Search by:
To search for teaching materials that address particular concepts in our conceptual framework, visit the teaching guide for your grade level:
K-2, 3-5 , 6-8, 9-12, or College
Found 28 resources:
Scientists at work
Grade Level(s):
- 9-12
- College
Source:
- Biointeractive
Resource type:
- classroom activity
Discipline:
- General
Time: 50-150 minutes
Overview
In this activity, students can analyze text or film-based resources, as well as student-driven inquiry projects to reflect on the process of science using the science flowchart journaling tool. This document suggests a possible implementation strategy that complements BioInteractive’s Scientists at Work videos, as well as other media.
Luminous
Grade Level(s):
- 9-12
- College
Source:
- Sam Smartt
Resource type:
- classroom activity
- Science Story
- video
Discipline:
- Space science
Time: 2-8 hours
Overview
The film LUMINOUS (now freely available through many libraries and the Kanopy platform) tells the story of astronomer Larry Molnar as he investigates a distant, double-star system, about which he makes a daring and explosive prediction. Interviews with Dr. Molnar’s diverse set of colleagues, collaborators, and skeptics highlight science as a community and intensely human endeavor, debunking the myth of the lone scientist conducting dispassionate research. The Luminous Science Education Toolkit provides classroom activities to support students' interpretation of the film.
Science and technology on fast forward
Grade Level(s):
- 9-12
- College
Source:
- UC Museum of Paleontology
Resource type:
- Science Story
Discipline:
- Life Science
- Physical Sciences
Time: 20 minutes
Overview
Teach about how technological and scientific advances propel one another forward, using an example that connects the cathode ray tube to modern DNA technologies. Get tips on using Science Stories in class.
The science checklist applied: Cold fusion
Grade Level(s):
- 9-12
- College
Source:
- UC Museum of Paleontology
Resource type:
- Science Story
Discipline:
- Physical Sciences
Time: 15 minutes
Overview
Have your students read about an investigation of cold fusion and compare it to the Science Checklist in order to explore the key traits that make science science. Get more tips on using Science Stories in class.
Beyond the prototype: Animal psychology
Grade Level(s):
- 9-12
- College
Source:
- UC Museum of Paleontology
Resource type:
- Science Story
Discipline:
- Life Science
Time: 15 minutes
Overview
Have your students read about an investigation of animal navigation and compare it to the Science Checklist in order to explore the key traits that make science science. Get more tips on using Science Stories in class.
The science checklist applied: CFCs and the destruction of the ozone layer
Grade Level(s):
- 9-12
- College
Source:
- UC Museum of Paleontology
Resource type:
- Science Story
Discipline:
- Earth science
- Physical Sciences
Time: 15 minutes
Overview
Have your students read about the investigation of the hole in the ozone layer and compare it to the Science Checklist in order to explore the key traits that make science science. Get more tips on using Science Stories in class.
The science checklist applied: Solving DNA’s double helix
Grade Level(s):
- 9-12
- College
Source:
- UC Museum of Paleontology
Resource type:
- Science Story
Discipline:
- Life Science
Time: 15 minutes
Overview
Have your students read about the investigation of DNA's double helix and compare it to the Science Checklist in order to explore the key traits that make science science. Get more tips on using Science Stories in class.
Benjamin Franklin: STEM Activity Toolkit
Grade Level(s):
- 3-5
- 6-8
- 9-12
Source:
- PBS and WETA
Resource type:
- classroom activity
Discipline:
- Earth science
- Physical Sciences
Time: 1-6 hours
Overview
Ken Burns’s four-hour documentary, Benjamin Franklin, explores the revolutionary life of one of the 18th century’s most consequential figures. This STEM Activity Toolkit frames the context of the film series, and provides guidance for viewers to engage in discussions and activities around science, technology, engineering, and math.
Comparing rocks
Grade Level(s):
- K-2
Source:
- Janulaw, Sharon
Resource type:
- classroom activity
Discipline:
- Earth science
Time: 30 minutes
Overview
Learners will observe and sort samples of rocks and minerals to compare and contrast their physical properties. They will record their observations in Science Notebooks.
Dino-Data
Grade Level(s):
- 6-8
Source:
- UC Museum of Paleontology
Resource type:
- classroom activity
Discipline:
- Earth science
- Life Science
Time: 3-4 class periods
Overview
Students examine data about dinosaurs and hypothesize about what the data can tell them. Students modify their hypotheses as more information is revealed and review what they have learned about how science works.
Designing your very own science experiment
Grade Level(s):
- 9-12
Source:
- Stefanski, Mark
Resource type:
- lab activity
Discipline:
- Life Science
Time: 2-4 class periods
Overview
Students design and carry out an experiment using pill bugs (isopods). Other organisms could be used in place of the pill bugs. Students reflect on the process used by charting their pathway on the Science Flowchart.
Exploring how liquids behave
Grade Level(s):
- K-2
Source:
- Janulaw, Sharon
Resource type:
- lab activity
Discipline:
- Physical Sciences
Time: 30 minutes
Overview
Learners observe how liquids behave and record their observations. Then they combine two of the liquids and observe and record how the liquids behave.
Exploring liquids
Grade Level(s):
- K-2
Source:
- Janulaw, Sharon
Resource type:
- classroom activity
Discipline:
- Physical Sciences
Time: 30 minutes
Overview
Learners will use their senses to investigate and observe three liquids. They will see, hear, touch, smell and taste to collect data and to ask and answer questions.
