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Discovering Science with Lewis & Clark
Students photograph plants and contribute their pictures to a class powerpoin on plant variety.
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Three-Hole Bottle
Students participate in an experiment with a 2-liter bottle. They develop their own hypothesis about what they believe will happen when certain items are tested on the bottle. They discuss results.
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Meteorology
Second graders identify and describe the three types of clouds. They discover the type of weather associated with each cloud type as well. They ask questions to complete the lesson.
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Building A Sturdy Car
Learners build a sturdy Lego car using a motor and a pulley. They determine how sturdy the car is by dropping it from the height of the teacher's knee.
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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.
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Valley of the Butterflies
First graders explore why butterfly populations in Idaho's Lapwai Valley have decreased.
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Tracking Sunrise and Sunset
Young scholars 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.
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Investigation 6 - Collecting Weather Data
Fourth graders collect data for two weeks. They start seeing patterns and make predictions. They can predict what the weather be like the next day and for the next few days. They see if their predictions were correct from the previous day.
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NOAA Research Project
Students research any topic relating to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) research cruise that Mrs. Richards be participating in.
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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.
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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.
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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Names in the Field: A Simple GPS Field Exercise
Students 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)
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Weather Mobile
Young scholars 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...
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Around the Sun We Go
Sixth graders complete a short survey on the relationship between the Earth and the Sun. In groups, they participate in an experiment in which they test the angle of the Earth and compare it to the sun. To end the lesson, they discuss...
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The Shadow Knows
Sixth graders examine the relationship between light and the angle it strikes objects. In groups, they shine light from a flashlight on different objects and describe how it affects the shadow. To end the lesson, they complete a...
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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...
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Weather Forecasting Basics
Eighth graders analyze weather diagrams and weather maps. In this earth science instructional activity, 8th graders explain why it is important to know the weather. They complete a handout at the end of the instructional 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, learners 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.