Curated OER
Fossil Fuel and the Ticking Clock
Students study energy sources to learn about fossil fuels and environmental concerns. In this energy sources lesson plan, students watch demonstrations for various energy examples. Students find hidden pennies, make a bar graph on their...
Curated OER
Recycling-Taking it Easy on the Environment
Students review the garbage/landfill graphs included with the instructional activity. They discuss the information on the graphs and discuss which garbage products come from their homes. Students collect examples of over packaging to...
Curated OER
Concrete Canoes
Learners explore and analyze the relationship of buoyancy and displacement needed to make an object float. They examine various boat designs, then design and build clay and aluminum boats that hold a cargo of marbles.
Curated OER
Energy Conversion
Students describe how energy can be transformed from one form to another. For this physics lesson, students calculate kinetic and potential energy using mathematical equations. They give real life applications of this lesson.
Curated OER
Run-off Race
Students create wetland models in pans and use them to experiment to see how plants help slow the flow of runoff water and keep our waterways clean.
Curated OER
Animal Skin
Students investigate the skin surface to body area ratios for different animals. In this seventh/eighth grade mathematics/science lesson, students explore heat transfer between an animal’s body and the environment. Using...
Curated OER
Exploring for Petroleum - Modeling an Oil Reserve
Learners experiment with locating oil reserves. In this conservation instructional activity, students use a cardboard box to create sand, rocks, and an oil reserve (water balloon). They use a probe to dig around in the box to find the...
Curated OER
Popular Paper
Students explore the benefits of recycling paper. In this recycling lesson, students use statistics to calculate the amount of paper that is thrown away each week and construct a graph. Students analyze the data and calculate the...
Curated OER
Making Recycled Paper
Students explore the advantages of recycling paper. In this environmental lesson, students produce recycled paper by ripping up paper and putting it into a blender with water to create a mixture. Students use their recycled paper to...
NOAA
Deep-Sea Ecosystems – Cool Corals
Young oceanographers research deep sea corals that thrive on chemosynthesis. The lesson focuses on the biology of the animal, preferred habitat, associations, and interactions.
Curated OER
Determining Momentum and Energy Loss of Balls Colliding Against Different Surfaces
Learners experiment with the bounce of balls on various surfaces. In this physics lesson, students use various surfaces to bounce balls to study the momentum. This hands-on activity with the concepts of elasticity of surfaces which is...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Amazing Adaptations - Probing Pinnipeds
Fourth graders collect data about the habitats of pinniped adaptations using digital probes. They determine how pinnipeds make adaptations to their natural environment by completing an experiment to determine how human and pinniped...
Curated OER
Heating the Atmosphere
Students construct a thermograph for maximum and minimum temperatures for the 2-week period. They illustrate how the earth's atmosphere is heated by convection and conduction currents and evaporation of water.
Curated OER
Ice Ain't Easy
Students are introduced to the laws of thermodynamics. The 1st law of thermodynamics states that the energy must be conserved when two objects of different temperatures come in contact. If one object gains energy, the other object must...
Curated OER
Empty Oceans
In groups of four, pupils brainstorm about seafood. They view the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch website to examine the problems caused by the seafood industry. Learners are then brought back together to discuss what they...
Curated OER
How Much Energy is Stored in Wood?
In this energy lesson plan, students create calorimeters out of soda cans and use them to calculate the amount of energy stored in different types of wood.
Curated OER
What Shapes a MPA?
Students identify the three types of MPA in California. In this marine science lesson, students analyze information provided to design a new MPA. They justify their reasoning in class.
Curated OER
Red Tail Ridge Wetland Study Project
Fifth graders use a real life scenario of the wetlands to gather information on creatures of the habitat. For this wetlands lesson, 5th graders research the interdependence of organisms in a healthy habitat. Students collected...
Curated OER
An Egg-cellent Osmosis Experiment
High schoolers investigate the problem of osmosis by conducting an experiment. They use eggs with the shells dissolved to tell whether fluid can move across the membranes. The experiment provides high interest for all kinds of students...
Curated OER
Farming and the Services of a Community (Lesson 5)
Students identify different types of farms and services of a community. They use a pretend farm scenerio and a worksheet to distinguish between the different types of farms. They also practice using new vocabulary.
Curated OER
My Habitat Address
Sixth graders draw a habitat and write about what they would need to survive in the habitat. They define the input of items such as materials, energy, and information, and what goes out of the habitat. They play a "Habitat Address" game,...
Curated OER
Teaching the Five Themes of Geography Through Picture Books
Read the story Make Way for Ducklings and introduce little ones to the five themes of geography. Reread the story, while displaying transparencies to reinforce the five themes. In groups, learners view pictures and identify the themes on...
Curated OER
Natural Resource Awareness
Seventh graders design a collage that shows natural resources or things made from natural resources. They discuss the collages and decide how they use natural resources at home and school. They listen to a read aloud of a Native American...
Curated OER
Ice Ain't Easy
Learners are told that objects in contact with one another reach an equilibrium temperature. A hot object placed in a cool liquid always cool off. It never happens that the object gets hotter and cool liquid gets colder. Students predict...