Elementary School Lessons

• 3rd Rock from the Sun's Baby Rock
  Show how the moon goes through each of the phases in your classroom. Students have a chance to actively see each phase of the moon and make connections to what they see in the sky.

• The Plastic Bag Greenhouse
  Students will observe, record, and describe how roots, stems, and leaves grow.

• A Dog Eat Dog World
  Students label animals as producers, consumers and/or decomposers and explain the basis of that designation. They distinguish between aquatic and terrestrial organisms.

• An Invitation to Simple Machines
  The principal with a hurt foot needs our help! Students are challenged to move the principal around the school by exploring simple machines and then writing an invitation for parents to view the machines and web page reports that they create.

• Benjamin Franklin and Electricity
  This is an interdisciplinary lesson combining exercises in Language Arts and Science, and includes discussions and written assignments on one of the seminal figures in science, Benjamin Franklin, and continues with simple experiments in electricity.

• Cell-a-bration
  Students compare and contrast the structures of a plant cell and an animal cell by creating a graphic organizer and a food model in preparation for writing an essay comparing and contrasting the two kinds of cells.

• Cells in the Making
  How do cells keep us alive? Through reading and hands-on activities, students learn about parts of a cell, and their functions in carrying out processes for life. Study skills are taught and modeled as students make entries in science notebooks.

• Cells, Building Blocks of Life
  What is the basic unit of all living things? Through reading and hands-on activities, students learn about cells, and their function in carrying out processes for life. Study skills are taught and modeled as students make entries in science notebooks.

• Dangerous Storms
  The lesson promotes awareness of media language for dangerous storms. It stresses preparation, evacuation, and emergency assistance, and problem-solving techniques for emergency situations. Use in a second or third grade classroom with ESOL.

• Destination Outer Space
  This lesson allows students to use effective writing skills, their imagination, and their knowledge of the nine planets. Students use these three items as they create travel pamphlets to the planets in our solar system.

• Discovering Our Planets
  In this lesson, the children explore through research and activities our solar system of planets. Using cooperative grouping and interactions, the students will gain an understanding of how the characteristics of the planets differ from one another.

• Does One Tree a Forest Make?
  Students take a walk around the schoolyard looking at and identifying the trees. One leaf for each tree is collected. A chart is developed that represents the population of trees on the schoolground.

• Feed Your Cells
  What happens to the food we eat? How does it help our bodies? In this lesson, students learn about the human digestive system through reading and activities. Study skills are taught and modeled.

• Flight Fair
  The teacher seizes the teachable moment to announce The Flight Fair, an opportunity for the students to conduct their personal investigations into paper airplane flight.

• Here It Goes Again!
  This lesson is designed to encourage first grade students to work on patterns in nature and to recognize how different living things adapt to different environments.

• Human Body Quiz
  Are your neurons alive? Does your larynx vibrate? Students review the various functions and organs of the human body systems as they participate in “The Human Body Quiz” in preparation for the summative assessment of the body systems.

• I Need Air
  Our cells need oxygen to live, but how do they get the oxygen? In this lesson, students learn about the organs of the respiratory system as they read articles and participate in activities. Study skills are taught and modeled.

• Make Life Simple
  This activity introduces students to simple machines. Pictures of real world objects help students know the six simple machines.

• Moving to the Beat of the Heart
  Are you familiar with the thump of your heartbeat? In this lesson, students learn about the organs of the circulatory systems as they practice various study skills. Students learn how to establish their resting heart rates.

• On the Move
  Can you wiggle your ears? It takes control of the face muscles to wiggle your ears. In this lesson, students learn about the muscular system of the human body as they read articles and participate in activities. Study skills are stressed.

• Our Body Systems
  Students demonstrate learned knowledge that the human body is made up of different systems whose functions are related.

• Plant Parts with Sequencing Cube
  Students will learn the parts of the plant by looking at live plants, listening to the story JACK'S GARDEN by Henry Cole, researching and sequencing the various plant parts.

