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Students can make and annotate weather observations with this interactive drawing tool produced by WGBH. The resulting images can be downloaded, printed, saved, and shared. Students can use the documentation of their firsthand observations to communicate data about their local weather patterns, and—overtime—to describe typical weather conditions expected during a particular season.

Grade(s)

K, 3

Subject Area

Science

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

In this lesson, students will observe a solubility test between salt and sugar. They will then be presented with four known crystals and an unknown. Based on the solubility demonstration, the class will design a solubility test to discover the identity of the unknown.

Students will be able to identify and control variables when designing a solubility test. Students will be able to explain why different substances dissolve to different extents in water.

Grade(s)

8

Subject Area

Science

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

In this lesson, students will investigate the relationship between mass, acceleration, and force as described in Newton’s Second Law of Motion.

Students will work in teams to use a wooden car and rubber bands to toss a small mass off of a car. The car, resting on rollers, will be propelled in opposite directions. Students will vary the mass that is being tossed by each car and change the number of rubber bands used to toss the mass.  Students will then measure how far the car rolls in response to the action force generated.

This lesson was created as part of the 2016 NASA STEM Standards of Practice Project, a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.

Grade(s)

8

Subject Area

Science

Learning Resource Type

Lesson Plan

In this learning activity, students will be introduced to information regarding electronic cigarettes and vaping by answering Fact or Myth questions. Students will indicate their answers using whiteboards or by hand-raising. The teacher will be able to use student responses to gauge their understanding about the effects of electronic cigarettes and vaping on respiratory health. 

This learning activity was created as a result of the ALEX - Alabama Virtual Library (AVL) Resource Development Summit.

Grade(s)

9, 10, 11, 12

Subject Area

Science

Learning Resource Type

Learning Activity

Students will explore how changes in rocks and land formations over time explain the large number of aquatic fossils that can be found across the state of Alabama. They will model volcanic eruptions and fossil formation through a hands-on activity using baking soda, vinegar, and play dough. Then they will read a news article to determine that Alabama was underwater at one time, which explains how aquatic fossils are found across the state. Finally, they will write and illustrate an explanation that shows how layers and fossils found in rock are evidence that these rocks changed over time.

This lesson results from the ALEX Resource Gap Project.

Grade(s)

4

Subject Area

English Language Arts
Science

Learning Resource Type

Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students identify the difference between global warming and climate change. They learn what causes a global rise in sea level, and they test predictions about sea-level rise through a hands-on experiment.

Grade(s)

6

Subject Area

Science

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

Through the use of an experiment, PBS Learning Media videos, and interactives, students will learn how heat is transferred through convection, radiation, and conduction. Students will develop a model to demonstrate their understanding of conduction, convection, and radiation. 

Grade(s)

6, 9, 10, 11, 12

Subject Area

Science

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

In this interactive Nearpod lesson, children will learn about the environment by going outdoors and picking up litter.

This digital lesson is delivered via Nearpod, a free, K-12 student engagement platform. Use these materials for virtual or in-person instruction, or share these resources directly with students and families to support learning at home.

NOTE: Teaching this digital lesson requires a free Nearpod account, but no account or student information is required for students to use Nearpod.

Grade(s)

K

Subject Area

Science

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

In this classroom resource, students will create an animation that reflects climate change.  They will create a storyboard, plan a narration, rehearse and film their animation with stop-motion photography.  

Grade(s)

5

Subject Area

Science
Arts Education

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

Students will create a Rube Goldberg Machine while working in a small group through this lesson.  They will then explain the energy transformations present in their own machine and in those of their classmates.  This will ensure their understanding of the law of conservation of energy as well as energy transformations.  

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

Grade(s)

9, 10, 11, 12

Subject Area

Science

Learning Resource Type

Lesson Plan

The purpose of this activity is to obtain information on the wetlands ecosystem using the Pebble Go Online Encyclopedia. Using the informational text, students will define a wetland, determine where wetlands are located,  identify the plants and animals found in a wetland, and identify the layers of a wetlands ecosystem. Students will write about and illustrate their findings in a trifold brochure. 

This learning activity was created as a result of the ALEX - Alabama Virtual Library (AVL) Resource Development Summit.

Grade(s)

2

Subject Area

English Language Arts
Science

Learning Resource Type

Learning Activity

Students will use the free online coding program, Scratch, to learn the basics of coding and how to use blocks and animations to create an animated animal. Students will show how an animated animal will receive, process, and respond to information using its senses. The students will go through a series of coding steps to create a background and make an animal move and change according to factors in its environment.

