Desert Discovery
Life Cycle of the Saguaro
Third graders make books which illustrate the growth and development of a saguaro cactus from its beginnings as a seed all the way through its death. They trace the life cycle of the saguaro, identify each of the stages in its life, and...
Curated OER
Good Drugs, Bad Drugs
Add a science experiment on medicine and drugs to your health lesson. After reading a paragraph on the difference between helpful and harmful drugs, kids choose which pictures of bottles they could find at a pharmacy. The last activity...
Curated OER
Pickles
Young learners compare healthy foods to junk foods. They examine the growing process of a vegetable from a seed all the way to maturity. The book, The Magic School Bus in a Pickle is used. Some nice cross-curricular activities in math,...
Curated OER
Recyclers to the Rescue
Producers, consumers, food chains, and plants are the stars of this science lesson. Learners take part in an inquiry which helps them to discover the most effective and efficient way to grow a producer. They have a variety of containers...
Curated OER
Parts of a Plant
First graders discover the parts of a plant. For this science lesson, 1st graders identify and label the parts of a plant and record their findings on a word processor.
Curated OER
Fantastic Flower
Here is a clever lesson on pollination of flowers for you. In it, learners study the anatomy of a flower, and play a game in which they simulate the process of pollination. This fine plan brings in elements of art, physical education,...
Curated OER
Pea Plant Punnett Square Worksheet
How often do you find a science worksheet that comes with separate teacher's instructions? Here is one of those rare instances. Goals and objectives, materials, and evaluation guidelines precede the actual assignment. Biology leaners...
Curated OER
Dirt Babies
Dirt babies are an excellent way to show young botanists the plant life cycle. They explore the functions and industry behind grasses before growing some of their own. Use the informational text here and consider implementing some...
Curated OER
Oyster Gardens - No Soil Required!
Explore the practice of oyster gardening. Because oysters play a vital role in marine ecosystems and their populations have declined, biologists are transplanting oyster seed to repopulate reefs. After learning about this practice,...
ARKive
Parts of the Plant
Every good lesson on plant life should have a good worksheet to go along with it. Here is a very nice worksheet that requires students to label the four main parts of a plant. Included is a second worksheet that shows three different...
Curated OER
Adaptations to Niches and Habitats
Life science learners measure and record traits of seeds, leaves, and their own hands and then graph the data to find a continous distribution curve. They compare and color diagrams of seven different animals' forelimbs (not included),...
Curated OER
Plants have needs, too!
Plants can die if they don't get enough sunlight and water. Kindergartners observe a picture of a hanging plant and grass under a tree, and interpret which each plant has died. Next, they grow watercress seeds in wet cotton to compare...
University of Colorado
Modeling Sizes of Planets
The density of the huge planet of Saturn is 0.7 g/cm3, which means it could float in water! In the second part of 22, science pupils explore the size and order of the planets. They then calculate weight and/or gravity and density of...
Berkshire Museum
Adopt a Schoolyard Tree
Help young scientists connect with nature and learn about trees with a fun life science lesson. Heading out into the school yard, children choose a tree to adopt, taking measurements, writing descriptions, and drawing sketches of it in...
Curated OER
Scientific Root Words, Prefixes, and Suffixes
It's hard to imagine that anything was missed on this five-page list of science roots, prefixes, and suffixes! Listed in alphabetical order, all are included in a single, two-column list. This may be especially useful for advanced...
Curated OER
Understanding the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB)
How did our universe really begin? Explore the Science Big Bang Theory and Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) with this multiple activity-based lesson that demonstrates that the increase of density due to the decrease of temperatures,...
Curated OER
Using MY NASA DATA to Determine Volcanic Activity
Learners explore how aerosols are used in science to indicate volcanic activity and how biomass burning affects global aerosol activity. Students access data and import into MS Excel using graphical data to make inferences and draw...
Oklahoma State University
Hairy Heredity
Young scholars learn that heredity comes down to the flip of a coin with this cross-curricular math and science lesson. Using smiley faces as a model, students toss coins to determine which dominant or recessive traits will be passed on...
Curated OER
FBI
Fourth graders experiment with compost. In this Science lesson, 4th graders begin a worm compost as well as an outdoor compost. Students discuss decomposition.
National Park Service
The Secret of Life
Dead trees provide nutrients for the soil, food for animals, protection and a home for organisms, a seed-bed for new trees, and a place for nitrogen-fixing bacteria to live. In the activity, pupils collect decaying logs, expose them to a...
Curated OER
Plant Life Cycle: Quiz Game
Play the game, Who Wants to be a Millionaire? to review plant parts, life cycle, and pollination. There are 10 questions that get kids thinking about seeds, seed dispersal, pollination, and plant parts. This game is has audio and looks...
Curated OER
It All Starts With a Seed
Students use laboratory equipment safely. They identify structures in a seed. They distinguish between monocots and dicots. They search for information using the computer.
Curated OER
How Many Apple Seeds?
Students complete activities for an apple themed lesson plan. In this math and language arts lesson plan, students read an apple book and guess how many seeds are in an apple. Students draw pictures of apples and use a bobby pin to take...
Curated OER
Day 5 - Science Plants - germination - growth- What plants do we need to survive?
Young scholars look at the crops of the settlers. In this crop lesson, students discuss why each crop was important to the settlers and how they used it. They plant seeds and track and observe the growth.