How do things inside our bodies work together to make us feel …
How do things inside our bodies work together to make us feel the way we do? This unit on metabolic reactions in the human body starts out with students exploring a real case study of a middle-school girl named M’Kenna, who reported some alarming symptoms to her doctor. Her symptoms included an inability to concentrate, headaches, stomach issues when she eats, and a lack of energy for everyday activities and sports that she used to play regularly. She also reported noticeable weight loss over the past few months, in spite of consuming what appeared to be a healthy diet. Her case sparks questions and ideas for investigations around trying to figure out which pathways and processes in M’Kenna’s body might be functioning differently than a healthy system and why.
OpenSciEd content is highly rated in EdReports and is aligned to NGSS standards.
Where does food come from and where does it go next? This …
Where does food come from and where does it go next? This unit on the cycling of matter and photosynthesis begins with 7th grade students reflecting on what they ate for breakfast. Students are prompted to consider where their food comes from and consider which breakfast items might be from plants. Then students taste a common breakfast food, maple syrup, and see that according to the label, it is 100% from a tree.
OpenSciEd content is highly rated in EdReports and is aligned to NGSS standards.
How does changing an ecosystem affect what lives there? This unit on …
How does changing an ecosystem affect what lives there? This unit on ecosystem dynamics and biodiversity begins with students reading headlines that claim that the future of orangutans is in peril and that the purchasing of chocolate may be the cause. Students then examine the ingredients in popular chocolate candies and learn that one of these ingredients--palm oil--is grown on farms near the rainforest where orangutans live. This prompts students to develop initial models to explain how buying candy could impact orangutans.
OpenSciEd content is highly rated in EdReports and is aligned to NGSS standards.
How do changes in the Earth's system impact our communities and what …
How do changes in the Earth's system impact our communities and what can we do about it? This unit on Earth’s resources and human impact begins with students observing news stories and headlines of drought and flood events across the United States. Students figure out that these drought and flood events are not normal and that both kinds of events seem to be related to rising temperatures. This prompts them to develop an initial model to explain how rising temperatures could cause both droughts and floods and leads students to wonder what could cause rising temperatures, too. This initial work sets students up to ask questions related to the query: How do changes in Earth’s system impact our communities and what can we do about it?
OpenSciEd content is highly rated in EdReports and is aligned to NGSS standards.
This classroom activity will show students that there is a lot we …
This classroom activity will show students that there is a lot we don't know about science, for example life throughout the universe. It will hopefully encourage students to question what we know and don't know, and exploration and study of the unknown.
Why do things sometimes get damaged when they hit each other? Oh, …
Why do things sometimes get damaged when they hit each other? Oh, no! I’ve dropped my phone! Most of us have experienced the panic of watching our phones slip out of our hands and fall to the floor. We’ve experienced the relief of picking up an undamaged phone and the frustration of the shattered screen. This common experience anchors learning in the Contact Forces unit as students explore a variety of phenomena to figure out, “Why do things sometimes get damaged when they hit each other?”
OpenSciEd content is highly rated in EdReports and is aligned to NGSS standards.
How can a sound make something move? In this unit, students develop …
How can a sound make something move? In this unit, students develop ideas related to how sounds are produced, how they travel through media, and how they affect objects at a distance. Their investigations are motivated by trying to account for a perplexing anchoring phenomenon — a truck is playing loud music in a parking lot and the windows of a building across the parking lot visibly shake in response to the music.
OpenSciEd content is highly rated in EdReports and is aligned to NGSS standards.
How can a magnet move another object without touching it? This unit …
How can a magnet move another object without touching it? This unit launches with a slow-motion video of a speaker as it plays music. In the previous unit, students developed a model of sound. This unit allows students to investigate the cause of a speaker’s vibration in addition to the effect.
OpenSciEd content is highly rated in EdReports and is aligned to NGSS standards.
How are we connected to the patterns we see in the sky …
How are we connected to the patterns we see in the sky and space? Humans have always been driven by noticing, recording, and understanding patterns and by trying to figure out how we fit within much larger systems. In this unit, students begin observing the repeating biannual pattern of the Sun setting perfectly aligned between buildings in New York City along particular streets and then try to explain additional patterns in the sky that they and others have observed. Students draw on their own experiences and the stories of family or community members to brainstorm a list of patterns in the sky. And listen to a series of podcasts highlighting indigenous astronomies from around the world that emphasize how patterns in the sky set the rhythms for their lives, their communities, and all life on Earth, and these are added to their growing list of related phenomena (other patterns in the sky people have observed).
