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A great collection for K-8 teachers of free resources for experiments, lesson ideas and supplemental information. I would use this as a starting block to research different ideas to supplement my lesson plan...it really is the "trunk of the tree"...so many links to get you to what you're looking for.

This is a lesson plan all about DNA. The students will use a banana and extract DNA from it and observe it under a microscope. I think that this is a cool and fun, interactive way for students to obtain a better understanding of DNA.

DNA is so abstract that I think it would be better recommended for 6-12 than K-12.

In this activity, Students will try extracting DNA from a banana by following the simple instructions and can take the activity further with the use of a microscope. It is a fun, interactive way to get the students thinking about structure. I would consider incorporating this activity into my classroom because it involves very little cost (1 banana would provide enough DNA for a classroom-wide experiment). Also, the experiment is totally sanitary--you are not working with human/animal DNA, you're working with food. Finally, anytime you bring food into a classroom, healthy or not, the students are interested. It's a win-win-win-win. This is a great lesson because it can be easily modified and adapted based upon the grade level and needs of the students. I believe this lesson would provide a nice introduction of DNA to a Middle School science classroom. However, if the instructor would like to increase difficulty for an older grade, it is easy to do. The students could compare and contrast DNA from different fruits, research in-depth, etc.

Take your students on an exciting adventure to the Saint Louis Science Center Planetarium to experience hands-on and visual learning. This resource allows students to take part in a self-guided or small group exploration of not only our galaxies stars, but also its many planets. I chose this website because of it wealth of factual knowledge and easily accesible tools. This field trip could take part during a planet lesson, and/or an astronomy lesson.

This activity shows how water is absorbed by plants. By placing a white carnation with stem into a tube or cup of colored water, the plant absorbs the water, changing the carnation the color of the water that was absorbed. I chose this activity because I feel like it would be a great way for children to see and understand what would be taught when learning about plants. I would introduce the lesson by explaining that plants need water. We would discuss where the children believe the water goes in the plant and I would let the children discuss what they think "might" happen. This would allow group discussion, the children would be making hypothesis, and applying knowledge all while introducing this lesson. I would explain that we will let the plants sit in the water throughout the week for the lesson. We could document daily results in a journal and then at the end discuss what we have learned and how it was different or the same then what we believed at the beginning.

This science experiment is a creative and fun way to show students how water moves through plants. Rain absorbs into the ground, then moves up the roots, through the flower, and to the pedals. What I love about using the food coloring, is it provides more of a clear picture of how the water moves through the flowers. By using the food coloring, the students can also note the time it takes for the water to hydrate the flower. I would use this in the classroom for the students to journal their own hypothesis or draw where the food coloring would be visible at. If I did this experiment before teaching the lesson, I would ask my kids to think about if the colored water would actually be visible or if we wouldn't have been able to tell a difference. This would be a quick and simple thing to demonstrate and discuss to help my students build ideas on their own, think reasonably, and even practice using the scientific method.

Students will conduct a series of experiments in pairs through which they will explore the processes and effects of weathering and erosion. Using the results from these explorations, they will design and conduct an experiment comparing the rate of erosion in different biomes. This activity not only allows students to learn about weathering and erosion, but also illustrates how scientists often use the results of one experiment to inspire another and/or use initial observations to inform a hypothesis. I think that students would enjoy this quality lesson.

This website provides several resources for teachers. There are several science experiment lesson plans along with supplemental materials. There is also a JustAsk section that addresses classroom issues such as bullying.

This site has a lot of neat experiments where you can choose the grade level and content. For my unit plan I would select "Earth and Space Science" in order to get ideas on different activities and experiments to do in class with my students. I picked this site because the activities are ones where the students could use their creativity to come up with something unique. For instance, they could make a homemade planetarium, make a spaceship using old CD's, or even make a solar system of students. I would use this site in the classroom to get ideas on how to get the students out of their seats, but yet keep them interested. The activities from this site are ones that the students would definately enjoy.

