It's About Time
Effect of Lenses on Light
Optometry jokes just get cornea and cornea. Young scientists use a lens and light to create and measure focal points on both a note card and the wall. They then complete a reading passage and questions as homework.
Jefferson Lab
Optics: Mirrors and Lenses
Did you see that or did I imagine it? Optical illusions are often created with mirrors and lenses, and here is a presentation that covers many different types of mirrors and lenses and how they work. Flat, concave, and convex mirrors, as...
NOAA
What's a CTD?
Why are the properties of the water important when exploring the ocean? Young scientists discover the tools and technology used in deep sea exploration in the fourth installment in a five-part series. Groups work together to...
Library of Congress
Investigating the Building Blocks of Our Community’s Past, Present, and Future
As Ken Jennings said, "There's just something hypnotic about maps." Certainly, the longer you look at them the more you can learn. In this project-based learning instructional activity, individuals study both historic and...
BioEd Online
Nutritional Challenges
Eating healthy can be a challenge, especially for people with special dietary needs. After learning about standard nutritional needs for adults, learners take on the role of a dietician and work together to create a menu for one of the...
Social Skills Central
Photo Cartoons: How To Give A Compliment
Help learners develop the ability to offer appropriate, meaningful compliments to others—an essential social skill. Here you'll find a quick photo cartoon illustrating a right and wrong way to give a compliment, as well as a brief...
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...
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...
NOAA
Oceans of Energy
Are the earth's oceans really just giant batteries, waiting for their energy to be harnessed? Middle school mechanical engineers will be shocked by the amazing amount of energy that forms around them after diving into part four of a...
University of Minnesota
Dendritic Spines Lab
This is your brain on drugs ... literally! Your neuroscientists-in-training examine the evidence of drug use on the human brain and how neurons change their connectivity when altered by drugs. They then work together to create testing...
CK-12 Foundation
Division of Fractions: Stacking Berets
Seven questions make up an interactive designed to boost mathematician's skills in dividing whole numbers by mixed fractions. Practice comes with a visual aid with movable parts. Questions types include fill in the blank,...
Curated OER
Water in the Biosphere
Environmental explorers examine the campus and take note of living organisms. Introduce them to the biosphere and the questions of the day: How much water can be found in the biosphere? A slide show helps you along, and even contains a...
Cornell University
Diffraction Demystified
Study diffraction patterns using CDs and DVDs! Scholars measure the diffraction patterns of a light wave as it hits a CD or DVD. Using the information, they can measure the distance between the tracks.
Center for Learning in Action
Introduction to Matter
Begin your states of matter lessons with a demonstration designed to introduce the concept that all matter has properties. Reinforce this concept through vocabulary exploration, and the creation of atom models; salt, water, and carbon...
Vermilionville
Mardi Gras Elementary
You don't have to visit Vermilionville to experience the Cajun traditions of Mardi Gras. After examining pictures and hearing stories about these colorful traditions, learners create their own Courir de Mardi Gras masks.
Code.org
Practice PT - Design a Digital Scene
The final performance task for the unit requires class members to utilize what they have learned to create a personal digital scene. Groups work together to develop a scene and then, using top-down design, break the scene into...
Colorado State University
Can You See Beyond the Rainbow?
There's more to light than ROYGBIV! An enlightening laboratory investigation has learners explore the world of infrared light. When they use goggles that take away visible light, they experience how things look with only infrared light.
Curated OER
Alphabet Madness
Starting with letter "A", call out each letter of the alphabet, and a corresponding word or phrase that begins with that letter. The teacher can expound on the word/phrase to create an image and to promote movement.
Curated OER
A Big Issue
Students examine the issue of childhood obesity. In this current events lesson, students explore the personal health issue as they discuss balanced diets, food diaries, and the 2012 London Olympics. Suggestions for classroom activities...
Curated OER
One Armed High Kick or Alaskan High Kick
Students begin with a regular gymnastic warm up involving stretches and exercise before attempting the One Armed High Kick. Students are assessed by their peers and are declared successful if they can match each kick or exceed the...
Curated OER
A Thousand Words
Young scholars demonstrate compassion for others. In this character education lesson, students view photos from magazines and interpret what they see. Young scholars discuss the feelings they get when viewing the photos.
Curated OER
Properties of Minerals
Young scholars research properties of minerals. In this science lesson, students search the web, create a folder, and store information on properties of minerals. There are many excellent worksheets and study guides embedded in this...
Curated OER
Looking at Body Language
Students examine Dorothea Lange's photograph of a migrant mother and consider how artists express emotions, ideas, and physical conditions through gesture, pose, clothing, and expression.
Curated OER
Hunting for galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field
Learners examine Hubble Deep Field images. In this galaxy classification lesson, students research galaxy classification. Learners view and classify Hubble Deep field images of galaxies.