Middle School Lesson Plans (Page 9)

Art & Science: Decomposition

Lesson Plan Grade: 4th-6th

© 2017 California Academy of Sciences Which material best protects construction paper from fading? Set up an investigation to find out how effective different materials are at blocking sunlight! Then, use your results to inform an artistic composition. Read more

Bacterial Adaptations and Their Application in Genetic Engineering

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th

Students explore adaptations by researching how animals, plants, and bacteria change based on their environment. They grow bacterial colonies in various environments and hypothesize how each environment will affect the cell culture size and color. After a day of pre-growth, the culture is spun down in a centrifuge and the cell pellet is analyzed. Finally, students research bacteria adaptations that allow them to survive in extreme environments then brainstorm how the… Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-LS1-5. Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms.

Bending Plant Roots with Gravity

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th

1

2

3

4

5

9 reviews

How do plants know which way is up or down? How does this affect which direction their roots will grow? In this lesson plan, your students will investigate how changes in a plant's environment, like the direction of gravity, affect the shape of its growing roots over a period of several days. Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-LS1-5. Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms.

Biomimicry: Echolocation in Robotics

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th

Students use ultrasonic sensors and LEGO© MINDSTORMS© EV3 robots to emulate how bats use echolocation to detect obstacles. They measure the robot's reaction times as it senses objects at two distances and with different sensor threshold values, and again after making adjustments to optimize its effectiveness. Like engineers, they gather and graph data to analyze a given design (from the tutorial) and make modifications to the sensor placement and/or threshold… Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-ETS1-4. Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved.

Black in the Spotlight

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th

1

2

3

4

5

2 reviews

How does light interact with matter? In this fun hands-on lesson, your students explore how different materials transmit, absorb and/or reflect light. They create their own experiments to demonstrate these phenomena and use a phones' built-in light sensor and a sensor app to add quantitative data to their arguments. Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-PS4-2. Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.

Bubbling Plants Experiment to Quantify Photosynthesis

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th

Students learn a simple technique for quantifying the amount of photosynthesis that occurs in a given period of time, using a common water plant (Elodea). They use this technique to compare the amounts of photosynthesis that occur under conditions of low and high light levels. Before they begin the experiment, however, students must come up with a well-worded hypothesis to be tested. After running the experiment, students pool their data to get a large sample size,… Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-LS1-6. Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for the role of photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and out of organisms.
5-LS1-1. Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water.

Classroom Noise Meter

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th

1

2

3

4

5

2 reviews

Do you feel like it is always too loud in your classroom? In this lesson you can find out exactly how loud it is. Using a mobile phone and a sensor app, your students will measure and graph the sound levels in your classroom for different working scenarios. How loud are your students when doing independent work, having a group discussion, or listening to their teacher? Based on your students' data, you will determine as a class which sound levels are ideal for each scenario and create a… Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-PS4-1. Use mathematical representations to describe a simple model for waves that includes how the amplitude of a wave is related to the energy in a wave.

Climate Change and Sea Level Rise

Lesson Plan Grade: 5th-8th

1

2

3

4

5

3 reviews

"Surprise Glacier" © 2010 Jiuguang Wang Do sea levels rise when ice melts? Does it matter whether the ice is on land or in the ocean? Students design an experiment to find out. They collect data, graph their results, and interpret their findings. Along the way, they learn about density, displacement, and climate change. Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

5-PS1-2. Measure and graph quantities to provide evidence that regardless of the type of change that occurs when heating, cooling, or mixing substances, the total weight of matter is conserved.
MS-PS1-5. Develop and use a model to describe how the total number of atoms does not change in a chemical reaction and thus mass is conserved.

Comparing COVID-19 Variants: A Real-World Look at the Effect of Mutations

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-12th

1

2

3

4

5

4 reviews

We hear about COVID-19 variants all the time, but what is a virus variant, how do they come about, and why do they matter? Students will explore these question and more in this lesson plan. They will use SimPandemic, a free online tool, to model what COVID-19 outbreaks look like when communities are exposed to different COVID-19 variants and understand how genetic mutations in a virus can lead to functional changes. Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-LS2-4. Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
MS-LS3-1. Develop and use a model to describe why structural changes to genes (mutations) located on chromosomes may affect proteins and may result in harmful, beneficial, or neutral effects to the structure and function of the organism.
HS-LS3-2. Make and defend a claim based on evidence that inheritable genetic variations may result from (1) new genetic combinations through meiosis, (2) viable errors occurring during replication, and/or (3) mutations caused by environmental factors.

Compost: A Scientific Investigation

Lesson Plan Grade: 3rd-7th

1

2

3

4

5

2 reviews

"Compost" © 2014 Philip Cohen In this two-part inquiry-based activity, students will practice using the scientific method while learning about decomposition, exploring how some types of garbage will decompose while others will not. Students can then go on to design their own experiment to test different variables affecting the rate of decomposition. Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

5-LS2-1. Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.

Middle School Lesson Plans (138 results)

Explore Our Science Videos