Middle School Lesson Plans
Middle School Lesson Plans from the 2008/09 Project
Adaptation and Evolution
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 Rachel Connelly
Your mission: Report Back Rachel Connelly
This is a fun lesson that reviews locomotion, the ability to obtain resources, and defenses of animals.
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