Investigating a Deep Sea Mystery
Grade Level(s):
- 9-12
Source:
- ETOL
Resource type:
- lab activity
Discipline:
- Life Science
Time: 4-5 class periods
Overview
In this lab activity, students examine authentic morphological and phylogenetic data of three fish families and then pose and test alternative hypotheses about the fishes' classification.
Inventing Tomorrow: Water Module
Grade Level(s):
- 6-8
- 9-12
Source:
- WGBH
Resource type:
- classroom activity
Discipline:
- Earth science
Time: 10-12 class periods
Overview
This module uses a film about student Sahithi Pingali, who investigates water quality in her hometown in Bangalore, as a jumping off point for students to expand their understanding of eutrophication and the process of science.
Inventing tomorrow: Air Module
Grade Level(s):
- 6-8
- 9-12
Source:
- WGBH
Resource type:
- classroom activity
Discipline:
- Earth science
Time: 10-12 class periods
Overview
This module (on the right) uses a film about students José, Jesús, and Fernando, who investigate smog in their town in Mexico, as a jumping off point for students to expand their understanding of air pollution, global warming, and the process of science.
Introducing the Understanding Science Flowchart to middle school students
Grade Level(s):
- 6-8
Source:
- UC Museum of Paleontology
Resource type:
- classroom activity
Discipline:
- Earth science
Time: 1-2 class periods
Overview
Students read a story about Walter Alvarez and then plot his scientific journey on the Understanding Science Flowchart. Students find that science is seldom a linear story.
Mystery boxes for grades 3-5
Grade Level(s):
- 3-5
Source:
- Janulaw, Sharon
Resource type:
- classroom activity
Discipline:
- General
Time: One class period
Overview
Working in groups, students pose explanations (hypotheses) for what they are observing and are asked to test their hypotheses. These procedures have been modified from Mystery Boxes: Uncertainty and Collaboration by Jean Beard.
Weathering and erosion
Grade Level(s):
- 3-5
- 6-8
Source:
- Whitfield, Lisé
Resource type:
- lab activity
Discipline:
- Earth science
Time: 4-6 Class periods
Overview
Students will conduct a series of experiments to explore the processes and effects of weathering and erosion.
Watching animals move
Grade Level(s):
- K-2
Source:
- Janulaw, Sharon
Resource type:
- classroom activity
Discipline:
- Earth science
Time: 30 minutes
Overview
Learners will identify the way animals move and the body parts used to move by observing animals, their body parts and their movements.
A science prototype: Rutherford and the atom
Grade Level(s):
- 9-12
- College
Source:
- UC Museum of Paleontology
Resource type:
- classroom activity
- Science Story
Discipline:
- Physical Sciences
Time: 30 minutes
Overview
Have your students read the full article on Rutherford's investigations of the atom and compare it to the Science Checklist in order to explore the key traits that make science science. Get more tips on using Science Stories in class.
The science checklist applied: Studying variable stars
Grade Level(s):
- 9-12
- College
Source:
- UC Museum of Paleontology
Resource type:
- Science Story
Discipline:
- Space science
Time: 20 minutes
Overview
Students can use this reading, along with the Science Checklist, to investigate the features that make science science while learning about an early female astronomer. Get tips for using science stories in class.
The story behind the science
Grade Level(s):
- 9-12
- College
Source:
- Iowa State University
Resource type:
- article
Discipline:
- Earth science
- Life Science
- Physical Sciences
- Space science
Time: Variable
Overview
Thirty stories spanning five disciplines help students explore key science concepts through the eyes of the scientists who were involved, while emphasizing the nature and process of science.
The structure of DNA: Cooperation and competition
Grade Level(s):
- 9-12
- College
Source:
- UC Museum of Paleontology
Resource type:
- Science Story
Discipline:
- Life Science
Time: 2-3 periods
Overview
This Science Story examines how evidence and ideas from different research groups contributed to the discovery of the structure of DNA. Get tips for using science stories in class.
Endosymbiosis: Cells within cells
Grade Level(s):
- 9-12
- College
Source:
- UC Museum of Paleontology
Resource type:
- Science Story
Discipline:
- Life Science
Time: one period
Overview
This Science Story on endosymbiosis explores the career of microbiologist Lynn Margulis and how an unlikely idea overcame strong resistance within the scientific community and finally came to be an accepted part of evolutionary theory. Get tips for using science stories in class.
Asteroids and dinosaurs: Unexpected twists and an unfinished story
Grade Level(s):
- 9-12
- College
Source:
- UC Museum of Paleontology
Resource type:
- Science Story
Discipline:
- Earth science
- Life Science
Time: 2 class periods
Overview
This story uses the Science Flowchart to map Walter Alvarez's scientific journey as he investigates an intriguing hypothesis about the extinction of the non-Avian dinosaurs. Get tips for using science stories in class.
Questions built on sand
Grade Level(s):
- 9-12
- College
Source:
- UC Museum of Paleontology
Resource type:
- Science Story
Discipline:
- Earth science
Time: 5 min
Overview
This Science Short illustrates how sedimentologists investigate questions about the origin of sand on the seafloor and how answering one question leads to additional questions. Get tips on using Science Stories in class.
What is it about Los Angeles?
Grade Level(s):
- 9-12
- College
Source:
- UC Museum of Paleontology
Resource type:
- Science Story
Discipline:
- Earth science
- Life Science
Time: 5 min
Overview
This Science Short illustrates the idea that answering one scientific question leads to other scientific questions in the context of research about fossil insects. Get tips on using Science Stories in class.
