Curated OER
Global Change- Time and Cycles
Learners study trees and their growth. In this investigative lesson students work in groups to reconstruct a 50 year climatic history using a simulated tree ring.
Curated OER
West Climate Change
Students read an internet article about hurricanes. In this hurricane lesson plan, students explain how they form and the damage they bring. They analyze the article and answer questions about it.
Carnegie Mellon University
Bathtub Model
Using a colorful infographic handout and a guide sheet, hold a class discussion about how a bathtub can serve as a model for the greenhouse effect created by Earth's atmosphere. Participants will understand that as energy or matter is...
Curated OER
A Walk in the Tundra
Discuss the environment of the Arctic tundra using this resource. The focus of this lesson is the story A Walk in the Tundra by Rebecca L. Johnson. The appealing illustrations are bound to captivate your class! After reading the story,...
Curated OER
Getting Out on the Land
Students explore seasonal change in the environment around their community. They investigate how changes in climate are affecting hunting, trapping, fishing and berry picking around their community. Students write about the...
Curated OER
Springtime
Students examine the use of KidPix software before making a slide show that shows their ideas about spring. They listen to books about seasonal change. Next, they draw a spring picture, write a sentence and their name on their KidPix...
Curated OER
Predicting the Greening of Spring With Red Emperor Tulips
Students examine seasonal changes by watching tulip plant growth across the continent utilizing the Journey North website. They develop hypotheses as to why the plants emerge and grow where they do.
Curated OER
Lightning and Thunder
In this lesson, 5th graders begin to describe the atmosphere;describe weather conditions along with seasonal changes. Students further explain safety precautions during severe weather and go onto Describe patterns of changing weather...
Curated OER
Sea Surface Temperature Trends of the Gulf Stream
Students use authentic satellite data to produce plots and graphs of sea surface temperature as they explore the seasonal changes of the Gulf Stream.
Curated OER
Watch the Sky
Students describe the atmosphere, weather conditions, and climates. They describe seasonal changes in weather, the composition and characteristics of the atmosphere. Students describe patterns of changing weather and how they are...
Curated OER
Behind the Scenes of an ESL Classroom Part One
A computer science degree, a stack of textbooks, and a room full of English language learners is sure to bring excitement to one's day.
Curated OER
Application of Matrix Multiplication
The class explores a real-world application in which the data represents rental prices of beach condos. They problem solve by multiplying matrices to determine the cost of each property in each season. Several scenarios are presented in...
Curated OER
Water and Ice: Part 1
Students observe the state changes in water. In this matter lesson, students observe, measure, and describe water as it changes state. Students explore how water can change from a solid to a liquid then back again. They journal their...
Curated OER
Sun Shadow Cycles
High schoolers use diagrams to review how the Earth rotates around the sun. In groups, they use the same diagrams to explain how the sun shadows are produced and how they differ between seasons. They describe the Earth's rotation and...
Curated OER
What Living Things Need
Students apply the process of scientific inquiry to explore how living things are dependent on one another for survival. They match animals with their generalized food source. Students predict what happens to the organisms when their...
Virginia Department of Education
A Salt Marsh Ecosystem
What a web we weave. Pupils use yarn as the primary resource to create a web depicting the intricacies of a salt marsh ecosystem. They participate in a question and answer session, which leads to an in-depth facilitated discussion about...
Virginia Department of Education
Ecosystem Dynamics
Searching for an eccentric way to enhance lessons on ecosystems while ensuring pupils remain creative and motivated? Upon viewing The Lorax by Dr. Seuss, designated groups design and construct a pop-up book that depicts the specific ways...
Virginia Department of Education
A-Mazing Plants
Have your young scientists questioned why plants grow a particular way? Through this learning opportunity, scientists gain firsthand knowledge about how plants develop and various factors that affect rates of growth as they bring plants...
Virginia Department of Education
Evidence of Evolution
What an impression fossils make! In this activity, aspiring paleontologists view fossils and construct a timeline to further understand how the lack of natural adaptation caused historical organisms to become extinct. While they should...
Virginia Department of Education
Owl Family Natural Selection
How do genetic mutations within a population lead to future variations? Provide your class with the resources to answer this question and more upon completing an activity on natural selection. The entire class participates in a fun role...
Virginia Department of Education
Predator-Prey Simulation
Do your pupils have the misconception that environmental predators are "bad" and harm smaller creatures? The simulation explains, in detail, the important role predators play in maintaining a stable ecosystem. Through web-based research,...
Curated OER
Water Quality and Dissolved Oxygen
Students investigate the relationship between dissolved oxygen and organic materials and aquatic organisms. This is a 3-lesson series in which students explore dissolved oxygen and then design an experiment testing the effects of changes.
Curated OER
Earth Day - Bursting Beans
Students fill jars with dried beans and water, cover the jars, and wait to see what happens in this excellent Science experiment ideal for Earth Day (April 22nd). Emphasis is placed on discovering the reactions of seeds to water.
Curated OER
The Weather Around Us
First graders explore weather patterns. In this weather lesson, 1st graders research the daily weather by creating a graph of the daily weather conditions. Students use the computer to access information regarding the weather forecast....