OpenSciEd content is highly rated in EdReports and is aligned to NGSS standards.
Why are living things different from one another? This unit on genetics …
Why are living things different from one another? This unit on genetics starts out with students noticing and wondering about photos of two cattle, one of whom has significantly more muscle than the other. The students then observe photos of other animals with similar differences in musculature: dogs, fish, rabbits, and mice. After developing initial models for the possible causes of these differences in musculature, students explore a collection of photos showing a range of visible differences.
OpenSciEd content is highly rated in EdReports and is aligned to NGSS standards.
How could things living today be connected to the things that lived …
How could things living today be connected to the things that lived long ago? At the beginning of this unit, students hear about the surprising fossil of an ancient penguin (nicknamed “Pedro”) in a podcast from the researchers who found and identified the fossil. Students analyze data about modern penguins and Pedro to develop initial explanations for how these penguins could be connected. They brainstorm about 1) Where did all the ancient penguins go? 2) Where did all the different species of modern penguins come from? and 3) What other organisms alive today might also be connected to organisms that lived long ago?
OpenSciEd content is highly rated in EdReports and is aligned to NGSS standards.
A video lesson exploring the levels of organization in a living organism …
A video lesson exploring the levels of organization in a living organism from smallest to largest. Learn the smaller particles that make up an organism. [1:58]
A very good description of the role that eosinophils play in the …
A very good description of the role that eosinophils play in the human body, and how they complicate the asthma reaction in some people. Good graphics and contextual information on the blood.
Explore different types of landforms and water bodies found in familiar and …
Explore different types of landforms and water bodies found in familiar and remote locations on Earth's surface in this video gallery from WGBH and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Students get a unique perspective of the vast variety of landforms and water bodies in the world as they observe satellite imagery and astronaut photography that capture of different landforms and water bodies in the shape of different letters of the alphabet. To view the Activity, Background Essay, and Teaching Tips for this media gallery, go to Support Materials below.
This animated essay from "American Experience" explains the difference between alternating and …
This animated essay from "American Experience" explains the difference between alternating and direct electric current and offers in-depth explanations about the role played by a battery, light bulb, wire, and generator. [2:27]
With the increase of free satellite data combined with scientific algorithms and …
With the increase of free satellite data combined with scientific algorithms and cloud computing capacity, developing affordable operational monitoring systems for irrigation management in Asia is now feasible. The use of virtual field sensors can help farmers improve irrigation management for increased water savings and better crop production. Drone measurements are used to verify the satellite images. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is currently using a mobile application called IrriWatch for irrigation scheduling on select corn, sugar beet, and potato fields in Kazakhstan.
In this lesson, students will learn how to make sense of conflicting …
In this lesson, students will learn how to make sense of conflicting viewpoints from credible sources. They will first read two articles on the same topic (ocean plastic), but with differing viewpoints on the severity of the problem. Then, using a Venn Diagram created in Adobe Spark and a set of critical thinking questions, students will analyze where the sources agree and disagree, and begin to understand why it is a normal part of the scientific method for scientists to not always agree when they do not have enough information.
Estimated time required: 2-3 class periods.
Technology required for this lesson: Design Software, Laptop/Desktop, Tablet.
In this lesson, students will learn what the term “ethics” means, and …
In this lesson, students will learn what the term “ethics” means, and then apply it to the growing field of artificial intelligence. First, students will evaluate a series of scenarios and consider the ethical dilemmas presented in each. Then, after watching two videos on the topic of artificial intelligence (the AlterEgo technology) and reading an article, students will create a persuasive presentation answering this question: “What rules should we create to make sure artificial intelligence continues to expand in an ethical manner?”
Estimated time required: 2-3 class periods.
Technology required for this lesson: Design Software, Laptop/Desktop, Tablet.
AI Snapshots for Science classes includes total of 45 classroom warm-ups. The …
AI Snapshots for Science classes includes total of 45 classroom warm-ups. The 5-minute warm-ups connect AI principles and applications to topics students encounter in a science classroom.
Estimated time required: 5 minutes.
Technology required for this lesson: Laptop/Desktop.
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