This page provides links to lesson plans and resources for all grade levels and all science areas typically taught in K-12 schools. Click on a topic from the list below. If you need lesson plans for health or nutrition, click here. If you need science homework help, click here. All links on this page were verified and updated as of 4-22-06

Multi-Subject Science Pages; Rubrics; Scientific Method/Nature of Science; Astronomy; Biology/Genetics; Evolution; Plants/Farm; Trees/Forests/Rain Forests; Environment; Prairies; Wetlands; Pollution; Recycling; Water/Oceans; Animals   (Marine Animals/Fish, Mammals, Farm Animals, Reptiles/Amphibians, Birds, Dinosaurs, Insects, Spiders); Physiology/Anatomy/The Senses; Geology/Earth Science; Fossils; Weather (including Seasons); Disasters; Physical Science; Energy; Simple Machines; Physics; Aviation/Aeronautics; Chemistry; History of Science; Inventions/Science Projects; Go to the National Science Education Standards 

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Large Collections of Lesson Plans for Multiple Science Subjects
Science Lesson Plans from The Educator's Reference Desk
Formerly AskEric, this is a great source for science lesson plans organized by subject

Science Netlinks
A comprehensive guide to science, technology, and mathematics web sites and a growing library of Internet-based learning. Click here to see their large selection of lesson plans.

Academy Curricular Exchange
Click on this line for the main menu, or click below for the grade level in which you are interested.
K-5 Over (130 lesson plans)
Middle Grades (About 60 lesson plans)
High School (About 20 lesson plans)

ProTeacher Science and Technology
An excellent source with many lesson plans unique to this site.

Access Excellence
Lesson plans, activities, and online mysteries. Click Fellows Collection or Activities to Go to access their large collection of lesson plans.

National Science Teachers Association (NSTA)
Resources for science teachers, including some lesson plans. Go to their HOME PAGE for additional information.

Reach Out! Michigan Hands-On Science
Many science lesson plans and quick activities.

Saskatchewan Education - Science
Curriculum guides for all grade levels complete with model units. The site is now in pdf format, so you will need Adobe Acrobat to view it.

Franklin Institute Science Lesson Plans
Elementary science lesson ideas; most are constructivist.

K-2 Science Lesson Plans
Tactile lesson plans integrating science and literacy.

Science Outreach - Learning Through Discovery
Elementary lesson plans on water, energy, and fish and wildlife.

Teacher First Science Lesson Plans
Excellent source for science lesson plans for all levels and in a variety of areas.

Ethics and Values in Pre-College Science Instruction
Teacher resources including many lesson plans incorporating ethical and values issues.

Science Lessons
Organized by topic.

NASA Quest
Search the NASA collection of K-12 lesson plans. See also Earth Science Educator Lesson Plans and Imagine the Universe! for more lesson plans from NASA.

Discovery Channel School
Wonderful lesson plans for social studies, science, and literature. There are more than 50 lesson plans on animals alone! Search by subject or use the menu on the left side of the page.

Newton's Apple Science Teacher's Guides
Lesson ideas from PBS Family Science Show.

Learning Cycle Lesson Plans
Six lesson plans and a unit using the Piagetian Learning Cycle.

Exploratorium
Different online features every few months.

Rubrics for Science
Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators: Assessment Rubrics
Information and examples of various types of rubrics, including ones for student web projects, cooperative learning activities, labs, group participation, multimedia presentations, oral presentations, portfolio exhibits, and research papers.

The Staff Room: Rubrics
Developed for teachers in Ontario, Canada, this page has links to a large number of sites with examples of rubrics for many purposes.

MCPS Science Rubrics
A definition and many examples.

Rubrician.com
"The official website for links to rubrics, "this page offers links to many science rubrics.

Big Ideas in Science Sample Rubric
A rubric based on Habits of Mind and Vehicles for Understanding.  

Assessment of Experiments and Science Projects Using a Generic Rubric
A rubric for experiments using the scientific method. See also Science Festival Rubric, a rubric for student self-evaluation of science projects.

Science Investigation Rubric
Adaptable for grades K-4 or 5-12. See also Holistic Rubric for Science Experiments, an example of a rubric using a 1 through 5 scale, as well as  Technological Design Rubric.  

Scientific Report Rubric
See also Scientific Data base/Conclusion Rubric.

Data, Graphs, and Theory Rubric
A rubric for a physics lab on elasticity.

Year-End Project Rubrics
Several rubrics for scoring the various aspects of an extensive science project involving experimental research. See also Intermediate-Level  Science Grades Seven and Eight Revised Portfolio Products.  

Earth Science Rubric
For 6th-grade research projects. 

