Curated OER
Bird Ecology Unit
Birds, plants, and vegetation, is there anything more lovely? There is! Engage your class in the scientific process, data collection, and data analysis. They stroll their campus observing and identifying various birds and plants,...
Curated OER
Towers of the Lost City
Middle school marine scientists compare the pH change in distilled and saltwater as acetic acid is added one drop at a time. Then they compare the pH change in both when sodium hydroxide is added. This experiment demonstrates the...
Curated OER
The Water Cycle
An inventive and interesting lesson plan on the water cycle (and other cycles associated with it), is here for you. After doing a well-designed hands-on inquiry in class, learners also identify organisms and processes that are involved...
Curated OER
Photosynethsis....How do we know it's really happening? - Biology Teaching Thesis
High schoolers think of one way to detect photosynthesis in plants besides those ways shown in class. They identify the reaction that occurs during photosynthesis. Students define the difference between an acid and a base. They identify...
Curated OER
Light and Starch Production in Photosynthesis
Learners are given the unique opportunity to see the contrast between parts of a leaf that have photosynthesized and parts of the leaf that have not. This visual image helps students see the results of this biological process. At the...
Baylor College
How Much Water Do Humans Need?
Physical or life science learners measure the amounts of water eliminated by intestines and the urinary system, and the amounts lost via respiration and perspiration. In doing so, they discover that the body's water must be replenished...
Wild BC
Carbon Sinks and Sources
Earth or environmental science pupils are assigned to be carbon sources or sinks. They ask yes-or-no questions to try to figure out which one they are. Then they discuss ways people can have positive effects on the changing climate by...
Sea World
Endangered Species
Study different endangered species with several activities that incorporate math, science, language arts, and research strategies. A great addition to your lesson on conservation or Earth Day.
University of Colorado
Terra Bagga
One way to identify possible volcanic activity on other planets is by testing the planet for magnetism. A science activity begins with pupils constructing their own planet from a dead battery, magnets, paper, and tape before...
US Geological Survey
The Water Cycle for Schools: Advanced Ages
Explore the water cycle in an interactive diagram of the process. The diagram shows how water is a moving system and constantly changing forms. The resourc includes vocabulary words that pupils click on in order to discover more about...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
HIV Protease Inhibitors
How do doctors fight a virus that's constantly mutating? Show science scholars how we fight HIV using one of its own most fundamental processes through a thoughtful demonstration. The lesson focuses on how protease inhibitors prevent HIV...
NOAA
El Niño
El Nino, La Nina ... and the Santa Maria? The 11th installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program explains the mechanism of El Nino/Southern Oscillation. Pupils use previous data to determine...
NOAA
Sediments
Calcareous ooze ... what an interesting name! The 15th installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program focuses on sediments found on the ocean floor. After viewing the slideshow lecture,...
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...
University of Minnesota
Altered Reality
Fascinate young life scientists by showing them how their brain learns. By using prism goggles while attempting to toss bean bags at a target, lab partners change their outlook on the world around them, producing amusing results....
Curated OER
Lake Strata and Internal Waves
Use the classic density demonstration of placing a cola, a clear soda, and a diet soda into a tank of water. Then let learners attempt to pour some of the soda into layers in a clear container. The procedure explains a thermocline, and...
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
Biology Reference Sheet
First year life science or biology pupils will appreciate this all-inclusive reference page. It provides a diagram of both a plant and an animal cell, the metric system prefixes, classification levels, definitions for cell processes, the...
Energy for Keeps
The Energy Times
Extra! Extra! Read all about past and present energy use in a classroom-made historical newspaper. Useful as a cross-curricular assignment between science, history, and language arts, the project is sure to get young journalists...
Curated OER
Whose Point of View? The Journey of Three Generations
A reading of Whale Journey, a fact-filled picture book by Vivian French, launches a study of the life cycle and migration of three generations of gray whales. The interdisciplinary lesson offers opportunities extensions into all subject...
NOAA
Wet Maps
How do oceanographers make maps under water? Junior explorers discover the technologies and processes involved in creating bathymetric maps in part three of a five-part series designed for fifth- and sixth-grade pupils. The lesson...
Curated OER
Energy Resources: Where Are They and How Do We Get Them?
Future energy engineers visit several stations, each one dedicated to a different alternative source of energy. They describe how solar energy is converted into other forms of energy, the patterns of distribution of energy resources in...
Curated OER
Koi Pond
Create this beautiful koi pond scene using watercolor paper, crayons, and paints. This would be a fantastic project to link to a scientific study of pond life or a historical study of Japanese culture.
Curated OER
Polar Bears in Peril - Climate Change Culprit?
Students 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.
Curated OER
DNA on Stick
Students experience a "hands-on" activity to get visual evidence of the physical nature of DNA and the process of DNA purification. They explore one method of chromosomal DNA isolation and DNA extraction.