Discovery Education
Sonar & Echolocation
A well-designed, comprehensive, and attractive slide show supports direct instruction on how sonar and echolocation work. Contained within the slides are links to interactive websites and instructions for using apps on a mobile device to...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Got Lactase? The Co-Evolution of Genes and Culture
Does the human body evolve as quickly as human culture? With a stellar 15-minute video, explore the trait of lactose intolerance. Only about 1/3 of human adults seem to still have the enzyme lactase and therefore, the ability to digest...
National Wildlife Federation
Quantifying Land Changes Over Time Using Landsat
"Humans have become a geologic agent comparable to erosion and [volcanic] eruptions ..." Paul J. Crutzen, a Nobel Prize-winning atmospheric chemist. Using Landsat imagery, scholars create a grid showing land use type, such as urban,...
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...
Journey Through the Universe
The Voyage Scale Model Solar System
Young scientists learn how to select a scale factor for a large scale model. Then they figure the scale for each of the planets and the distance between them. Finally, they construct a giant scale model of the solar system and answer...
Curated OER
Eggs: A Practical Application
Students examine the chemical and physical nature of eggs and their role in food preparation.
Curated OER
Science Italian Style: Eruption!
Young scholars explore ways scientists prepare for a volcanic eruption. They observe films of earthquakes, oil spills, volcanoes and hurricanes. Students perform activities to demonstrate the relationship of viscosity to lava flow. ...
Curated OER
Environmental Science/Water Pollution
Students study natural habitats, aquatic life, renewable and non-renewable resources. They discuss conservation efforts for sea otters and desert toad in this units.
Curated OER
Luz: Poetry and the Physics of Light
Students explore color, light, refraction and reflection. In this light instructional activity students measure solar position and compare it to time.
Curated OER
The Nature of Chemical Change: Acting Out an Example
Students identify the signs that a chemical reaction took place. In this chemistry lesson, students role play the movement of different molecules of matter. They classify matter according to their properties.
Curated OER
The Historiography on Robert Boyle: Was Boyle the Progenitor of Modern Science?
High schoolers participate in a warm-up activity by attending a football match writing an account of who won the game. They discuss how their account could differ from someone else's account of the game. They discuss how different...
Curated OER
The Use of Myths in Science
Learners are told stories, myths and legend to explain their world. After telling the tales and discussion them, students are assigned to write a myth that describes a familiar situation, such as why the school garbage cans are always...
Curated OER
Physical Science: Magnetism and Electricity
Young scholars use a variety of objects to test for ability to "stick" to a magnet. They perform an experiment to see that electricity in circuits can produce light, heat, sound, and magnetic effects. They discover magnets attract and...
Curated OER
The Nature of Solutions
In this solutions activity, students compare different types of solutions and distinguish between the solvent and solute in a solution. This activity has 7 matching and 10 short answer questions.
Curated OER
Water Purification
Students use the example of natural water purification to show that healthy ecosystems provide services to people that are essential to life as we know it.
Kenan Fellows
Making Connections with Water Quality
What's in your water? And, why is water quality so important? Enhance your class's level of water appreciation through a lesson that demonstrates the necessity of water quality. Environmental enthusiasts explore the EPA's Clean Water...
Kenan Fellows
Industrial Knowledge of Acids and Bases
Over a 10-year period, EPA regulations cost businesses less than $30 billion, while businesses saved over $82 billion. Scholars experiment with acids and bases to better understand the pH scale. Then they debate environmental regulation...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Faces of Climate Change
How does climate change affect you? First in a three-part series, the activity focuses on how individuals living around the world are affected by climate change. Individuals take on the role of a given character and share their...
Theodore Roosevelt Association
Roosevelt's Legacy: Conservation
The legacy of Theodore Roosevelt carries through modern American politics, economics, foreign policy, and society. But his proudest and most profound efforts were in the world of conservation, and in preserving the natural beauty of...
K12 Reader
Waves & Currents
Challenge your young readers with a passage about physical science. After reading about sound waves and electric currents, kids answer five reading comprehension questions about what they have read.
EduGAINs
Form and Function
Will that structure survive the force? The differentiated lesson allows pairs to choose the structure they would like to construct and the building materials they wish to use. Individuals record their findings in...
Curated OER
Week 7: Animal Adaptations - Bird Beaks
Students use tools to represent bird beaks and pick up different types of food with them in order to discover which beak would help the bird survive depending on their food type.
Cornell University
Classification
Explore the scientific method of classification. An interactive activity asks learners to create a classification system for a group of objects and develop a flow chart to communicate their systems. In addition, individuals use a...
Illustrative Mathematics
The Lighthouse Problem
Long considered the symbol of safe harbor and steadfast waiting, the lighthouse gets a mathematical treatment. The straightforward question of distance to the horizon is carefully presented, followed by a look into the...