Curated OER
Sorting Candy
Lower graders sort and group objects by their different properties. They watch a video about sorting then, sort and organize candy in different groups. Students compare how others sorted their candy. Finally, they decide which group has...
Curated OER
Prewriting, Using Pictures
Young readers practice getting information from both the text and the illustrations found in books they are reading. They see that quite often, authors use pictures to help them get their writing process started. Youngsters are invited...
Curated OER
The Value of Education
The real value of education is highlighted in more than one way on a worksheet designed to not only add, subtract, multiply, and divide decimals to hundredths, but also to address the correlation between higher pay with accomplishing...
NASA
Cleaning Water
From their sweat to the water vapor in their breath, astronauts recycle every possible drop of water while in space. After watching a short video describing the different ways materials are recycled and reused in space shuttles, young...
Novelinks
The Devil’s Arithmetic: QAR Strategy
Asking questions about the text is an important way for kids to become critical readers. Use a QAR activity based on The Devil's Arithmetic to help learners decipher between questions that are right there, between the author and the...
Safe Kids Worldwide
Pedestrian Safety Lesson Plan
Distracted pedestrians? Yes. This lesson on pedestrian safety points out the dangers of texting and posting while walking around traffic. In addition, kids learn about safety resources available for those on foot.
Curated OER
Roller Coasters
Twisting and turning through the sky, roller coasters are popular attractions at amusement parks around the world, but how exactly do they work? Explore the physics behind these thrilling rides with an engineering design activity....
It's About Time
Atoms with More Than One Electron
Provide young chemists with the ability to manipulate atoms and predict their results, in this sixth lesson. Pupils analyze energy patterns as they predict the amount of energy required to remove electrons from atoms. They compare trends...
Herff Jones Education
Acids, Bases, and Indicators—Colorful Chemistry
Lead the class in a colorful exploration of acids and bases as they learn to differentiate between the two. They identify common items considered acidic and basic, then explore their strengths and weaknesses. They titer solutions and...
NOAA
A Laboratory Simulation of Ocean Surface Currents
Stimulate interest in ocean currents with a simulation. The first installment of a five-part middle school series teaches future oceanographers about the forces that interact to cause ocean currents. A simulation shows how wind and the...
Fluence Learning
Writing About Literature: What Is Happiness?
Jack London's heart for adventure has come to define the spirit of America and its frontier. Selected passages from the foreword The Cruise of the Snark take eighth graders through London's construction and voyage of his ship before...
Royal Society of Chemistry
Chemistry Masterclass—Chemistry Outreach
Immerse your chemistry class in the world of organic chemistry! Science scholars isolate acetaminophen from an over-the-counter sample during an intense and interesting lab. Groups use many different separation and analysis techniques to...
Nuffield Foundation
Measuring Respiratory Quotient
How do scientists prove tiny living things respire? Young scientists build a respirometer and measure respiration rates in living creatures. By comparing the measurements of both plants and animals, they understand the similarities.
NASA
Taking Apart the Light
Break down light into spectra. Scholars learn how atoms emit and absorb photons and come to understand how this process allows scientists to identify different atoms based on either absorption lines or emission lines. Learners then...
National September 11 Memorial & Museum
Local Heroes
The cover of The New Yorker magazine sparks a conversation about September 11th and the invaluable sacrifices the first responders made to rescue those in danger. Scholars discuss their observations, thoughts, and feelings then take pen...
Curated OER
Outdoor Activities: Taking Science Outside
Students participate in various outdoor science activities to enhance their observation, classification, and analysis skills. In this outdoor lesson, students begin by observing a tree from a straightforward angle, then from the...
Curated OER
Check Out Your Change!
Young scholars examine a coin and write down details about the coin. They use appropriate tools and techniques to gather information. They employ logic to determine differences between the coins.
Curated OER
Detecting Magnetic Materials in "Martian" Soil
Students simulate some of the Pathfinder experiments by devising methods of collecting and measuring magnetic substances in pseudo-Martian soil. The efficiency of each of the methods used to collect materials is evaluated in this lesson.
Curated OER
Graphing Sound
Students formulate an understanding of sound as a vibration and draw their graph as carefully as possible on their observation sheet. They also record how they made the sound and and a description of the sound. Finally, students cut out...
Curated OER
Fossils
First graders write a brief informational description of a real life object, person, place or event using information gained from observations. They create their own fossil imprints and write a brief description about the fossil that...
Curated OER
Shapes, Shapes Everywhere!
Sixth graders investigate the geometric concept of shapes. They locate shapes in their immediate environment and label them according to basic shape. The shapes that are found are recorded by the teacher on chart paper and any...
Curated OER
3-Dimensional People
Students collect objects that represent themselves. In a class discussion, they consider how they are seen and understood by others. Students create two sculptures, one of how others see them and another of how they see themselves.
Curated OER
The Snowy Day Science Lesson
Students listen to the story The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats in order to become interested in the world of snow. In this snow exploration lesson, students scoop up snow to make snowballs, measuring the amount of snow they use so each...
Curated OER
Prairie Scavenger Hunt
Here is a simple lesson for young learners on the plants, animals, and flowers found in the prairie environment. There are worksheets embedded in the plan that pupils use once a teacher-led discussion and demonstration has taken place....