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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Introduction to Earth's Dynamically Changing Climate

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students identify the most common causes of global warming. In this earth science lesson, students use an interactive website to explore changes over time in sea ice, sea level, carbon emissions, and average global temperature. They take...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Star Systems

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students study a star system and see how the planets move around stars.  In this star system activity students complete an activity and see what an eclipse is.
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Worksheet
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission

Hetch Hetchy: The Story of San Francisco's Water

For Teachers 2nd - 4th Standards
How did San Francisco supply enough water for its residents over the last two centuries? Learn about droughts and water conservation in California, as well as specific historical events that led to the water system today. Kids read two...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

What Happened to the Chesapeake Bay Filtering System?

For Students 6th - 9th
In this environmental science lesson, students write a short story about what it's like to help at an oyster garden. They formulate 2 hypotheses on the disappearance of oysters in Chesapeake Bay.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Taking a Voyage away from Home

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students experience and participate in a journey through a "Voyage" exhibition of the Solar System and the frontier it covers. They build a dynamic model of the Earth and Sun. Descriptions are given on the relative sizes of the Sun and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

World In Motion Curriculum

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars explore the night sky and its solar system. Using a Digitarium planetarium system, students observe four constellations. They discover the phases of the moon and eclipses. Young scholars recognize the difference between...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Asteroids Between Mars and the Sun

For Students 8th - 10th
In this asteroids of the solar system worksheet, students observe a diagram showing all the minor planets found in the orbit of Mars. Students answer 4 questions about the minor planets inside the orbit of other planets, they find the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Moon with a View

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders explore the rotation of Earth and the moon. For this solar system lesson, 3rd graders participate in an Earth and moon simulation in which part of the class "becomes" the sun, while other children represent the moon by...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Path to Mars

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students compare Earth and Mars to find similarities between the two planets using given websites. They collect and download pictures of geological features of both planets from print and non-print sources. Descriptions of the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Climate Change: Is there a Controversy

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners explore climate changes. In this climate changes activity, students research what causes changes. Learners search the Internet, summarize reports they find and create a poster with the information.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Improving the HVAC System

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students describe the components of an HVAC system and determine which factors influence how efficient the system can be. They work together to develop hypotheses about the systems and their cost effectiveness and efficiency.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fighting Back!

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders inspect the basic functions of the immune system and determine how viruses and bacteria invade the immune system. They also explore what happens to the immune system in outer space.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Voyage of Discovery

For Teachers 5th - 10th
Students develop a sense of the scale of our solar system by creating a one to ten billion scale model. They calculate the relative sizes and distances for the planets and asteroid belt using a guiding worksheet. To create the model they...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A View Of Home From The Front Door and From Space

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students discover how distance can change how our view of an object. Students build a representative model of where their home is located from different distances. They create three drawn models of their home from various elevations as...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Are Viruses Alive: Sample Socratic Questions

For Teachers Higher Ed
Students comprehend the definition and uniqueness of life and its complexities. They examine what characteristics constitute a living organism. Students recognize the extent of the role viruses play in the movement and molding of life as...
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PPT
Curated OER

Jeopardy 8th Grade (Science)

For Teachers 7th - 8th
There are so many topics touched upon in this Jeopardy-style science game, that it is difficult to classify! The categories include electricity, matter, ecology, earth and space, and scientific investigation. This would best be used at...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Unlocking the Endocrine System

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders use an analogy to the mail delivery system to study the workings of the human endocrine system. They discover the interrelationships between the human body systems while comparing them to engineering communicating with...
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Lesson Plan
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University of Colorado

Space Travel Guide

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
Neptune takes 164.8 Earth years to travel around the sun. In the fifth of 22 lessons, young scientists create a travel guide to a planet in our solar system. They provide tips for others on what to bring, what they see, and their...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Exploring the Water Cycle

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
The water cycle is one of earth's most easily observable processes, but demonstrating each step within classroom walls can be a challenge. Through a series of videos and quick demonstrations, cover each aspect of the hydrologic cycle in...
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Lesson Plan
University of Colorado

Looking Inside Planets

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Researchers use scientific data to understand what is inside each of the planets. The first in a series of six, this lesson builds off of that concept by having pupils use a data table to create their own scale models of the interiors of...
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Lesson Plan
Journey Through the Universe

Comets: Bringers of Life?

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
Young scientists investigate the elements found in our solar system and then construct a model of a comet. They apply their new knowledge to the formation of the solar system. 
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Lesson Plan
Space Awareness

Investigating the Atmosphere - Air Takes Up Space

For Students 1st - 5th
How do you know there is air? Can you see it, smell it, feel it? To begin the investigation, learners watch a video and discuss what they know about air and the atmosphere. Then, they participate in five different hands-on, inquiry-based...
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PPT
Curated OER

Understanding Weather

For Teachers 5th - 7th
A succinct set of slides covers the main points for your weather unit. From the factors that contribute to conditions, to fronts and extreme occurrences, to the different types of clouds, numerous facts are listed in bullets. The only...
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Activity
NASA

Freshwater Availability Classroom Activity

For Teachers 2nd - 6th Standards
This science assignment produced by NASA teaches inquiring minds the distribution of Earth's water. Learners will appreciate and understand the importance of fresh water and how weather and climate affects everything.