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Elementary School Lesson Plans (106 results)

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Can You See Through Me?
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Lesson Plan Grade: 1st
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21 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.
Designs in Nature: Investigate the Branching Structure of Trees
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Lesson Plan Grade: Kindergarten-2nd
Nature is full of objects with many different shapes. Some of these shapes display obvious regularities or distinct patterns, such as stripes, waves, symmetry, or spirals. Each of these natural patterns has evolved over a very long time and serves a specific function that usually helps a plant, animal, or other organism to survive. In this lesson plan, students explore the branching pattern of trees, plants, and leaves. They will make drawings and a leaf rubbing to compare different branching… 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.
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Wind Maze
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Lesson Plan Grade: 4th-12th
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2 reviews
Students will explore the elements by designing a wind maze, a device that can direct the wind along a specific path. Learning Objectives Students will: Design and test a wind maze. Consider how to direct the wind down an intended path by creating bends in the maze. Use observations from their tests to compare solutions and iterate on their designs. NGSS Alignment This lesson helps students prepare for these Next Generation Science Standards Performance Expectations: … Read more
Fossil Fuels: Chocolate Chip Mining
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Lesson Plan Grade: 4th-8th
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11 reviews
© April The problems with using fossil fuels starts with extraction. In this activity, students "mine" chocolate chips out of cookies to demonstrate the effects mining can have on habitats. Read more
NGSS Performance Expectations:
  • 4-ESS3-1. Obtain and combine information to describe that energy and fuels are derived from natural resources and that their uses affect the environment.
  • MS-ESS3-4. Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth's systems.
How are New Materials Invented?
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Video Lesson Grade: 5th
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6 reviews
New materials often involve chemical reactions, and slime is no exception. In this lesson, students will use the engineering design process to design a slime product. They will need to decide on the desired properties for their slime and then experiment to find the best recipe. 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.
  • 5-PS1-4. Conduct an investigation to determine whether the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances.
Paper Bridge Materials Challenge
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Lesson Plan Grade: 2nd
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5 reviews
Steel, concrete, wood—real bridges are built from many different materials. How do engineers decide which materials to use? In this activity, your students will expand on the previous paper bridges lesson plan by building and testing bridges made from different materials. Read more
NGSS Performance Expectations:
  • 2-PS1-2. Analyze data obtained from testing different materials to determine which materials have the properties that are best suited for an intended purpose.
Skydive Into Forces
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Lesson Plan Grade: 3rd
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7 reviews
Forces, which we might instinctively describe as pushes and pulls, are acting on us at all times, but we cannot always see them. This hands-on lesson offers a fun opportunity to explore "invisible" forces like gravity and air resistance. Students will build parachutes and investigate how they allow skydivers to safely land. Read more
NGSS Performance Expectations:
  • 3-PS2-1. Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object.
Sound and Vibrations 1: Rubber Band Guitar
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Lesson Plan Grade: 1st
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24 reviews
Young students know that they can hear sounds, but do they know what causes sounds? In this lesson they will learn that sounds are caused by vibrations, and they will build a fun musical instrument of their own. In the Sound and Vibrations 2: Make Sprinkles Dance, students will learn that sounds can also cause vibrations. Read more
NGSS Performance Expectations:
  • 1-PS4-1. Plan and conduct investigations to provide evidence that vibrating materials can make sound and that sound can make materials vibrate.
Water Transport in Plants
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Lesson Plan Grade: 2nd
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6 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.
What Do Enzymes in Pineapple Juice Do to Milk?
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Lesson Plan Grade: 5th
In this fun chemistry lesson, students will explore chemical reactions by mixing pineapple juice and milk. Students will observe whether the properties of milk change when it is mixed with pineapple juice, as well as how they change. They will then infer from their results whether a chemical reaction happened. In the process, they will not only learn about chemical reactions but also discover the importance of enzymes and their role in the human body. Read more
NGSS Performance Expectations:
  • 5-PS1-4. Conduct an investigation to determine whether the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances.
Earth's Water: A Drop in Your Cup
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Lesson Plan Grade: 3rd-5th
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9 reviews
Photo by Tim McCabe, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Our planet's surface may be mostly covered in water, but how much of that can we use? In this activity, students will see how water is distributed across different sources, how much can be used by humans, and will brainstorm ways to decrease their usage of fresh water. Read more
NGSS Performance Expectations:
  • 5-ESS2-2. Describe and graph the amounts of salt water and fresh water in various reservoirs to provide evidence about the distribution of water on Earth.
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