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Lesson Plan
NASA

Soda Straw Rockets

For Teachers K - 6th Standards
Three, two, one, blast off to a better understanding of force and motion with this exciting science instructional activity! Beginning with a discussion about rockets and gravity, young scientists go on to complete a series of worksheets...
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Lesson Plan
Captain Planet Foundation

Rotting Away

For Teachers 2nd
What happens at the end of a plant's life cycle? Show kids the natural way that plants show that they're decomposing, as well as the importance of compost, with a lesson about living organisms. After reading Log Cabin by Anne Schreiber,...
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Lesson Plan
1
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Captain Planet Foundation

Shape Shifters in the Math Garden

For Teachers 3rd Standards
Combines mathematical measurement with gardening skills. Third graders hunt for worms in the garden and try to find the longest one. They also measure and weigh vegetables that they harvest from the garden, measure rainfall amounts, and...
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Lesson Plan
Captain Planet Foundation

Energy Flow in the Garden

For Teachers 4th
How can you tell what an owl has eaten? Study the food chain and flow of energy in an ecosystem by dissecting an owl pellet and noting the bones found inside. Additionally, the lesson includes a game about consumers and producers with a...
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Lesson Plan
Captain Planet Foundation

Worm Your Way Out of This

For Teachers 3rd
How can you provide healthy soil for your garden? Study worms, bacteria, and other microorganisms in a lesson about decomposition and organic compost. After discussing what you know about worms and watching a video, watch what worms do...
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Lesson Plan
Captain Planet Foundation

Predicting Whether the Weather is Good for the Garden

For Teachers 4th
Can your class predict the weather? Show them how they can come close with a lesson about creating weather instruments, including weather vanes, barometers, wind socks, anemometers, and thermometers. Kids research weather patterns and...
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Lesson Plan
Space Awareness

Greenhouse Effect

For Teachers 5th - 11th Standards
A greenhouse provides additional warmth and protection to the plants inside, but what if the greenhouse gets too hot? Pupils discuss and experiment with the difference between natural and anthropogenic greenhouse effect. They measure the...
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Lesson Plan
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University of Colorado

Great Red Spot Pinwheel

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
The great red spot on Jupiter is 12,400 miles long and 7,500 miles wide. In this sixth part of a 22-part series, individuals model the rotation of the Great Red Spot on Jupiter. To round out the activity, they discuss their findings as a...
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Lesson Plan
Messenger Education

Exploring Solar Systems Across the Universe

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Scientists have theorized that our solar system formed 4.6 billion years ago. In this pair of activities, learners first hypothesize how our solar system was formed. Using this information, groups then determine how scientists search for...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

My Angle on Cooling: Effects of Distance and Inclination

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students discuss what heat is and how it travels. They discover that one way to cool an object in the presence of a heat source is to increase the distance from it or change the angle at which it is faced.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Tibetan Plateau

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students discuss the characteristics of the biosphere, with a focus on the Tibetan Plateau. They participate in a question and answer period discussing biomes and climate patterns. They compare and contrast different ecosystems.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Our Solar System - Comparing Planetary Travel Distances

For Teachers 7th - 8th
NASA presents a mini-unit on distances in our solar system. It incorporates scientific concepts of gravity, mass, density, and payload while your aspiring astronauts also employ mathematics skills. They calculate speed, they determine...
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Lesson Plan
1
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Curated OER

Volcanoes: Kindergarten Lesson Plans and Activities

For Teachers K Standards
In the pre-lab, kindergarteners mimic the movements of the eruption of a volcano and discover various volcanoes around the United States. Then, pupils sort different types of volcanic rocks in the lab before learning how volcanoes grow...
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Lesson Plan
Messenger Education

Give Me a Boost—How Gravity Assists Aid Space Exploration

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The propellant needed for space explorations runs in the thousands, while paying to get the craft into orbit costs millions! In the second installment of three, two activities explore laws of conservation of energy and momentum. Using...
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Lesson Plan
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University of Colorado

The Jovian System: A Scale Model

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Jupiter has 67 moons! As the seventh in a series of 22, the exercise shows learners the size and scale of Jupiter and its Galilean moons through a model. They then arrange the model to show how probes orbited and gathered data.
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Lesson Plan
Space Awareness

A View From Above

For Teachers 8th - Higher Ed
Analyzing and interpreting satellite data takes knowledge and patience. Through a detailed lab investigation, young scholars learn the process of analyzing this data. They use technology to create color images and maps from real...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Zipping Through Our Solar System and Beyond

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Launch your class on an exploration of the solar system. Learners construct solar system models to scale and get a better understanding of our place in the vast void of space. This is a great way for them to cement their understanding of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

5th Grade, Egg Droppers

For Teachers 5th
The classic "Egg Drop Activity" is described in this fine science lesson plan. Young scientists work together to design a container that will protect the eggs inside of it when dropped from a high place. Lots of good scientific...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Water Conservation

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Open learners' eyes to the challenge of finding safe drinking water – something we often take for granted in our country. The PowerPoint presentation includes images, graphs, diagrams, and even a video to stimulate discussion on how we...
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Lesson Plan
PHET

Mapping the Field of a Dipole Magnet

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
High school scientists build their own magnetometer and use it to map the field surrounding a bar magnet. Excellent background resources is included, as well as a diagram of how to build the magnetometer.
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Lesson Plan
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University of Colorado

The Moons of Jupiter

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
Middle schoolers analyze given data on density and diameter of objects in space by graphing the data and then discussing their findings. This ninth installment of a 22-part series emphasizes the Galilean moons as compared to other objects. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Contains Carbon?

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students explore elements by analyzing everyday objects and materials in class. In this carbon lesson, students define several vocabulary terms such as carbon dioxide, hydrocarbon, and carbonate. Students view a group of items,...
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Lesson Plan
Messenger Education

Mission: Possible—How Can We Plan an Exploration of Another World?

For Students 5th - 8th Standards
An astronaut's spacesuit weighs 280 pounds and takes 45 minutes to put on — that's a serious suit! The second activity of a three-part series allows pupils to see all that goes into space exploration. Through simulations, groups analyze...
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Lesson Plan
1
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University of Colorado

Are All Asteroids' Surfaces the Same Age?

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
There are more than 600,000 asteroids in our solar system. Pupils analyze images of two asteroids in order to determine if they are the same age. They count craters for each asteroid and compare numbers. 

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