This lesson plan was created as a result of the Girls Engaged in Math and Science, GEMS Project.

Grade(s)

4

Subject Area

Digital Literacy and Computer Science
Science

Learning Resource Type

Lesson Plan

In this activity, students learn about waves by comparing and contrasting photographs and watching a hands-on demonstration. Students will gather around a pan of water. Demonstrate how waves of different sizes are formed by tilting the pan in different directions and disturbing the water. Put a cork in the pan to represent a boat on the ocean. Ask students to describe how the cork moves as the waves change in size.

Grade(s)

4

Subject Area

Science

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

The ear is specially designed to change sound waves into signals the brain can understand, allowing you to hear. That is not all they do, though. Your ears also help you balance!

This classroom resource provides a video that will describe the structures of the ear and how they work together to allow us to hear. After utilizing this resource, the students can complete the short test to assess their understanding. 

Grade(s)

4

Subject Area

Science

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

Little Ioda is like a reading machine who has to work quickly to save the day. Enjoy videos and games about simple machines as you learn to find the main idea from text clues or details and to ask and answer questions about non-fiction text.

Grade(s)

K

Subject Area

Science

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

Students will demonstrate their knowledge of animals with bioluminescent characteristics by collaboratively creating a sea animal out of glow in the dark slime. Students will then display their sea animal for the class and explain why their animal uses bioluminescence to survive.  

This activity was created as a result of the Arts COS Resource Development Summit.

Grade(s)

4

Subject Area

Arts Education
Science

Learning Resource Type

Learning Activity

This lesson will engage students in the ways an object can move by applying the forces of push and pull. Students will investigate how to make an object move faster, slower, and stop.

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

Grade(s)

K

Subject Area

Science

Learning Resource Type

Lesson Plan

After watching video clips from the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie, students explore the use of Punnett squares to predict genetic trait inheritance. The objective of this lesson is to articulate concepts related to genetics through direct immersive interaction. Students will describe a trait and give examples; understand the relationship between alleles and heterozygous and homozygous traits; create a 2 x 2 Punnett square and predict traits passed from parents to children; and describe nanotechnology research and engineering in genetics.

Grade(s)

9, 10, 11, 12

Subject Area

Science

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

The teacher will present an informational text from the website, ReadWorks. Students will interact with this non-fiction text by annotating the text digitally. The students will answer the questions associated with the article as an assessment. This learning activity can introduce students to the concept of animals responding to information received through their senses, serve as reinforcement after students have already learned this concept, or be used as an assessment at the conclusion of a lesson. 

Grade(s)

4

Subject Area

English Language Arts
Science

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

Understanding collisions and how they are not, all the same, is a big part of physics. In this video, Dr. Shini discussed mass, momentum, and how many other things dictate how collisions can be unique.

Grade(s)

9, 10, 11, 12

Subject Area

Science

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource
What are the Earth’s most fantastic, and sometimes most violent, geologic changes? Here is a hint: molten rock and ash shooting out of them!

Volcanoes produce some of the Earth's most violent geologic changes, but they are not always violent. Different kinds of volcanoes, including shield, cinder cone, composite, and ashflow caldera, produce different kinds of eruptions.

The classroom resource provides a video that will describe the different varieties of volcanoes and how their eruptions cause changes to Earth's surface. This resource will provide background information to students before they create their own models. There is also a short test that can be used to assess students' understanding.

Grade(s)

6

Subject Area

Science

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

The periodic table is an essential part of any chemistry course. Its simple chart-like appearance belies the wealth of information that it contains. In this lesson, students learn about the origin of the modern periodic table of elements and explore an interactive version that teaches them how to extract information from it. This activity is the first of three lessons. The Strange World of the Electron and Repeating Patterns: The Shape of the Periodic Table will help to further students' understanding of this powerful tool.

Grade(s)

8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Subject Area

Science

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

The object of this activity is to demonstrate the concept of climate change. Historical climate data has been used to show a local area in central England to represent an entire time frame. This learning activity incorporates temperature conversions, graphing, graphical analysis and extensions into the Medieval Warm Period. 

This activity results from the ALEX Resource Gap Project.

