Curated OER
What Type of Snow Makes a Good Snowman
Students attempt to build a snowman. For this comparison lesson, students divide into groups, are given different types of snow (dry and wet) and try to make a snowman. Students discuss and record the characteristics of the snow and if...
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Snug in the Snow
Young scholars explore how snow helps animals survive in the wild. In this animal science lesson, students review key vocabulary words and discuss types of animal adaptations. Young scholars construct shoebox to simulate the snowy...
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A Monster's World
Study African American inventor Jan Ernst Matzeliger and create imaginary monsters using texture.
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Living During the Little Ice Age
Students brainstorm what living conditions during the period known as the Little Ice Age (1350-1850) might have been like. They research lifestyles, the economy, crop yields, and human and livestock mortality.
Curated OER
Designing a Quilt Pattern
Students create and color a one-patch quilt design based upon a regular hexagon. They examine quilts and photos of quilt designs, read a handout, and complete their quilt design on a worksheet.
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Habitat Basics
First graders get out and explore two different habitats to examine how each one meets the needs of the plants and animals that dwell there. They discuss what they've learned about animal habitats as they explore the outdoor environment....
Wild BC
Is Climate Change Good for Us?
Is it really that big of a deal if the global climate undergoes a little change? Young environmentalists consider this very question as they discuss in small groups the impact of different climate change scenarios on their lives, their...
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The Story that Tracks Tell
Eighth graders observe and investigate animal tracks. They draw prints for local animals and switch with another student to guess the animal, identify animal tracks in a nearby wood lot, create plaster casts of the tracks, and write a...
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Energy Efficient Homes
Students evaluate their home to see how energy-efficient it is. In this energy efficiency lesson students complete a worksheet and search the Internet to find ways of making their home more energy-efficient.
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Biodiversity in Our Watershed
Eighth graders create a database of animals and birds in the area in which they live. They use molded prints to make a cast of an imprint from a specific animal. They identify and research animals and prepare an outline for an oral...
Curated OER
What Do Salt Trucks Do?
Students predict what will happen to ice when salt is put on it. They make observations and discuss what actually happened to the ice. They relate their experiment to the salt trucks they see on the street.
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Weather "Whys"
Students explore the weather. In this weather data lesson, students collect weather data from Internet and media sources. Students graph the collected data discuss it as well as the seasons of the year.
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Seasons
Students identify and define the vocabulary words: summer, spring, fall, and rotation. They describe how the earth's rotation affects the seasons. Students match appropriate clothing with each season. They discuss why a particular...
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Mother Nature Has Her Say
Young scholars use their creative writing skills to develop interview questions for Mother Nature. Using writing, they respond to the questions another student developed and use the internet to research any topic they need more...
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Symmetrical Snowflakes
First graders, exploring lines of symmetry, follow directions to create a symmetrical snowflake from their own homemade icing. As a class, they discuss lines of symmetry and determine if specific shapes are symmetrical. After the lesson,...
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December Concentration Game
Students play the classic game of Concentration using cards with December holiday and weather pictures on them. They research different December holidays and adapt the details to the game of concentration.
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Tree Cookies
Young scholars identify heartwood, sapwood, and a tree's annual rings, infer from a tree's rings what damage or stress might have occurred in its life, and make a time-line of human history that coincides with a tree's rings.
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Animal Migratory patterns
Students use field research and traditional research to identify migrating species of birds as well as their migratory patterns. Students generate a list of questions regarding migration and a plan to research the questions. A field...
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The Seed Match
Students examine seeds and predict the plant it comes from. In this seed match lesson, students match seeds to plants and then see if their predictions are correct. Students predict the number of seeds found in plants as well. Students...
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Exploring Alternative Energy Sources
Students research the amount and kinds of energy that are produced and consumed in the United States, including the limitations of this kind of consumption. They research and create a display to teach classmates about a specific...
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A Trip To Outer Space: Planet Exchange
Students examine the different planets in outer space. Each class studies a different planet and creates a scavenger hunt for the other classes to explore that planet.
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Picture Perfect Pyramid
Young scholars investigate the concept of the food pyramid. The lesson includes background information for the teacher to lecture students about the food pyramid. They construct a model of the pyramid using cereal boxes. The projects...
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The Trip Around the Sun
Sixth graders investigate the relationship between the tilt of the Earth's axis and the seasons. In this earth science lesson, 6th graders sing the song "Why Do We Have Seasons" and use simulate the Earth's tilt by using their bodies.
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A Day in the Life of a San Francisco Native Animal
Students write from an animal's perspective. In this writing lesson students explore the landscape of San Francisco prior to the arrival of the explorers. Students research animals indigenous to the area.