Virginia Department of Education
Viruses
Germs, parasites, and viruses, oh my! Facilitate a lesson on viruses as individuals explore functions of Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya. They learn how viruses compare with other organisms in nature and how they contribute to health...
Curated OER
Emerging Viruses
Students study the characteristics of living things and explore the characteristics of viruses including their structure, function, and reproductive cycles. They also explore the impact of viruses on human health by discussing common...
Curated OER
Time, Tide, and Quahogs
Students read tide tables for Waquoit Bay as the simulate determining the best time to go clam digging for a Wampanoag clambake. They graph the tide tables while realizing that the tides a Waquoit Bay are one hour later than those at...
Curated OER
Meteorology Madness
Students probe the dynamic weather changes through several hands-0n activities in this seven lessons unit. The hydrologic cycle, clouds, atmosphere, air movement, fronts, and forecasting form the components presented in this unit.
Curated OER
Studying Exothermic and Endothermic Reactions
Pupils explore the mesosphere and lower thermosphere globally and achieve a major improvement in our understanding of the fundamental processes governing the energetics, chemistry, dynamics, and transport of the atmospheric region. They...
Curated OER
Winds Go Spinning Around
Students simulate the Coriolis Effect to comprehend why winds in the Westerlies are prone to cyclonic and anti-cyclonic motion. They arrive at an explanation of processes that drive world wind patterns
Curated OER
Halloween Literature Unit: Pumpkin Patch Unit Project
Students simulate an agriculture project. In this sequencing lesson plan, students observe their classroom pumpkin patch, make journal entries, and predict how the pumpkins will grow. They discuss as a class how to keep their pumpkins...
Curated OER
Regolith Formation
Students study what regolith is and how it contrasts with weathering on Earth. In this weathering instructional activity students divide into groups, hypothesize and confirm their guesses.
Curated OER
Turtle Hurdles
Students participate in a simulation in which they discover the threats to sea turtles throughout the world. In groups, they act out the life cycle of a sea turtle and describe the stresses that threaten their survival. As a class,...
Curated OER
Day and Night
Students using experiments try to demonstrate how observations can be affected by the cycles of night and day.
Curated OER
Going, Going, Gone!
Sixth graders use the scientific method to test variables of evaporation. In this evaporation lesson plan, 6th graders test a wet handprint on a paper towel and relate this experiment to weather conditions.
Curated OER
Making a Rainstick
Students construct a rainstick. In this music lesson, students investigate the history of the rainstick by reading the book Bringing the Rain to the Kapiti Plain by Verna Aardema. Students express their feelings about the rain and create...
Science Matters
That’s An Otter Story
Young scientists discover how sea otters' habitats have changed due to human impact. Through conversation, video observation, and story reading, scholars identify how human interactions change a specific ecosystem in both positive and...
Curated OER
Marine Communities
Students view a video and then complete lab exercises to help them explain marine communities and animals in them.
Curated OER
Miller-Urey Experiment Amino Acids & The Origins of Life on Earth
Learners study the Miller-Urey Experiment including its history and criticism. In this origins of life lesson students repeat this experiment to see how it works.
Curated OER
Tree Friends
Students are introduced to tree structure and use. They identify their special tree using all senses except sight. Students identify six different internal parts within a cross section of tree trunk (bark, phloem, xylem, cambium,...
Curated OER
Current Interactions
Students design an experiment to see how wind, temperature, and salinity work together to influence ocean currents and present it in a report format. They explain to their classmates how experiment findings relate to ocean currents.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Investigating the Water Cycle: Using Plants to Study Evaporation
In this science activity, students investigate the water cycle by testing the water evaporated from leaves (transpiration). They investigate concepts of evaporation and the movement of water through the different states of the water...
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
Ucar: The Water Cycle
This site provides a comprehensive introduction to the water cycle. Students construct a model to simulate parts of the water cycle. Includes background information, links to standards, lesson plans, and assessment ideas.
BioEd Online
Bio Ed Online: The Water Cycle and Global Warming
In this lesson plan, young scholars will trace the flow of water in the environment, investigate simulated effects of global temperature change on oceanic levels, evaluate changes within the water cycle, and explain several different...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Water Vapor Circulation on Earth
This simulation from the National Center for Atmospheric Research portrays annual patterns in water vapor and precipitation across the globe, illustrating general circulation patterns as well as seasonal and regional variation. [4:52]
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Moving Without Wheels
In a class demonstration, students observe a simple water cycle model to better understand its role in pollutant transport. This activity shows one way in which pollution is affected by the water cycle; it simulates a point source of...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Floodplain Modeling
Students explore the impact of changing river volumes and different floodplain terrain in experimental trials with table top-sized riverbed models. The models are made using modeling clay in aluminum baking pans placed on a slight...
Concord Consortium
Concord Consortium: Stem Resources: Beginning Clouds Unit
Explore how clouds are formed with the computer-based model in these interactive activities. Also learn about clouds part in the water cycle. Activity includes pre- and post-tests which can be saved and graded by the teacher.