Grade(s)

9, 10, 11, 12

Subject Area

Science
Digital Literacy and Computer Science

Learning Resource Type

Learning Activity

Under the Unity and Diversity DCI, students are asked to evaluate data comparing similarities in developing embryos across different organisms. While this is a classic component of understanding evolution, the modern, real-world reason to learn it is to understand the why and how of using model organisms like zebrafish. Students will learn about how model organisms have been used to find treatments to medical problems in the past, how they are used and selected now, and will be able to draw their own conclusions about the similarities among vertebrates vs. other types of animals. This is a stand-alone lesson/investigation but it would be a great bridge between genetics and evolution and could connect to 7th-grade content. 

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

Grade(s)

7

Subject Area

Science

Learning Resource Type

Lesson Plan

The teacher will present an informational fiction text from the website, ReadWorks. The students and teacher can interact with this non-fiction text by annotating the text digitally. The students will answer the questions associated with the article as an assessment. This learning activity would be useful to introduce students to the concept parents and their offspring have similarities and differences in their appearance.

Grade(s)

1

Subject Area

English Language Arts
Science

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

How do defibrillators you see on TV actually work? Physics can explain! In this video, Dr. Shini has the task of breaking down electrical potential energy, electric potential, voltage, capacitors, energy storage, and potential energy.

Grade(s)

9, 10, 11, 12

Subject Area

Science

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

Soil is a layer of rock and decayed plant and animal matter that is layered above bedrock. It also contains water, air, and bacteria. In fact, the soil is packed with everything plants need to grow.

The classroom resource provides a slide show that will describe how soil is formed and its importance to living things on Earth. There is also a short test that can be used to assess students' understanding. Students can use the information presented in this resource to plan their own investigations using soil.

Grade(s)

2, 4

Subject Area

Science

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

In these Hero Elementary activities, children find ways to control how an object moves. They make objects move by pushing or pulling. They push with different amounts of strength, and they aim their pushes in different directions. They make their object bounce off other objects. They use cause-and-effect thinking, and they figure out how to move the object to reach a target.

Grade(s)

K

Subject Area

Science

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

Students will investigate how structures can reduce the effects of sunlight on the Earth’s surface. Students will use recycled materials to design a structure to reduce the effects of sunlight. Students will work in small groups to design and construct their structure. Finally, students will test their structures outside in the sun and record their findings.

This activity was created as a result of the Arts COS Resource Development Summit.

Grade(s)

K

Subject Area

Science
Arts Education

Learning Resource Type

Learning Activity

Magnets are fun to play with, but how can we use magnets to improve our lives?  In this lesson, students explore magnets to determine their strength, polarity, and how they attract and repel each other.  Then they use the engineering design process to create inventions that use magnets to accomplish a task.

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

Grade(s)

3

Subject Area

Science

Learning Resource Type

Lesson Plan

The teacher will present an informational text from the website, ReadWorks. The students and teacher can interact with this non-fiction text by annotating the text digitally. The students will answer the questions associated with the article as an assessment. This learning activity can be used to provide information regarding the varying habitats of animals, serve as reinforcement after students have already learned this concept, or be used as an assessment at the conclusion of a lesson. This learning activity includes a StepRead: StepReads are less complex versions of the original article. StepRead1 (SR1) is less complex than the original article, and StepRead2 (SR2) is less complex than SR1. This will allow the teacher to use this learning activity with students of varying ability levels.

Grade(s)

2

Subject Area

English Language Arts
Science

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

What is light? That is something that has plagued scientists for centuries. It behaves like a wave and a particle. Is it both? In this episode of Crash Course Physics, Dr. Shini introduces the idea of quantum mechanics and how it helps us understand light. Also, there's this thing called the ultraviolet catastrophe.

Grade(s)

9, 10, 11, 12

Subject Area

Science

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

Severe storms can really wreak some havoc on the Earth. Thunderstorms bring lightning and strong winds, but tornadoes, hurricanes, and blizzards can cause even greater destruction.

The classroom resource provides a slide show that will describe types of severe weather that can occur and their possible impacts on Earth. There is also a short test that can be used to assess students' understanding.

Grade(s)

K, 6

Subject Area

Science

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

Students use the engineering design process to create a magnetic train in this lesson plan created by teacher Heather Rizzo.

Grade(s)

3

Subject Area

Science

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

In this activity, the students will activate prior knowledge using ABC brainstorming changes in matter.  students will use Readworks "Mix the Old With the New” to learn about chemical properties.  The students will read an article and answer questions about chemical properties.  Finally, students will construct a summary paragraph from what they learned. 

 This activity was created as a result of the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

Grade(s)

8

Subject Area

Science

Learning Resource Type

Learning Activity
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