This lesson allows students to experiment with various sound sources, including their own voices to gain an understanding of the connection between sound and vibration. I chose this resource because I think that it fits well with my standard (1-PS4); Plan and conduct investigations to provide evidence that vibrating materials can make a sound and that sound can make materials vibrate. I would use this lesson in my future science classroom by having students break into groups to perform each of the activities from the lesson to demonstrate the different vibrations made from different objects.

This is a step-by-step explanation of a moon phase lesson. Gives a logical order to the lessons. Provides an idea for a hands on experiment too. Give many more moon links.

The Saint Louis Zoo provides a number of school programs, tours, and lessons for all age groups that deal with the themes of ecology, classification, conservation, and adaptation. There are even overnight programs dealing with these subjects, as well as outreach programs. Each theme has "sub-themes" that become more in depth and involved depending on the grade level of the students. (Diigo would not let me bookmark this link to the School Programs Table: http://www.stlzoo.org/files/7013/1350/2181/ProgramsandTours10.pdf). Costs vary depending on what program you wish to go on. I selected this resource because the Saint Louis Zoo is an excellent educational tool that is located so close to the area, and I feel that it should be utilized. This is valuable to me because I plan on using the Saint Louis Zoo as a field trip location and learning tool for my students. Knowing that there are scheduled programs that are challenging enough for my high school students is an excellent opportunity that I plan to use in the future. 

The Zoo Education Department offers programs designed to help students of all ages and abilities learn through experience, involvement and discovery. Programs may include live animals, biofacts, activities, demonstrations and/or discussions. If your class participates often in our programs, you may see the same animal(s) more than once. This is a great opportunity to get involved in St. Louis with the zoo. Teachers can find ways to use their classroom lessons and progress them with a field trip to the zoo.

This field trip opportunity would go great after a science lesson on renewable and nonrenewable resources/ a rain forest activity. Students would walk through the zoo focusing on different climates each animal lives in, what each animal eats, etc. The zoo provides class education programs that will meet the needs ( to their best ability) to provide animals that live in the specific area you are covering. "Programs may include live animals, bio facts, activities, demonstrations and/or discussions" (St. Louis Zoo). The zoo programs also provides four different areas of focus: adaptations, classification, conservation, and ecology.

This is multiple lesson plans that are combined to make a unit all about the Sun. Within this unit, many different experiments and activities are combined to make students understand the sun and all of its jobs. One great activity I really enjoyed was the shadow sun. Students would draw shadows of partners at different times during the day. The students would then discuss the activity and hopefully understand the movement of the sun from the different shadows. Along with this activity many more are included to help the overall lesson of the sun become instilled in the students.

This experiment uses a plastic bag, string, scissors and a small action figure. As you might have guested you are going to make a parachute. After you construct the parachute you will drop it as slow as you can. This shows air resistance. This is a great start to a lesson, an experiment, and even an example of a fair test! I would use this to start a lesson on air resistance ( or maybe even gravity). I would first drop my parachute in the class and ask students what happened. I might even drop both an action figure by himself, and an action figure on a parachute to farther demonstrate the air resistance. I might ask questions such as "why did this action figure fall more slowly? What was stopping him? Why/how? Then after a discussion I would get out materials for the whole class. I would ask students "What could we test using what we now know to create different parachutes and find out which one will work the best?" We would talk about how larger surface area creates more resistance and will make a parachute fall more slowly. In the aspects of a fair test I would try to guide the idea towards testing out maybe 5 different parachutes. The controlled aspect would be using the same material, and same size parachute. What would change would be how many holes we would put in the top of it. Holes in the top cause air to go through the parachute not around it, this causes the parachute to fall more straight. (This is something we might have found out through research.) The goal would be to make a parachute that falls as slow and straight as possible. The challenge would be where to place the holes and how big the holes should be.