GenerL Science Lab Rubric
From a biology class. See also Student Science Laboratory Report Rubric.

Physics Experiment Evaluation Rubric
See also Physics Laboratory Write Up Rubric.

Chemistry Standards-Based Rubric: Atomic Structure and Bonding
See also Chem Lab Evaluation Rubric and Environmental Chemistry Rubrics.

Bibliography for Using Rubrics for Assessment
Links to sites with rubrics and information about them.

How to Create a Rubric
Steps in the preparation of rubrics.

Scientific Method/Nature of Science
Scientific Method - A Way to Solve a Problem
A lesson plan for grade 4 exploring the scientific method. See also The Scientific Method for a fact sheet providing thorough information.   

How Many Drops of Water on a Penny?
A lesson plan in which students use the scientific method for science inquiry. See also Introduction to Scientific Methods for another version of this lesson.

The Scientific Method in Undersea Archaeology
A high school lesson plan from National Geographic.

Rusting and the Scientific Method
A lesson plan for grades 8-9 in which students identify and utilize elements of scientific inquiry to solve problems.

Consumer Testing in the Classroom
A lesson idea for teaching the scientific method.

Steps of the Scientific Method
A one-page printable poster in pdf format. See also Steps in the Scientific Method for a  flow chart and The Scientific Method: Slides for a Presentation for online slides.

Science Role Plays
Middle-grade activities in which students role play processes in science.

How Many Fish are in that Pond?
A high school lesson plan in which students use sampling, estimation, and statistical analysis

Making Models of Mystery Bags to Explore the Nature of Science
A 5th-grade lesson plan.

Science vs. Non-Science
A mini-lesson exploring six criteria of science. It compares emerging science, non-science, and pseudoscience, with definitions and examples. The activity engages students in analyzing a collection of paragraphs to decide which category each fits into.

Nature of Science
Several lesson plans intended for a high school biology course.

Astronomy Lesson Plans and Resources
Kid's Astronomy.com
A terrific site with real-time maps of the night sky, an astronomy dictionary and astronomy news, plus wonderful information on the solar system, space exploration, and deep space. Click on Teachers Corner for printable worksheets or send your students to Fun with Astronomy.  

Astronomy Lesson Plans from The Educator's Reference Desk
Many elementary-grade lesson plans

Space and Astronomy Lesson Plans
Links to collections of space and astronomy lesson plans.

Selected Topics in Astronomy and Space Studies
Thirteen middle grade and high school units from the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute.

Classifying Galaxies
A lesson plan for grades 5-9 using the Hubble classification system as an example of how scientists classify objects in nature.

Teacher's Guide: The Lunar Prospector
From NASA. Click on lesson plans in the left menu for three unit plans..

Educator's Guide to Moon Phases
Good, concise information from Views of the Solar System. See their collection of lesson plans and activities.

The Sun
A "remodeled" lesson plan for grades 2-3 involving the usea critical thinking skills. You may have to scroll down the page to find this lesson

Linking the Earth, Sun, and Moon
A 4th-grade lesson plan.

NASA Solar System Exploration Forum
NASA approved lesson plans. Click on Fast Lesson Finder to locate them.

Finding Out about the Stars and Planets
A web-based activity on the solar system for grades K-4. See also Incredible, Edible Solar System, Earth and the Solar System and  Best of the Solar System for other lesson plans. 

Discovery of the Solar System
A lesson plan from NASA in which students learn about the heliocentric theory of Copernicus, the ideas behind it and the explanations which it displaced.

The Nine Planets
A multimedia tour of the solar system!

Space.com
Pick a planet, travel there, and become a space reporter. A good source for Internet-based extension activities.

Space Station: A Room with a View
A middle-grade webquest.

Destination Mars
A lesson plan for grades 6-8 from the Discovery Channel School.

Mission to Mars
Ideas for teaching about Mars from Education World.

Mars Landing Site
A lesson plan for grades 5-9. See Athena Mars Exploration Rover for other similar lesson plans.

Live From Earth and Mars: Educational Modules
Lesson plans, mostly on Mars but a few on weather, for a variety of grade levels.

Surviving and Thriving on Mars
Join the Millennium Project and help create a living environment from the ground up!

The Impact of Shoemaker-Levy 9
A unit on the comet that smashed into the planet Jupiter.

The Educator's Guide to the NEAR Project
Information and lesson plans form the NEAR (Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous) Project.

SETI Life in the Universe Curriculum Guides
Sample lesson plans on the possible existence of extraterrestrial life. 

Satellite Lesson Plans
Seven lesson plans from Boston University.