• Sinking in the Rain (or Drought)
  The students learn ways that sinkholes are formed as well as the effects of sinkholes on humans and the natural environment.

• Systems Working Together
  How do the systems of the human body work together to carry out the processes needed for life? Through various activities, students become aware of the interdependence of our body systems. Students also practice reading in the content area.

• Take A Splash into the Gene Pool
  In this third lesson and fifth day of the Unit Plan: Discovering Who I Am, students further explore inherited characteristics by conducting a simulated experiment where they create a person using simple genetic coding.

• The Human Body, Incorporated
  Joe is the CEO of the Human Body, Incorporated. He is downsizing. The students research each body system and write a letter to Joe persuading him to keep specific body parts as employees.

• The Incredible Edible Rocks
  As a culminating activity to the study of rocks, students observe three different goodies and compare them to the three different types of rocks, noting the similarities and differences.

• The Making of an Organ
  How do cells make up our organs? Using a science reading, the study skills of outlining, note writing, and using a graphic organizer are taught. Students make a model of a tongue showing cells, tissues and the organ.

• The Skeleton Within
  We know that dancing skeletons aren’t real, but are our bones alive? Through an article read and various activities, students learn about the bones, joints, and other attributes of our skeletal system. Students create outlines and graphic organizers.

• The Water Cycle and Clementine
  After a demonstration and discussion of the water cycle, a water cycle song is learned to the tune of Clementine. Students then draw and label the water cycle in their journals, add vocabulary words to the word wall and complete KWL charts.

• Turtle Sightings on BEACON Sitemaker
  Students work together in groups to create web-based reports that demonstrate structural characteristics of sea turtles and how they have adapted to live in their marine environment.

• Water Cycle - A SiteMaker Presentation
  The student researches and writes a report on a specific element of the water cycle. The final draft of this report is published using SiteMaker, a web page multimedia program available free from Beacon Learning Center.

• Weather Watchers
  Students observe change in daily weather conditions and recognize the consistency of weather patterns by completing a five-day observation sheet and science journal entry.

• What a Waste!
  How does the body keep its cells clean? Through reading in the content area, study skills, and various activities, students learn about the kidney, bladder, and function of our excretory (urinary) system.

• What is the Matter with Water?
  How fast can you make an ice cube melt? After students observe water as a liquid, solid, and gas, they compete to see how fast they can make an ice cube melt.

• What's the Matter with that Cup?
  Which restaurant gives you more bang for your buck? Students measure volume, circumference, and height of fast food cups, find which one has the greatest volume, and compare/contrast those measurements to discover any correlations between them.

• Where, Oh Where, Did The Manatee Go?
  Students become researchers, looking for the factors that affect the manatee’s environment in south Florida.

• Signs of Autumn
  This is a culminating activity on the study of photosynthesis, how chlorophyll is important to leaves, and why leaves change colors in the fall.

• You Have Nerve!
  How do you know when your nose itches or when you are hurt? Did you know that body parts communicate using the nervous system to send messages to and from our brain? Students learn about the nervous system as they participate in a variety of activities.

Middle School Lessons

• Animals in Research - Right or Wrong?
  Students research and discuss a sensitive or controversial issue and attempt to make a decision based on group findings.

• Ask the Antlion
  Students learn about basic biological principles through using the scientific processes of observation and recording as they examine live insects (antlions).

• Atom and Eve
  We will begin with the Hydrogen atom. The students will use a concept map to define and share their information about the Hydrogen atom. They will construct a model of a Hydrogen atom using simple low cost materials.

• Cell Factory
  This activity is a fun way for the students to demonstrate their understanding of the basic structures of cells and the essential functions in cells. Students build a model of a factory where each factory part is compared to a cell part via the function.

• Cell Types
  Students create cartoon characters which compare and contrast two types of cells: nerve and muscle. Cartoon characters show how these two cells are similar, how they are different, and the relationship between the two cell types.

• Creating My Personal Animal ABC Book
  Students create an Animal ABC book to present to a young child. Along the way they research specific information about animals.

