Curated OER
Hazards: Fifth Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
After comparing earthquake and volcanic hazards to one another, fifth graders take a closer look at damage associated with a volcanic eruption. They then create a simulation of mudslides due to a volcanic eruption. Using different...
Curated OER
Hazards: First Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Examine the environmental hazards associated with volcanoes with a three-part science lesson. In the pre-lab, first graders learn that gas, landslides, ash, and lava are all hazards that come from volcanoes. They then explore...
Curated OER
Hazards: Sixth Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Sixth graders explore the damage associated with an earthquake by designing a structure that can withstand earthquake intensities on a shaker board. They then view tips for preparing for an earthquake, and what...
Curated OER
Hazards: Fourth Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Learn about damage associated with earthquakes and materials that best withstand a quake. A lab engages class members in the experimental design and construction of sturdy structures that can endure various earthquake...
Curated OER
Twisters
Students differentiate between the terms 'tornado watch' and 'tornado warning' and simulate the conditions that produce tornadoes. They read "Night of the Twisters" by Ivy Ruckman and conduct an experiment using two-liter plastic...
Curated OER
Emergency Preparedness
High schoolers take a closer look at emergency preparedness plans. For this writing skills lesson, students evaluate the severe weather, natural disaster, and threat plans in place at their school and then write their own improved...
Curated OER
Math Mission
Second graders investigate the concept of Puerto Rican animals through using math word problems. They create a story to correlate with the word problems. The lesson also uses data of species counts to show increases and decreases for...
Teach Engineering
Earthquakes Living Lab: Finding Epicenters and Measuring Magnitudes
Pairs use an online simulation to determine the epicenter and magnitude of an earthquake. Using real data about the earthquake's maximum S wave amplitudes, they then determine the magnitude. The resource provides a great career...
The New York Times
Investigating the Heroin and Prescription Opioid Epidemic
How bad is the opioid crisis in America? Has it gotten worse in the last few decades? Why? High schoolers delve into these questions with a thorough and thoughtful lesson from The New York Times on heroin prescription opioids....
Curated OER
Weather the Storm
Fourth graders complete multi-curricular activities for weather. In this weather lesson, 4th graders complete creative writing, research, and weather data analysis activities for the lesson.
Curated OER
Picnic Possibilities
Fourth graders plan a picnic using weather data. Using accumulated weather data from various sources, they create a graph of the weather conditions in their region for a given period of time. Students interpret this data to predict the...
Curated OER
The Chaos Game
Students measure and predict the behavior of a fractal. In this investigative lesson students divide into groups, and participate in an activity that includes drawing triangles and coloring vertices.
Curated OER
Radiation Reassessed
Learners investigate the dangers of radiation by exploring recent nuclear tragedies. In this scientific debate lesson, students define the idea of radiation "half life" and determine if low doses of radiation are truly damaging to...
Out-of-School Time Resource Center
Nutrition and Physical Activity
Emerging nutritionists explore what it means to be healthy. In the beginning of the unit, your class will examine the five food groups and learn how food gets from the farm to our plates. This leads into the investigation of...
Teach Engineering
Protecting Our City with Levees
Teams use the design process to design, build, and test a model levee to protect the town from a wall of water. A handout provides a price list for the materials learners can use to build their levee within a budget.
Teach Engineering
Weather Forecasting
According to the Farmers' Almanac, the weather will be nice today. Class members examine how weather forecasting plays a part in their lives with a resource that provides information on the history of forecasting, from using cloud...
Curated OER
Making & Breaking : The Rock Cycle
Middle schoolers examine the rock cycle and how rocks can change over time. In this geotechnical engineering lesson students draw a diagram of the rock cycle.
Curated OER
Engineering: Which Roof Is Tops?
Students determine regional climates by examining photos of house roofs. They observe teacher-constructed examples of roofs and make predictions as to which style is best for snowy climates. After evaluating the examples, they record...
Curated OER
Tornado!
Students examine the characteristics and types of tornadoes. They discuss how they are formed, conduct an experiment with two liter bottles, analyze data and determine mean and median, and design a house to withstand tornado-force winds
Curated OER
Integrating Science and Literature: Life as We Knew It
Supplement your science units with science fiction novels!
Curated OER
Drifting Continents
Students, through teacher-led demonstration, explore the idea of continental drift. They complete a worksheet involving the calculation of continental drift over time.
Curated OER
Puerto Rican Parrot Paradise
Learners investigate the environment of the Puerto Rican Parrot. They visualize the ecosystem with and without information. They conduct research to find information and participate in classroom discussion to demonstrate comprehension of...
Curated OER
Oil Spill
Young scholars explore an important role of environmental engineers by studying the Exxon Valdez oil spill. They experiment with different strategies in order to clean up their own manufactured oil spill.
Curated OER
Rock Solid
Young scholars investigate the three types of material stress related to rocks. They watch a PowerPoint Presentation, view an online animation of the three types of rock stress, identify the various types of rocks, answer true or false...