Curated OER
People Are Like Peas in a Pod
Students experiment with pea pods to observe/appreciate the diversity of individuals within a population, and to explain of how dominant and recessive traits, genotypes, and phenotypes help produce variation in a population.
Curated OER
Mollusk Matching
Students look carefully at shells and observe the differences between
species and the names of common shells. Then they identify and complete a Mollusk Matching handout included in the lesson and write the letter of each shell in the...
Curated OER
Plaster Casts of Natural Objects
Fourth graders observe objects in science and create a contour picture of the the object. In this arts and science observation instructional activity, 4th graders develop a clay sculpture of their object. Students generate a list of...
Curated OER
What are Properties of Wood?
Students use hands on scientific observation to determine characteristics of wood. They work directly with the materials and record their observations. Students test if wood absorbs water, if wood floats or sinks, and if all wood...
Curated OER
Mystery of the Malformed Frogs Lesson Plan
Students develop an understanding of how students and volunteers can make scientific observations that can aid conservation. They read the account of the Minnesota New Country School project by Ryan Fisher, Mystery of the Malformed...
CK-12 Foundation
Testing Hypotheses: Einstein
Einstein once said "A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new." Enlist his help in teaching young learners the importance of looking for mistakes in hypotheses. An interactive coaches pupils in the falsifiability of...
NOAA
Off Base
How does carbon dioxide affect the world's oceans? The final installment in a series of six lessons has pupils research ocean acidification, then conduct an experiment to witness the delicate balance that exists in our seas. Materials...
Towson University
The Wildlife Forensics Lab
Can science put an end to the poaching of endangered species? Show your young forensic experts how biotechnology can help save wildlife through an exciting electrophoresis lab. Grouped pupils analyze shark DNA to determine if it came...
Curated OER
Bird Eggs
Students perform an experiment with different types of bird eggs to determine what factors make them strong and able to stay on a cliff without rolling off.
Curated OER
Invent on the Spot
The best inventions come from a problem that needs to be solved! Given a container with holes in it, learners must solve how to stop liquid from pouring out. They work together to develop an invention to accomplish this task.
Curated OER
The Great Jellybean Hunt
Students explore natural selection and its influence on the populations to fine tune traits and characteristics. The acquisition of traits developed out of need is examined through a game played in class.
PBS
Predicting/Making a Hypothesis
Students analyze information from a variety of sources in order to create a hypothesis about the origin of an interesting family artifact.They create alternative hypotheses based upon available information to demonstrate that some...
Curated OER
Exploring Human History
High schoolers study the four main subdivisions of anthropology and how they overlap. They explore the careers of several contemporary anthropologists and their fieldwork, comparing the methods and applications of their work.
Curated OER
Animal Behavior
Students investigate stimulus-response behavior, learned behavior in animals and innate behavior in animals. In this animal behavior lesson plan, students answer questions about their reactions to a toy cap gun that is fired off in...
Curated OER
Household Things that Fly and Why!!!
Students examine the four forces of flight. In this flight lesson, students test to see which types of items will fly. Students make predictions on whether the item will fly or not. Students gain knowledge about lift, gravity, thrust and...
Curated OER
Heat Energy
Young scholars study how matter changes from solids to liquids or liquids to solids. In this physical science instructional activity, students discuss heat energy and experiment with heat by changing a candle into a liquid using a hot...
Curated OER
Examining Samples and Asking Testable Research
Students formulate a testable research question containing a comparison and a
quantitative measure. They state the null and alternative hypothesis for a testable research question. In addition, they describe some of the abiotic
and...
Curated OER
What About Cantaloupes?
Second graders investigate the physical properties of cantaloupe using their senses. In this life science activity, 2nd graders estimate the weight of their sample. They get it's actual weight and compare it with their estimate.
Curated OER
Layers of the Earth
Eighth graders study the earth's surface. In this planet structure lesson students view a PowerPoint presentation then draw and label the earths layers.
Curated OER
Number Sentences Puzzles
In this number sentence puzzle worksheet, students are given 2 number sentences and they determine which stories match the sentences. They are also given a story and they determine which number sentence matches the given story.
Curated OER
How Does a Green Plant Grow?
Students of all ages can explore the question "how do seeds grow?", design an experiment to answer the question, predict the outcome of the experiment then conduct the experiment.
Curated OER
A Phylogenetic Perspective for the Cladistically Challenged
High schoolers observe the structures of skulls as presented in drawings, and determine which are most closely related to the skull of the mosasaur.
Curated OER
Levels of Classification
Students use diagrams to compare structural differences that taxonomists use to classify animals. For this classification lesson plan, students compare structures of different species from given diagrams. In one diagram they identify the...
Curated OER
Water Quality: Water Filtration
Young scholars build a water filtration system. For this water quality lesson, students work in groups to construct water filtration units that can purify contaminated water. This lesson is part of a larger unit on water quality.