Curated OER
Developing a Local Stratigraphy
Students examine rock strata for the distribution, deposition, and age of sedimentary rock. They describe rock types in a variety of outcrops and construct a regional stratigraphy.
Curated OER
Valley of the Butterflies
First graders explore why butterfly populations in Idaho's Lapwai Valley have decreased.
Curated OER
Tracking Sunrise and Sunset
Learners collect, record, and graph the sunrise and sunset times. They explain how the relationship between the tilt of Earth's axis and its yearly orbit around the sun produces the seasons.
Curated OER
NOAA Research Project
Students research any topic relating to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) research cruise that Mrs. Richards be participating in.
Curated OER
The Great Volume Exchanger...or the Magic Matter Maker ®
Students pour water into a "magic" box and examine how it comes out with a much larger volume of water. They, working in small groups, design a volume exchanger and explain its design to the whole class.
Curated OER
Earth
First graders define what a planet is and study the planet earth. They examine the effects of the sun on the earth and make a model.
Curated OER
Body Changes in Space
Learners explain the cause of and effects of fluid shift in a microgravity
environment. Students identify the effects of microgravity during long duration space flight. Learners describe research on cardiovascular effects in microgravity...
Curated OER
The Very Clumsy Click Beetle
Second graders determine what it means to be clumsy before listening to Eric Carle's, The Very Clumsy Click Beetle. They examine the part where the click beetle does flips before drawing three frames that show the beetle flipping. For...
Curated OER
Plant Growth and Environment
Third graders bring to school various green plants and categorize them into plant leaves, stems, roots, and fruits. They answer the question, "How can you show there is starch in a plant?" and perform the iodine test and describe the...
Curated OER
The Pros and Cons of Dams
Students investigate the use of dams on rivers in order to manage water uses in particular the Flathead River and Lake. They make presentations about dam management and write a persuasive paper on the issue. If possible they visit the...
Curated OER
Names in the Field: A Simple GPS Field Exercise
Learners explore basic methods of GPS data collection, uploading the data to a computer, and making simple maps of their data using GIS software. They create a map of the data using GIS software (or Excel)
Curated OER
Weather Mobile
Learners color the lightning part of the thunder cloud and then cut out the pattern. They then cut out the cloud pattern and put cotton onto it with glue. They then fold a piece of paper several times to create a snowflake to which they...
Curated OER
Escape From the Antlion's Pit
Students draw conclusions about the effectiveness of antlion's pits in catching prey. A brief review of the antlion and its hunting habits is conducted. After watching a video about the use of pits to catch prey, students complete a...
Curated OER
Weather Forecasting Basics
Eighth graders analyze weather diagrams and weather maps. In this earth science activity, 8th graders explain why it is important to know the weather. They complete a handout at the end of the activity.
University of Washington
Washington U: Model for Conducting Scientific Research
This page outlines the scientific method, step by step.
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Education: Minerals, Crystals, and Gems
Through this series of three lessons, students will gain an understanding of the basics of mineral science. In their investigation they will also work through the scientific process as they practice their observation skills, form...
Vision Learning
Visionlearning: Research Methods: Description in Scientific Research
Specific examples are used show the importance of good description in scientific research since data and numbers are not always available.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Scientific Method
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Instructional videos, grade-level texts, interactive activities, and review material about the scientific method.
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Digging Up Details on Worms: Using Science in an Inquiry Study
A lesson plan based on a study unit of earthworms, using the inquiry model to integrate scientific processes with literacy practices. Instruction plans, related resources, and standards are included.
PBS
Pbs Teachers: Scientific American: About All You Can Eat: Feast or Famine
Investigate the theory that including desert plants such as mesquite and cactus in a diet can help control obesity and diabetes. Design a scientific experiment that will test this hypothesis, using control variables, observation and...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Scientific Observation Activity
For this structured exercise, students are asked to observe the world around them and make an observation about any sort of process they see. They then ask a how or why question about their observation, and follow that by three or more...
Climate Literacy
Clean: Time Series: Uncovering the Hidden Processes in Science
In the following exercise, young scholars will review techniques useful to scientists asthey analyze series of data. Learn about scientific observation and try to recognize a pattern or trend within the data.
PBS
Pbs Teachers: Scientific American: Forever Wild? Input and Output
Investigate the scientific principles of biospheres, and observe the effects of biological processes on closed systems.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: A Data Rich Exercise for Discovering Plate Boundary Processes
This article in the Journal of Geoscience Education describes a classroom exercise based on four world maps containing earthquake, volcano, topographical and seafloor age data. Students participate in this exercise by using a "jigsaw"...