• Dare to be [Punnett] Square
  This lesson familiarizes the students with Punnett squares, specifically: purpose, application and interpretation. Key terms from previous lessons (included below) are reviewed/reinforced before data is applied to a Punnett square and interpreted.

• Edible Cells
  Students will construct edible models of a plant cell and an animal cell and be able to state the functions of the organelles.

• EggCELLent Diffusion
  Students observe the effects of diffusion on eggs by observing the change in the egg's size and the amount of liquid substance that remains.

• Endangered Species
  Students will be able to identify endangered species, identify physical & behavioral characteristics, work in a group for research and presentation, and create a PowerPoint presentation with their findings.

• Fascinating Factors
  This activity is a fun and engaging way to introduce biotic and abiotic factors by the use of nature observation , peer discussion and the production of a collage.

• Filling Up Florida
  Students study factors controlling Florida's population growth and related environmental impacts. Students research natural community types and construct maps (including a large-sized map of Florida) to be used for role play/simulation activity.

• Fluid Forces: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Part 2
  This lesson is Part 2 in an instructional 'read aloud' lesson that relates the novel back to a science unit on forces in fluids.

• Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
  This lesson is to help students learn the differences between chemical and physical weathering and learn the effects of climate on the weathering process.

• Household Products - Past to Future
  Students will research and explore the development of household inventions.

• How Dense Are You?
  How did Archimedes find the gold crown? Students relate how density is a value that describes the material of which the object is made, and is not influenced by the object's shape or size in any way.

• How Do You Do?
  Students research organisms living in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and identify their relationships.

• How Much Do You Really Weigh?
  Students use a computer to analyze how their weights are affected if the students are placed on various planetary bodies. The students will record their findings on a data sheet.

• Human Impact on the Everglades Environment
  Students research changes the Army Corps made in Everglades, focus on the human impact on the environment, design graphic organizers, summary statements, develop a Florida map of the Everglades region and give a presentation about what they learned.

• Invertebrates, No Backbone, No Problem
  Students study characteristics of invertebrates, observe a micro-habitat for two weeks, research an invertebrate, create a profile poster, and present a report.

• Is It Kinetic or Potential ?
  This lesson is an introduction to energy. It allows students to explore real life activities that demonstrate kinetic and potential energy.

• Is it slimy? Does it have fur? Is it really a bird?
  Students identify vertebrate animals based on characteristics through the creation of collages in cooperative learning groups.

• Mind Games
  The teacher receives a letter from the CEO of Nasbro, Inc. Nasbro is conducting a nation-wide search for new game ideas. Teams of students will develop and produce a game prototype that could be mass produced and sold to every adolescent in the world.

• Mr./Ms.Scientist, This is Your Life
  Students create a timeline of ten events in chronological order about a scientist to include his/her accomplishments. Students practice by completing a personal timeline in which they follow verbal instructions.

• Oh Where, Oh Where, Can My Industry Be?
  Youth scientists conduct observational studies of three ecosystems. Using the Web World Wonders site cameras, they gather data to justify the establishment of an industrialized park at one site over the others.

• Probing Our Solar System
  This lesson uses structured, small group activities and individual work incorporating student research on space satellites and probes and international connections. Student groups construct information disks, timelines, and written reports.

• Sources of Energy
  Students research various methods for preparing food and analyze energy sources.

• Space, The Final Frontier
  Students use electronic technology to find information on the solar system and construct a graph to explain the information.They also demonstrate a solar or lunar eclipse by providing a written explanation with an illustration of the planet chosen.

• To Be or Not to Be
  In this lesson, students define the terms, abiotic and biotic. They compare and contrast biotic and abiotic factors presented while using the web cameras on the Web World Wonders website.

• Web of Life
  Students investigate using the Internet as their tool to learn about the food web and construct a food web in which Alaska is their basis of research. Students then construct their own food web after researching a habitat of their choice.

• What On Earth
  What on Earth Is Earth science? That is what students will discover in this lesson through concept mapping, discussion, and self-discovery.