This place always delivers fun, education and family friendly memories. Get the annual membership and come back often! It's the biggest and best children's museum in the world. It is worth the trip and plan to spend the whole day. There is something for all ages and it is a wonderful family experience. The Children's Museum of Indianapolis provides students with hands on experiences as well as exploring and adventuring in different science subjects. During this field trip students can understand how science works by the different hands on activities. The museum provides all types of subject matters that deal with science and therefore you can plan a field trip at anytime throughout the school year, that will work with the lesson you are teaching. I believe that this field trip can be fun and exciting as well as convenient for the teacher, when it comes to the science lesson that's being taught.

This hands-on activity allows students to get a better understanding of why a tree's leaves change colors. By doing this activity, we will be able to see how a leaves colors stay hidden in the leaf all year long. Students will collect leaves prior to doing this experiment, and will place them in small jars filled slightly with rubbing alcohol. Those leaves will be chopped up into tiny pieces and left in the jar which will be covered with a lid or plastic wrap. The jars will soak in water for about a half an hour. Students will then use a strip of coffee filter paper to see the colors from the leaves bleed. They will see different shades of green, orange, red, and maybe some yellow depending on the type of leaf. I chose this experiment because it allows the students to understand chromatography, chlorophyll, and different pigments found in leaves. By doing a hands-on activity, students are more engaged and anxious to find out what is going to happen. I envision this experiment being used at the end of a plant lesson in science. We would have been discussing different types of plants, trees, flowers, and why they are all different colors. There will also be many important vocabulary words that the students will need to understand, which will be present in this activity. We will conduct this experiment in small groups so that students are able to participate and see what is going on.

This is a quick and easy science experiment on what happens when it rains. This would be a good experiment to do after a lesson or two on rain or clouds. It shows how the "clouds" (shaving cream) get heavy with water and causes "rain" (blue food coloring) to fall. I would use this in my classroom because it's cheap, quick, and easy. Shaving cream is always a big hit in the elementary classroom!!

This website is an interactive too for my students to learn about genetics. In this simulation students are given an alien and based on what side the coin lands on in the experiment, and then a particular trait is given. I selected this resource because students might find it engaging, while learning how genetics determines what traits people are given. I might use this activity after I would teach a lesson about recessive and dominant genes, but before I teach Punnett Squares.

When you drop an egg in a glass of plain water it sinks. If you drop the same egg in a glass of salt water, it floats. This experiment link explains this. If you start class with the two glasses and the eggs and just have students make observations you could really spark some interesting conversations. I would use this in part of a density lesson. This might even be my introduction to density. It is definitely a way to grab the students attention because you almost play a mind trick on them. As a student I know this would have really captured my interest, it also sparks more exploration. What else could you add to water to get the same results?

This activity shows students how certain animals stay warm in the winter by providing a life-like representation of the effects blubber. A zip-lock baggy containing Crisco is placed into a bucket of ice water. Students then place their hand into the baggy and note the temperature. I chose this activity because it provides an actual representation of how animals stay warm in the winter that students would likely remember in the future. If the lesson is properly constructed, this activity also encourages critical thinking, making predictions, and discussing observations. When using this activity in my classroom, I would first discuss various polar animals with my students, making sure to ask them their opinion on how the animals manage to stay warm. This would then lead to a discussion on how humans stay warm. After creating a list of various ways in which humans adapt to cold weather, I would conduct the "blubber" activity. I would then explain to students that polar animals have an extra layer of fat, called blubber, to keep them warm. As a class, we would then discuss how certain human adaptations mimic the polar animals' survival techniques.

I have used this activity many times along with adaptations for survival. Very clear and concrete experience for students.

This is a great lesson on various visual illusions used to engage and intrigue students, all raising the question "Why is this an illusion?" With interest piqued, students are engaged to answer this question about the T-illusion, proposing hypotheses to explain what makes it an illusion, then designing simple experiments to test those hypotheses. This is extended to a look at natural illusions, and how science effectively reveals their reality.