Curated OER
Layer By Layer
Have your class learn about the formation of the Grand Canyon using this lesson. After listening to a variety of stories about the Grand Canyon and erosion, learners complete worksheets related to the geology of this area. What a...
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Dig It Up
Students participate in an archaeological excavation to determine how archeologists make inferences about various cultures. They reconstruct the site using layers of drawings. They discuss the kinds of information they learned.
Curated OER
Mystery Minerals
Students minerals and how they form. They investigate the classification of minerals according to physical properties. Students watch a video about mineral characteristics. In groups, students participate in hands-on activities and...
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Landfills: A Solid Waste Management Plan
Middle schoolers are able to list the types of household waste that they produce daily. They are able to describe some other types of waste that are produced by industry or agriculture to help maintain their lifestyles. Students are...
Curated OER
Fieldwork: Horizons Under Ground: Digging Through Wetland Soil
Young scholars study the different soil types and describe the different soils in various environments. In this soil lesson students walk to a reserve and discuss what they saw.
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What Makes Up a Healthy Watershed
Students, after observing the elements of a local watershed, explore the need to protect watersheds as water resources for the future. They examine the factors involved with a watershed: geology, ecology, and the effect of man's...
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Plate Tectonics
Students participate in a series of experiments to learn about plate tectonics and the different materials of the Earth. In this plate tectonics lesson plan, students use eggs, water, beakers, paper, and more materials to learn about the...
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Breaking it Down
High schoolers will identify the factors that contribute to erosion and weathering. They will start by differentiating between chemical and mechanical weathering. They then apply what they learned by playing the online jeopardy game. Key...
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Groundwater Basics
Groundwater is an essential natural resource, not to mention a fascinating topic to study. Here is a series of twelve amazing lessons on the water source and how we use it in our daily lives. Concepts require higher math and physics...
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Fast or Slow?
Vestibular stimulation is an action or activity relating to balance and motion. To find out what kind of vestibular stimulation your learners with multiple disabilities enjoy best, follow these simple suggestions. You engage the child in...
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Earthquakes: Fifth Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
After learning about P waves and S waves, fifth graders view the intensity of earthquakes by examining seismographs and images of earthquake damage. Young scientists then forecasting future quakes by analyzing data about earthquakes...
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Plate Tectonics: Kindergarten Lesson Plans and Activities
This unit focuses primarily on plate tectonics and plate boundaries surrounding continents. It contains pre- and post-lab sections that walk young geologists through plate movements in order to visualize what's going on inside Earth.
PBS
Breaking it Down
After challenging themselves to correctly choose the form of erosion and length of time required for a given landform to develop, earth science class members model mechanical and chemical weathering with various lab demonstrations over...
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Hazards: Kindergarten Lesson Plans and Activities
The last unit in the series allows kindergarteners to see the dangers and hazards associated with each of the natural disasters learned so far in the series—earthquakes and volcanoes. They listen to sounds associated with the disasters.
Chicago Botanic Garden
Carbon, Greenhouse Gases, and Climate
Climate models mathematically represent the interactions of the atmosphere, oceans, land, sun, surface, and ice. Part two in the series of four lessons looks at the role greenhouse gases play in keeping Earth warm and has participants...
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Wipe Out
Learners examine the flow of water. They observe and test the properties of water by using sticks in flowing water. The lesson has streaming video, resource links to access, and a good hands-on activity that is clearly described in the...
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Amounts of Dissolved Oxygen in Various Bodies of Water
Students test water to determine the dissolved oxygen content while displaying the proper use of testing instruments while visiting water testing sites. They determine if the amount of dissolved oxygen is appropriate for the tested...
BBC
Sound and Hearing
First and second graders recognize that sound is generated in a variety of ways, and that it comes from many different sources. They explore tone and volume, realizing that there are different ways to describe sound. Some musical...
BBC
Light and Shadows
Light is such an amazing thing! Elementary schoolers explore the wonderful world of light and shadow. The lesson is meant to be carried out on a whiteboard. Objects are placed in front of a light source, and learners must predict what...
BBC
Ourselves
Young biologists identify parts of the body, sort humans from other animals, and list the difference they see. Learners are split up into groups of three, and each group must find pictures in magazines of humans and other animals. They...
Curated OER
Sink or Float
Using a variety of objects, learners conduct buoyancy experiments. They make predictions on which object will sink or float and test their predictions. They use a graphic organizer to record their findings.
Curated OER
Earthquakes: Kindergarten Lesson Plans and Activities
Beginning with a pre-lab, kindergarteners trace the letters in the word earthquake and discuss what happens in an earthquake. The lab portion allows young scientists realize that earthquakes trigger shaking of different intensities...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Climate and Forest Ecosystem Services
Forests, through sequestration, capture excess carbon dioxide in our atmosphere and store it, aiding in climate change. The third installment in a four-part series on how climate impacts forests explores carbon sequestration. Classes...
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Plotting Data on a Graph
Young scholars investigate graphing. For this graphing lesson, students survey the class and create graphs to reflect the data collected.