Create a Water Cycle with your students while also teaching them about Internet Safety and Digital Citizenship!

Dive into the exciting world of augmented reality while exploring how to conserve our natural resources.  Get your creative juices flowing as you design your very own natural resource drawing and bring it to life using AR technology and apps.

This 2 day lesson will start off by teaching the students about various materials we use in the classroom and how we can save on waste in the classroom.  We will learn about some of the things we use to write and how over time that has changed.  This will then take the students into day 2 of the lesson where they will learn about recycling and the importance of taking care of our Earth whether it be by taking care of various materials in our classroom to learning about things that we can recycle to help the Earth’s landfills with waste.

Students will take a virtual reality tour of the five regions in Virginia and the main agricultural products in each. During the tours, students will place miniature models of agricultural products on the map of Virginia regions. Learn about the impacts of networking and virtual reality field trips.

Students will learn a new vocabulary word - Responsibility.  Read a story about some responsible bugs and then brainstorm ideas for being responsible at home and in the classroom.

Simple diagram illustrating the process of photosynthesis.

Download this flow chart as a word document and share with students in google classroom or print the paper copies. Please feel free to edit and make any needed changes to make it relevant to your classroom.

A modified version of the chart has also been included to accommodate different learning styles and provide differentiation.

Simple diagram illustrating the process of photosynthesis.

Download this flow chart as a word document and share with students in google classroom or print the paper copies. Please feel free to edit and make any needed changes to make it relevant to your classroom.

A modified version of the chart has also been included to accommodate different learning styles and provide differentiation.

Simple diagram illustrating the process of photosynthesis.

Download this flow chart as a word document and share with students in google classroom or print the paper copies. Please feel free to edit and make any needed changes to make it relevant to your classroom.

A modified version of the chart has also been included to accommodate different learning styles and provide differentiation.

Simple diagram illustrating the process of photosynthesis and cellular respiration including an option with the chemical formula to accommodate different learning styles and provide differentiation.

Download this flow chart as a word document and share with students in google classroom or print the paper copies. Please feel free to edit and make any needed changes to make it relevant to your classroom.

Learn about the importance of getting outside and cultivating a relationship with nature. While there is an increasing divide between people and the outdoors, we know that deep connections with nature are important to a human’s well-being. Why do we need this connection? What do nature and wildlife do for us? Join us to hear from a variety of nature enthusiasts on how and why they relate to nature, and how we can help others continue to grow and develop their relationships with the outdoor world.

Students will explore the opportunities and challenges of using renewable energy by selecting a Minecraft Biome and developing a home that utilizes the unique characteristics of that biome to create energy. The lesson is intended to be completed in two different parts. In Part 1, students will learn about how Clean Energy sources can be different based on the biome. They will also familiarize themselves with Minecraft. In Part 2, students will select a specific Minecraft world (6 different biomes) and will design and build a home that uses a renewable energy source unique to that biome.  

Please click on the link above to access a google document I created to review renewable and nonrenewable resources. I assigned this for homework as a graded test review. This review covers the entire unit.

Here's a three day (4.5 hours) project that introduces and engages Science 6 students in describing or modeling energy transformations, as well as comparing and analyzing advantages and challenges for each type of energy source. This project has students practicing science content from SOLs 6.1, 6.4, 6.6, and 6.9. 

In this lesson, students will use Starburst candy to model the 3 different rock types. At the end of the lesson, students will identify rocks as sedimentary, metamorphic, or igneous and be able to explain how each rock is formed.

This lesson is a great resource for reviewing the rock types and the rock cycle.  students should have a basic understaing and knowledge of the rock types, their features, and how they change.  Great for reinforcement tool prior to assessment.

What is the Essential Understanding(s)/Big Ideas that are applicable to this lesson and refer to VA SOL and Framework if applicable?ES.2 The student will demonstrate an understanding of the nature of science and scientific reasoning and logic. Key concepts include b) evidence is required to evaluate hypotheses and explanations; c) observation and logic are essential for reaching a conclusion;What is the essential objective in this lesson?To help these students better understand/identify necessary information that they may need while doing research projects or for this course their final project.

This ThingLink provides links to several OERs curated from various repositories (oercommons.org, sharemylesson.com, curriki.org, app.partcipate.com) that all deal with teaching the states of matter to upper elementary students.  There is a full lesson plan from Ohio State University that deals with the water cycle, and specifically, with storage of fresh water in glaciers and snow.  There is a lot of information regarding student misconceptions and how to teach the content, as well as literacy resources and student engagement activities.  There is also a link to a full unit plan of labs and investigations, including PowerPoints and lab sheets for students.  Linked on this ThingLink, you'll also find an introduction video from PBS and a song about matter on YouTube.  Please feel free to add resources to remix!!

Learn about the connections between the arts and the Earth. Make art at home using natural and recycled materials, travel the world to see some of the planet’s oldest paintings (in caves!), and check out an Earth-friendly music video featuring primary school students in Mamelodi Township, South Africa.

Lesson Length: 1-2 hoursGrade Level: 6-8Students will explore population interaction and impacts on an ecosystem through a breakout box activity grounded in engineering design thinking. Students will learn about how bees are interrelated within an ecosystem by solving clues to save a hive from a breakout box and they will engineer a plan to incorporate bees into a community that addresses concerns, benefits and trade offs for the bees and the humans.This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1657263. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.