This is a lesson plan I developed to help students understand some of my research while having fun being 'real' scientists. Students went on a field trip to a swamp, collected samples, and used keys to identify the bugs in their sample and attempted to determine the water quality.

Adaptation and Evolution Lesson Plan and Activity Sheet Whitney Ruppel

Weather

Exploring the Sun's Energy Lesson Plan Rachel Connelly

Exploring the Sun's Energy Activity Sheet Rachel Connelly

Exploring the Sun's Energy Graph Sheet Rachel Connelly

This lesson allows students to graph temperatures of sand and water heating, ultimately showing that sand heats and cools faster.

The Movement of Air Lesson Plan (learning the different types of weather fronts) Rachel Connelly

The Movement of Air Activity Sheet Rachel Connelly

The is a neat activity that allows students to see how hot and cold air move by using hot and cold water.

Animals

How do animals protect themselves? Rachel Connelly

How do animals protect themselves? Activity Packet Rachel Connelly

Students discover how animals defend themselves through a hands on lesson.

How do animals move? Rachel Connelly

How do animals move? Activity Packet Rachel Connelly

The students discover why and how animals move by exploring fossils and the concept locomotion.

Your mission: Report Back Lesson Plan Rachel Connelly

Your mission: Report Back Activity Sheet Rachel Connelly

This is a fun lesson that reviews locomotion, the ability to obtain resources, and defenses of animals.

Groggy Goldfish Lesson Plan Rachel Connelly

Groggy Goldfish Activity Sheet Rachel Connelly

This lesson teaches kids the difference between how cold and warm blooded animals react to their surroundings (hot and cold).

Adaptations of Birds Lesson Plan Rachel Connelly

Adaptations of Birds Activity Sheet Rachel Connelly

This lesson allows students to explore how birds have adapted to obtain resources.

Now you see it. Now you don't! Lesson Plan Rachel Connelly

This lesson is a fun and quick way of introducing camouflage and making this concept stick with the kids.

Physical Science

Forces and Masses and Motion, Oh My! Lesson Plan Erin Cziraki- 8th Grade

Forces and Masses and Motion, Oh My! Student Activity Pack

This lesson investigates what effect varying force and mass has on the motion of an object.

Properties and Behaviors of Waves Lesson Plan Erin Cziraki- 8th Grade

Properties and Behaviors of Waves Student Activity Pack

This lesson investigates the different types and behaviors of waves using quick, simple demonstrations.

Do You Hear What I Hear? Lesson Plan Erin Cziraki- 8th Grade

Do You Hear What I Hear? Student Activity Pack

This lesson explores the interactions between sound and the ear, the process of hearing, and why there are different sounds.

Sound Waves lesson plan Whitney Ruppel- 8th Grade

Sound Waves student activity sheet Whitney Ruppel- 8th Grade

This lesson is intended to faciliate students' understanding of sound waves including their properties and behaviors. It is a good introduction that could later be applied to the concept of hearing.

Layers in the Sand Lesson Plan and Activity Sheet (long version) Erin Cziraki- 8th Grade

Image of layered sand to use with "Layers in the Sand" and "Velocity Review"

Velocity Review Lesson Plan (short version of "Layers in the Sand")

The two lessons listed above both deal with the concept of velocity and require students to measure parameters and use a formula to calculate velocity.

Earth Science

Rock Cycle Lesson Plan Erin Cziraki- 8th Grade

Rock Cycle Power Point Presentation

A fun, hands-on activity that does a great job of demonstrating the steps of the rock cycle using sugar cubes and crayons.

Rock Cycle Crayon Activity Whitney Ruppel- 8th grade

This is a great activity that helped students visualize and understand the rock cycle. They loved melting the crayons and got really into it!

Sedimentary Rock Lesson Plan Whitney Ruppel- 8th Grade

Students are able to put together a sedimentary rock and see how they are formed underwater. This also incorporates a good amount of math and graphing practice.

Sedimentary Rock Activity Sheet Whitney Ruppel- 8th Grade

Haiti Earthquake Epicenter and Mapping Activity Whitney Ruppel~ 8th grade (28 January 2010)

An activity I made with the data from the earthquake in Haiti to help students practice their mapping skills while using what they have learned about earthquakes.

Energy

Making a Battery Lesson Plan and Student Worksheet Rachel Connelly

This is a neat fun lesson to introduce chemical energy and parts of a battery (2-22).

Lever Activities Rachel Connelly

Two fun lever activites that help the students understand how levers work and how changing the position of the fulcrum changes the effort load (2-24).