In this science instructional activity, students read about the Hydrologic Cycle. Students use the reading and a diagram to answer 2 comprehension questions.

High schoolers work together to develop a classification system for planets. They take a class vote and read an article about an astronomer's classification system. They write an essay on how scientists make decisions for the general...

Students decide whether or not there is or has even been water on Mars. They analyze temperature and pressure data from the Pathfinder mission to Mars, and then they analyze images of Mars, interpreting the landforms they see and...

Students create an all-natural water filtration system. In this activity on natural water filtration, students build upon prior knowledge to build a filtration unit made of plants, soils, sand, pebbles and rocks that can purify...

Fourth graders examine how water condenses into clouds and identify the different types of clouds using the same system devised over 200 years ago. They listen to a book about clouds, and create a Cloud Key. Next, they record their...

Students build a water filtration system. In this water quality lesson, students work in groups to construct water filtration units that can purify contaminated water. This lesson is part of a larger unit on water quality.

Students explore the weather system by analyzing water properties. In this precipitation lesson, students review weather related vocabulary terms and discuss how rainbows are created by light hitting droplets at the right time. Students...

Students study how the sun is at the center of the solar system.  In this solar instructional activity students measure the altitude of the sun and its size.

Students manipulate different variables in a model and make inferences about the temperature on Earth.  In this heat lesson students calculate the blackbody radiation of an object at a certain temperature. 

Students explore plate tectonics and the formations of the Earth's surface and why maps are distorted.  In this Earth's surface lesson students complete a lab and answer questions. 

Students examine gas production in "soil" samples through hands on activities and class discussions, to determine if the soil samples have contain living or non-living systems.

Students compare and contrast the Earth's interior with 2 other planets by looking at images on the computer. In this planet interiors lesson plan, students write a paper about their findings.

Hurricanes, typhoons, and tropical cyclones are the same type of storm, but their names change based on where they happen. Scholars use a computer simulation to learn about hurricanes. Then they hypothesize ideas to prevent hurricanes...

Second graders will study and explain the meaning of growth, development, and life cycle. They describe how plants grow and develop and observe an animal to show how it grows, changes, and reproduces throughout its life.

Sudents comprehend the importance of forests in the Earth's ecological system. They discuss the various ways people are ridding the world of large evergreen, deciduous, and rainforest areas and how deforestation harms the environment.

The instructions for demonstrating ocean turnover are provided in this resource. You could set this up for your earth science class as part of a lecture on convection currents or as an explanation of how ocean currents form. An animation...

What does the ground around your home have to do with water pollution? Young ecologists learn about their local watershed and create their own cause-and-effect models of the hydrosphere.

Pluto, although no longer considered a planet, has five moons. Pluto's moon, Charon, is the focus of a resource that describes how the moon is viewed from the surface of Pluto. Photos help individuals see how Charon would look at...

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,...

Meet some interesting rocks. Learners discover information about the three types of rocks and different rocks that are within each group. They read imaginary interviews with six rocks as each rock tells the story of their formation and a...

Our oceans are composed of many complex relationships. Young oceanographers explore relationships between organisms, understand the world ocean's currents, and discover the effects of water pollution and how it behaves. There are...

Ancient texts, like Homer's Odyssey, mentions navigating ships by observing constellations. Pupils learn about the link between history and astronomy as they relate to navigation in the Bronze Age. Scholars complete two hands-on...

Scientists could measure the diameter of the sun before they knew its distance. Scholars construct a simple mirror box to measure the diameter for themselves. They compare this measurement with the official size, listed in a...

From their sweat to the water vapor in their breath, astronauts recycle every possible drop of water while in space. After watching a short video describing the different ways materials are recycled and reused in space...