical rain forests are located and examine the geographical correlation between rainfall and rain forest. They brainstorm what they think they know about tropical rain forests - where they're...
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Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Students brainstorm and share opinions about products that can be reused or recycled after reading the article, "Seattle's Recycling Success Is Being Measured in Scraps." They then investigate, analyze and evaluate articles on recycling...
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Straight Talk On Tough Issues
Students engage in a instructional activity that is focused upon the concept of breast cancer and research is conducted using a variety of reference sources. They reflect upon how different people deal with the tragedy of cancer and then...
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Mystery Dinosaur: Who am I?
In this dinosaur worksheet, students read a description of a dinosaur and then write down which dinosaur is being described. There are 6 questions to answer on this worksheet.
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The Magic School Bus Goes to Mussel Beach
Students investigate tides and create a model of an intertidal zone. In this hands-on marine science lesson plan based on a Magic School Bus book, the teacher leads students in a discussion about tides, then helps students model a tide...
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Bike-Sharing Catches On
Students discuss how people are reducing their fuel consumption, then read a news article about a new bike-sharing program in Washington, D.C. In this current events and alternative transportation instructional activity, the teacher...
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Scientists Breed See-Through Frogs
Students participate in a pre-reading activity, then read a news article about the breeding of transparent frogs. For this biology and current events lesson, the teacher introduces the article with a question and a vocabulary activity,...
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It's Goin' Down; The Rain Forest
Students discover the global problem of deforestation. For this environmental lesson, students identify organizations on the quest to stop deforestation. Students also discover what they can do to solve this global dilemma.