Space Awareness
The Thermal Layers of Oceans
How much does the sun heat up a lake or ocean? Scholars use a cup and a strong lamp to investigate the heat transfer and thermal layers in the ocean to come up with the answer. They collect data and graph it in order to better understand...
Curated OER
# 21 Measuring Nitrate by Cadmium Reduction
Students design an experiment to evaluate the effects of various treatments on the nitrogen cycle in a freshwater aquarium. They are required to maintain a laboratory notebook of all work, measure the key analytes of the biosystem at...
Curated OER
Polar Bears in Peril - Climate Change Culprit?
Learners explore the changes in sea ice over several years. In this life science lesson, students review and examine 20 years of data. They use Excel to graph data and analyze trends.
NOAA
Biological Oceanographic Investigations – Signals from the Deep
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill directly impacted an area of the Gulf of Mexico the size of Oklahoma. A marine biology instructional activity looks at the impact of an oil spill on the deeper parts of the ocean. Scholars download actual...
Curated OER
Understanding Weather and Climate Patterns
Students research the climate patterns of various locations and make predictions based on their findings. They determine the importance of latitude and longitude in weather and climate. Students create graphs displaying their collected...
Cornell University
Math Is Malleable?
Learn about polymers while playing with shrinky dinks. Young scholars create a shrinky dink design, bake it, and then record the area, volume, and thickness over time. They model the data using a graph and highlight the key features of...
Curated OER
Dissecting Owl Pellets
Students watch the teacher model the dissection then in pairs, they dissect an owl pellet and identify its contents. They record the data about its prey on a graph.
Curated OER
Can a Mouse Lift an Elephant?
Read Just a Little Bit, by Ann Tompert as an introduction to levers. Discuss playground seesaws and then turn learners loose to experiment with the placement of a fulcrum. Their goal is to determine where to place it in order to lift ten...
Curated OER
Cosmic Chemistry: An Elemental Question
Space scientists investigate the cosmic phenomena in order to search for answers to possible origins of the solar system. They consider the concepts of elements and isotopes. Data is analyzed looking at tje abundance of elements...
Curated OER
Feeling the Heat
Pupils record temperatures at different locations around campus. They examine the results and draw conclusions about how materials and colors affect the amount of heat produced. They also analyze Los Angeles' temperature records over a...
Nuffield Foundation
Intrepreting Information about Sweating and Temperature
Why do we sweat? Scholars analyze data about body temperature, sweating, and other factors to better understand sweating. They note the changes after drinking ice water to sweating, skin temperature, and body temperature. Analysis...
NASA
Connecting Models and Critical Questions
Scholars use data to analyze and determine which sets of information need to be counted. They create a model to explain differences among chemical elements using graphs to prove concept mastery.
Curated OER
Comparing Graphs of Temperature and Radiation
Middle schoolers study plots and use a Live Access Server to generate plots. In this temperature lesson students examine the process of incoming and outgoing radiation.
Kenan Fellows
Half-Life
Scholars shake their way to understanding half-life with the help of candy. They observe and record which side candy lands on to graph the exponential decay in the fifth lesson of seven integrating chemistry and algebra. Combining...
Curated OER
Does the Sidewalk Drink Puddles?
Students participate in an experiment about evaporation. In this water cycle instructional activity, students use water, thermometers, and measuring tools to make a puddle and measure the size four times throughout the day. Students...
Curated OER
Keep Away
Study biological diversity by analyzing given data, and make inferences about the possible effects of oil drilling operations on specific benthic communities. This lesson allows students to use their statistical analysis skills asweel as...
Curated OER
Changing Planet: Sea Levels Rising
Begin by showing a six-minute video, Changing Planet: Rising Sea Level as an anticipatory set. Pupils draw a topographic map of a potato continent. Finally, they will visit NOAA's sea levels online map and NASA's carbon dioxide...
Curated OER
Moo-Velous Butter!
Third graders investigate how temperature and motion (energy) create a chemical change that turns cream ( a liquid) into butter (a solid). They create a class pictograph of their favorite mils choices (white, chocolate, or strawberry)...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Color Variation over Time in Rock Pocket Mouse Populations
A species-specific look at natural selection, the resource herein examines how adaptations have helped the population of rock pocket mice survive in a changing landscape. To begin, middle or high schoolers watch a 10.5 minute video,...
Curated OER
Tides in the Hudson
Students view an illustration of the Hudson River watershed and identify the bodies of water shown. They discuss what happens when fresh and salt water mix. Students view a teacher demonstration of the stratification of fresh and salt...
NOAA
What Killed the Seeds?
Can a coral cure cancer? Take seventh and eighth grade science sleuths to the underwater drugstore for an investigation into emerging pharmaceutical research. The fifth installment in a series of six has classmates research the wealth of...
Science 4 Inquiry
States and Phases of Matter
Plasma is the most common phase of matter in our universe. Scholars explore the change of energy as molecules change phases of matter. They rotate through stations, graphing the changes in energy level.
Curated OER
Water in the Geosphere
Through a PowerPoint presentation and the embedded animation and video, earth science enthusiasts find out about the moisture in the soil beneath our feet. In the animation, follow a water molecule on its path through the water cycle. As...
Curated OER
Riding on a Pendulum
A comprehensive resource gets fourth grade physical scientists making observations about the period of a pendulum and then applying knowledge to a playground swing. Through seven different stations, they will record observations and...