Resources for Teaching Science

Students will make their own weather station, consisting of several home-made versions of real weather measurement equipment and use that equipment to make observations about the local weather. This is activity is good for the students to gather data and use that data to reach a conclusion.

Students will examine and sketch various trace fossils from an unknown creature and then construct an image of the creature that they believe produced these fossils. This activity will let the students make an educated guess of the creature based on the available information. This can be used to explain portions of the scientific method and examine how scientist can use little bits of information to build towards a bigger solution.

Students will observe the effects of osmosis on a gummy bear in this guided scientific method lab report. This is a fun visual way to grasp the difficult concept of osmosis. I chose this lesson because when I was in middle school I had difficulty with the concept of osmosis, and I feel that this hands on and visual lab will bring the students to a better understanding of osmosis. Also, this would be a great way to explore osmosis on a deeper level and engage the students because giant gummy bears are cool. I would use this lab during the cells unit in science when we talk about the different properties of the cell wall: osmosis being one of the properties.

This activity can be used to tie different school subjects together, social studies, earth science, and math. When introducing the concept of the world they may not comprehend the size of Earth. Have an inflatable globe and let the students toss it to one another, when they catch it have the students identify what each finger is touching water or land, we can also keep a graph of the two to determine if there is more land or water on earth.

Composting is the oldest form of recycling. It provides an opportunity for students to observe the decomposition process and energy cycle at work; produces a valuable soil supplement; and reduces the amount of organic material requiring a landfill or incineration. This is a neat hands on lesson that can last up to the whole year! The students get to understand the process of composting and will learn that there we can use other methods of eliminating our trash. My favorite part is that they get to physically see what is happening in the soil. I would start this activity towards the beginning of the year. The students can volunteer to bring in items from the materials list to help feel involved in the prep. I would have the students keep a journal about the chances they see when we check on the compost bin.

This is a resource video for Middle School Science Teachers that displays simple demonstrations to help instruct on chemical or physical reactions, surface tension, life science, and waves. I would use this video to help utilize creative and engaging lesson starters. I selected this resource because it has multiple ideas to spice up the classroom for both the students and teacher.

This activity has each student growing their own plant. I was looking at the standards and I thought that this activity would work for 3-LS1-1, which says that students should develop models to describe that organisms have unique live cycles but have a common birth, reproduction, and death. I think that it would be interesting for the students to see how different plants grow from a seed and then develop unique characteristics. This activity would also teach the students responsibility, because they would be in charge of taking care of the plant. I would envision using this activity by splitting the students into groups and giving each of them a plant to care for, the students would also be in charge of keeping a weekly journal.

This lesson is used to teach young students the importance of nature. Many students don't realize many manufactured items come from nature. Bring in everyday items from home and ask the children where they think the item came from (paper and books from trees, glass from sand, etc). Have different colored dots and walk around the classroom and label items with colors from what the item might have came from (green=trees, red=animals), this requires the students to think critically. It's important for children to respect nature and understand most everything we interact with on a daily basis is from nature. As a teacher I can use this to teach children respect of nature and each other because everything must work together.

This lab requires students to analyze what they already know about Newton's Laws of Motion. The students will calculate the speed of the balloon as it soars while implementing the scientific method. This is a great resource to get the students up and moving in the classroom, and I would use this lab as a way to incorporate hands on experimentation with Newton's Laws.

This resource takes Newton's Laws of motion and applies them to concepts that we see everyday in our lives. Also, it uses the popular app Angry Birds that will appeal to the middle school students. I chose this lesson because it has real life applications and is a fun way to discuss the different laws and properties of motion in the classroom. I envision utilizing this source in the classroom as an introduction of a Force and Motion unit.

In this activity students will roll a toy car down a ramp and measure how long the car it takes to go down the ramp. This activity emphasizes gravity, friction, and velocity. The students will measure how long their car goes down the ramp and then have the cars roll down on sandpaper. They will see how friction has an effect on objects. I like that this activity is hands on and engaging. I would use this after an introduction to gravity and friction. After the initial test, I would allow the students to change the height of the ramp to see how this affects the velocity of the cars.

