Lawrence Hall of Science
DIY Sun Science
Get an up-close-and personal look at the sun from the safety of your classroom with this fun science application. Offering numerous activities, images, and videos, the resource supports children of all ages as they learn about the sun.
Curated OER
Engaging Young Scientists with Inquiry: Part One
Building inquiry into your science lessons will make science concepts more concrete for your class.
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...
Curated OER
Making a Terrarium
Students construct and maintain model of natural habitat, suggest improvements to the model of the natural habitat to make it more realistic and habitable, and demonstrate careful observation and recording of how animals survive in their...
Curated OER
Informed Drawing Through Observation
Students practice observation techniques to improve their drawing skills. In this drawing technique lesson, students assess drawing as an art media and discuss realism. Students view examples of animal drawings and practice drawing using...
Curated OER
Observations and Procedures
Young scientists critique the breakdown of detailed observations. They discover the importance of writing down experimental procedures. There are some guided discussion questions at the end of the resource.
PBS
The Cat in the Hat Activity Exploring Weather
Observe different types of weather right in your classroom! Here, pupils look at clouds, rain, snow, wind, and hot and cold temperatures, and observe these weather patterns at school. They keep track of their observations in a worksheet...
Center for Technology in Teaching and Learning
CSI: The Experience - Family Forensics
Forensic scientists depend on their observation skills to analyze evidence down to the molecular level. Middle and high schoolers practice making observations and predictions with a series of crime scene activities, which includes a...
Museum of Science
Nature Bingo
Hit the jackpot by playing nature bingo. Scholars go on a nature walk and record observations in their notebooks. They see how many types of trees and insects they observe and play a nature bingo game where they find different natural...
Curated OER
Observing Trees
Students create a timeline of a tree in a given time span. For this life cycle lesson, students observe one particular tree at the beginning of the year, and continue their observations for several weeks to create a timeline of the...
Curated OER
Observe a Tree
Tiny tree-huggers observe and examine various species of trees around campus. They use My First Field Guide to Trees to support their observations. Different tree projects are offered that can include using natural materials to make a...
Curated OER
My Science Box: Snail Variation
Students observe snails and their characteristics. In this science lesson plan, students decide how to measure their snails and to observe a behavioral trait. Students create a graph to present their findings.
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
Observation
Pupils study the different kinds of observation: fact and opinion. In this observation lesson students complete an activity that allows them to use their senses to make observations.
UAF Geophysical Institute
Observing the Weather
How can you predict the weather without any technology? Young scientists learn to forecast the weather using traditional Native American techniques. Based on their observations of the weather, as well as talking to their classmates, they...
University of Kentucky
Beneficial Bug Scavenger Hunt
Many people think of bugs as annoying pests to be squashed, but most insects and spiders are beneficial, eating the actual pests or pollinating plants. After reviewing some of the common bugs in your area (they may differ from those...
School World
Moon Observation Project
Mrs. Flynt has designed a 12-day moon observation activity that is best assigned when daylight hours are shorter. Middle school moon experts record several factors, including the altitude above the horizon, the azimuth, the phase, and...
Center for Learning in Action
Investigating Physical and Chemical Changes
Super scientists visit ten stations to predict, observe, and draw conclusions about the physical and chemical changes that occur when different states of matter—liquid, solid, and gas—are placed under a variety of conditions. To...
Center for Learning in Action
Water – Changing States (Part 2)
Here is part two of a two-part lesson plan in which scholars investigate the changing states of water—liquid, solid, and gas—and how energy from heat changes its molecules. With grand conversation, two demonstrations, and one...
Cornell University
Making a Battery
Don't be shocked when your class has a blast making their own batteries! Science scholars examine a dry cell battery, then design and construct a wet cell battery. The activity guides them through the parts of a battery, the variables...
DiscoverE
Building with Biology
Seeing is believing! Bring DNA to life for young biologists using a simple extraction lab. Individuals extract the DNA from wheat germ, then place it in a microcentrifuge tube for observation. They thread yarn or other material through...
Michigan State University
All About Insects
Insects are the focus of an activity that looks deep into the anatomy and metamorphosis of everyday bugs. Two worksheets reinforce knowledge obtained through a teacher-guided grand conversation and insect observation.
Royal Society of Chemistry
The Treatment of Oil Spills—Microscale Chemistry
When oil spills happen, how is the oil cleaned up? Pupils of polymer science discover an amazing substance that turns oil into a solid during a microscale experiment. Individuals observe oil or paraffin before and after addition of the...
Kenan Fellows
Terrarium in a Bottle: Modeling the Atmosphere, Greenhouse Effect, and Water Cycle
You've heard of farm to table ... but what about farm in classroom? Junior agriculturalists embark upon a two-week journey into the science of growing things. Based upon the classic terrarium in a two-liter experiment, the lesson goes...