Jump to main content

Elementary School Lesson Plans (102 results)

Science Buddies' elementary school science projects are the perfect way for elementary school students to have fun exploring science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Our elementary school projects are written and tested by scientists and are specifically created for use by students in the elementary school grades. Students can choose to follow the science experiment as written or put their own spin on the project.

For a personalized list of science projects, elementary schoolers can use the Science Buddies Topic Selection Wizard. The wizard asks students to respond to a series of simple statements and then uses their answers to recommend age-appropriate projects that fit their interests.

Search
Refine Results
Filter by
Sort by
Teaching the Scientific Method with Paper Rockets
Log in to add favorite
Lesson Plan Grade: 3rd-5th
1
2
3
4
5
13 reviews
This lesson will introduce your students to the scientific method using a fun, hands-on activity. A middle school version of this lesson plan is also available. Read more
NGSS Performance Expectations:
  • 3-5—Science Practices.
Featured
Science Project Pathways

Try our new Science Project Pathways in Google Classroom. One tool to plan, assign, and manage a science project in your class.

Simply enter the project start date to get a customizable science project schedule that breaks the science project into a series of smaller more manageable assignments to keep students on track. The assignments use Science Buddies guide to the scientific method to take students step-by-step through a science project. From the schedule, teachers can make assignments in Google Classroom and view student progress on each assignment.

Scientific Method: How Do Scientists Make Discoveries?
Log in to add favorite
Video Lesson Grade: 3rd-8th
1
2
3
4
5
5 reviews
This lesson will introduce students to the scientific method using a fun, hands-on activity about the role of animal camouflage in evolution. During the activity, students will practice each step of the scientific method including doing background research, making a hypothesis, conducting an experiment, analyzing data, and drawing conclusions. By going through this process, students will also learn how camouflage helps animals survive. Read more
NGSS Performance Expectations:
  • 3-LS4-2. Use evidence to construct an explanation for how the variations in characteristics among individuals of the same species may provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing.
  • 3-LS4-3. Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
  • MS-LS4-4. Construct an explanation based on evidence that describes how genetic variations of traits in a population increase some individuals' probability of surviving and reproducing in a specific environment.
  • MS-LS4-6. Use mathematical representations to support explanations of how natural selection may lead to increases and decreases of specific traits in populations over time.
Paper Bridge Design Challenge
Log in to add favorite
Lesson Plan Grade: Kindergarten-2nd
1
2
3
4
5
10 reviews
Your students have probably walked or ridden over a bridge at some point in their lives. In this engineering activity they will design and make bridges out of folded pieces of paper, and test how much weight they can hold with pennies. How does the shape of a bridge affect its strength? Let your students explore and find out with this lesson! This lesson can be expanded to a second lesson looking at how the material a bridge is made out of can change its strength; see second lesson for details. Read more
NGSS Performance Expectations:
  • K-2-ETS1-2. Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem.
  • K-2-ETS1-3. Analyze data from tests of two objects designed to solve the same problem to compare the strengths and weaknesses of how each performs.
Defining an Engineering Design Problem with Paper Airplanes
Log in to add favorite
Lesson Plan Grade: 3rd-5th
1
2
3
4
5
14 reviews
Are paper airplanes a nuisance in your classroom? They don't have to be! Those distractions can be a constructive learning opportunity: use them to teach your students about the engineering design process. In this fun lesson, you will be the "customer" ordering a paper airplane, and your student teams will be engineering companies that will manufacture planes. Before they start making planes, they need to define the criteria and constraints of this engineering problem. Read more
NGSS Performance Expectations:
  • 3-5-ETS1-1. Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.
Make an Anemometer to Measure Wind Speed
Log in to add favorite
Lesson Plan Grade: 3rd
1
2
3
4
5
11 reviews
Help the budding meteorologists in your classroom learn how to measure wind speed by building their own anemometers (wind speed meters) with paper cups and straws. Then do a simple experiment in which students change the "wind" speed using a fan and measure how fast their anemometer spins. Read more
NGSS Performance Expectations:
  • 3-ESS2-1. Represent data in tables and graphical displays to describe typical weather conditions expected during a particular season.
Can You See Through Me?
Log in to add favorite
Lesson Plan Grade: 1st
1
2
3
4
5
5 reviews
In this lesson, students explore firsthand what transparent, translucent, and opaque mean, and how they are related to light. They will place a variety of materials in front of an illuminated object and predict if and how well they will be able to see the object through the material sheet. In doing that, students will realize that different materials allow different amounts of light to pass through. Remote learning: This lesson plan can be conducted remotely. The Engage section of the… Read more
NGSS Performance Expectations:
  • 1-PS4-3. Plan and conduct investigations to determine the effect of placing objects made with different materials in the path of a beam of light.
Tallest Paper Tower Challenge for Grades 3-5
Log in to add favorite
Lesson Plan Grade: 3rd-5th
1
2
3
4
5
3 reviews
Teach your students about the engineering design process with this fun lesson plan. They will design and build the tallest possible tower using nothing but paper and tape, but there's an additional twist on this classic activity. The tower must support a heavy weight at the top without collapsing! Teachers, note that middle school and high school versions of this lesson plan are also available. The 2021 Engineering Challenge is over, but you can still try this fun lesson with your students,… Read more
NGSS Performance Expectations:
  • 3-5-ETS1-3. Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.
Make a Miniature Habitat
Log in to add favorite
Lesson Plan Grade: Kindergarten-2nd
1
2
3
4
5
2 reviews
Get creative with your students in this hands-on lesson plan! Students will use mostly natural materials to build a shoebox habitat that mimics a real-life habitat for an animal of their choice. As they present their miniature habitats to each other, students realize that not all habitats are suitable for all animals. Each animal species needs the resources of a specific habitat to survive. Read more
NGSS Performance Expectations:
  • K-ESS-3-1. Use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants and animals (including humans) and the places they live.
  • 2-LS4-1. Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.>/li>
Make a Thermometer to Study the Temperature
Log in to add favorite
Lesson Plan Grade: 3rd
1
2
3
4
5
2 reviews
Students experience the weather every day: they feel cold spring mornings and warm summer afternoons. This hands-on lesson helps them quantify how hot or cold it is by using a thermometer they will make themselves! Based on their gathered data and observations, students can infer patterns about how temperature varies by location and time. Read more
NGSS Performance Expectations:
  • 3-ESS2-1. Represent data in tables and graphical displays to describe typical weather conditions expected during a particular season.
  • 3-ESS2-2. Obtain and combine information to describe climates in different regions of the world.
Water Transport in Plants
Log in to add favorite
Lesson Plan Grade: 2nd
1
2
3
4
5
4 reviews
Your students might know that plants need water to survive. But how does a plant "drink" and get water from the soil all the way up to its' leaves? In this lesson plan, students will observe how plants (flowers and celery) suck up dye-stained water, which makes the petals and leaves change color! This allows students to visualize the process of how water moves through a plant. Read more
NGSS Performance Expectations:
  • 2-LS2-1. Plan and conduct an investigation to determine if plants need sunlight and water to grow.
1 2 3 4 5 ... 11 >

Explore Our Science Videos

Build a Model Recycling Sorting Machine
Build a Model Recycling Sorting Machine
The Science of Frescoes – STEM Activity
The Science of Frescoes – STEM Activity
Explore How we Breathe
Explore How we Breathe
Quick Links X
Top
Free science fair projects.