This activity is a little lengthy, but I would definitely use it with older elementary students. Students will build their own models of either a plant or animal cell by using Jell-O and fruit (or candy). If I were to use this in class I would modify the activity in a few ways. Making it a two day activity would allow for the students to pour their own molds, which would be kept in the refrigerator over night. Then students can label and stick the fruit into the finished mold on the next day. Either way, this activity is a great way to help students retain the different parts of a cell.

This is an activity in which students use slices of bread to create replicas of various landforms. After introducing the varying types of landforms to the class, the teacher will provide students with slices of bread with which they can create different land types (such as islands, peninsulas, gulfs, straits, and isthmuses) in a hands-on, memorable manner. After the students have created the landforms, they can glue them to a piece of paper, or simply eat them as a snack! This activity caught my eye because I feel as though it would be engaging for the entire class. I also thought it was cost-effective and simple to execute. This activity would be an excellent way to introduce a unit on landforms because it gives the students a chance to become acquainted with the topic in an appealing, memorable way.

A foundation in geography begins with an understanding of the terms geographers use to describe the features of Earth. Help students grow their vocabulary and learn to recognize common landforms such as islands, lakes, peninsulas, gulfs, straits, and isthmuses in a hands-on lesson using soft and squishy slices of bread! I love this because the students get to visually make the landforms when learning about them. It keeps the students involved in the lesson. I would use it when first learning about the landforms to help the students better remember them.

The Three Gorges Dam in China has been completed and is considerably larger than the Hoover Dam here in the United States. With this lesson plan students will learn how a dam is constructed, it's purpose, and the dangers associated with dams. I would add some videos to this lesson to show the students how large or small dams can be and I would show a video of a dam breaking and the damage it can cause (Johnstown, Pa - 1889).

Skip Discover Education Main Navigation Skip Discover Education Main Navigation Students will: 1. Understand the relationship of the nine planets in our solar system to the sun by creating a three-dimensional representation. 2. Understand the planets' relative distance from the sun and their approximate size in relation to the Earth. I like this lesson because students need to understand our solar system and earth's relation to other planets. I would keep the completed solar system on display in the classroom to ensure students retain the material and can reference it if needed. I like how this lesson plan has adaptations and ways to extend the lesson.

This is an experiment for students to make their own snowflake. I would use this in my classroom as an extension of a weather and seasons lessons. I would try to do an experiment involving an element from every season.

This is a great experiment for students to see the process of crystallization. It's a great way to bring in the idea of crystals being formed by an arrangement of molecules in a pattern. Using household items like borax, food coloring, water, and a few other materials makes it very teacher friendly. I would use this experiment in class to expand on the movement of cold vs. hot water. I could also tie this experiment in while discussing liquids/solids, precipitation, or chemical reactions.

Help your students better understand how pollution gets in our rivers. Read and act out the story as a class. Follow up with a discussion about the pollutants left in the water. I picked this activity because it gives students an image of what happens to our water when we do not keep it clean. I think it is important to teach them early on the importance of keeping our earth clean. I would use this activity close to earth day when we are learning about the earth and pollution.

Students use potatoes to light an LED clock (or light bulb) as they learn how a battery works in a simple circuit and how chemical energy changes to electrical energy. As they learn more about electrical energy, they better understand the concepts of voltage, current and resistance. I chose this because I never did this in school! This really seems like an exciting and engaging lesson/activity. This lesson could be done in separate parts, with the first part being lecture based (learning about electricity) and the second part being the activity with the potato. I like how this resource has follow-up questions at the end of the lesson.

This activity uses skittles, warm water, and cold water. Skittles are dropped into warm water and cold water at the same time to see what dissolves first. I chose this lesson because I think it is a simple but great way to introduce the scientific method to students. Students tend to understand better with visuals and lecture. I would use this activity to introduce the scientific method to students. We would observe, make predictions, observe again, analyze, record our results. We would be able to use this with our science journals and record our observations and results in our journal.

This site gives lesson plan to make recycled paper. This is a two day lesson where students will be able to create their own paper by recycling old newspaper. I chose this because I think this would be a very neat experiment for the children to do, as I have never done something like this either. I also like that the website is very thorough, including standards, grade level, extension activity, and assessment ideas for this lesson. I believe this would be a great activity to do with the children around earth day and include in a lesson regarding the importance of taking care of our earth.