Exploring Meteorite Mysteries
A teacher's guide with 19 lesson plans. The materials are in pdf format, so you will need Adobe Acrobat to access them. See Make a Crater for a meteor-related simulation activity from NASA and Exloring Meteorite Mysteries  - Slide Set to find slides for use in a presentation

The Adler Project: An Astronomy WebQuest for 9th Grade
For other astronomy webquests, see Space Adventure and Star Broker.

Windows to the Universe
A graphics-intensive space science website with tons of information and a teacher/student workbook.

NASA Quest Education Page
Information from the space agency. 

Welcome to the Planets
Great source for pictures of and information about the planets.

Bill and Ted's Excellent Astronomy Site

Challenger Center for Space Education
More space stuff



Biology Lesson Plans (Includes Genetics, Cells, and Evolution)
Click here for sites providing biology homework help.

Biology Lessons for Practicing and Prospective Teachers
This excellent site from SDSU offers elementary lesson plans and teacher's guides for teaching about Molecules and Cells as well as population biology.

Biology Lesson Plans
About 20 lessons for a variety of grade levels from The Educator's Reference Desk (formerly Ask ERIC).

SMILE Biology Index
A collection of nearly 200 lesson plans organized by topic!

The Biology Corner
Many lesson plans, worksheets, WebQuests, and quizzes.

Online Biology Book
Just what the title suggests!

Snapshots of Medicine and Science
"A web site for high school students, teachers, and the public, bringing news, features, insight and discussions from the dynamic world of biomedical research."

Access Excellence Biology and Life Sciences Activity Exchange
Archive of favorite activities submitted by high school biology teachers .

Biology Lessons
A large collection of lesson plans for all grade levels from Reach Out Michigan.  

Jello Cells
A junior high science activity in which students construct models of cells.

How Cells Duplicate
A 2-week unit for 7th grade.

Screen Your Genes
A lesson plan for grades 7-12 designed to introduce students to the concepts of meiosis, independent assortment, fertilization and genetic variation.

Comparing Mitosis and Meiosis
A 7th-grade lesson plan. See also How Cells Divide: Mitsis and Meiosis for a slide show from NOVA's "18 Ways to Make a Baby."

Phases of Meiosis
A worksheet complete with diagrams from the Biology Corner.

Cell Division and Mitosis
A lesson plan for high school biology. Click here for an onion cell drawing (to be labeled).

Mitosis
A 10th-grade lesson plan.

Genetics Lesson Plans
Many lesson plans and resources from Human Genome Networking project.

Genetics Lesson Plans
Six lesson plans from The Educator's Reference Desk.

Genetics Lesson Plans
Another set of lesson plans, this one from Teach-Nology.

Genetics Resources
Tutorials, links, and even a glossary.

Breaking the Code
A thematic unit for grades 4-6 introducing the topics of DNA and the genetic code.

Building a Model DNA
A lesson  plan for grades 6-8.

Genetic Diversity and Research
An 8th-grade lesson plan on  dominant and recessive genes.

Beans to Genes: Genetic Probability
A secondary lesson plan.

Let's Juggle Genes
An online activity.

Human Genetics WebQuest
See also DNA and Genetics WebQuest.

Genetics Education Center
Genetics lesson plans, resources, and links.

The Genome: Controversy for All Times
A secondary unit examining the ethical and moral issues surrounding research into mapping the human genome.

How Do We Inherit Our Biological Characteristics?
A 10th-grade project investigating the problem of inherited human disorders. It requires Internet access and is aligned with National Science Education Standards

Ewe 2
An inquiry-based activity using a case-study approach to explore the topic of cloning.

Whose Life Is It?
A high school lesson plan that uses a fictional story to examine some of the ethical and values issues related to human cloning. See Genetic Research: Decisions to be Made for a similar lesson plan using a news story.

National Biological Information Infrastructure
A great source for all sorts of biology information. Scroll down and click on Teacher Resources for aspects of this site which are of particular use to biology teachers.

Evolution
Understanding Evolution
Information about and links to other sites related to the history of evolution. Click here for more links to sites with information on evolution, its history, and Charles Darwin). See also The Ultimate Creation vs. Evolution Resource.

Evolution
A large collection of lesson plans, activities, and labs. Most seem to be high school level. See also Biology Links: Evolution.  

Evolution Lessons
A collection of high school lesson plans from Evolution and the Nature of Science Institutes.

The Evolution of Plants
Information and sample lesson plans from a high school unit.

Hominid Evolution
Another unit for high school biology or advanced biology.

Human Evolution
A high school lesson plan integrating the study of human evolution and history.

Evolution
A lesson plan for grades 9-12 in which students learn about Darwin, his theory of evolution, and some of the controversies related to it.

Darwin's Evolution
A high school lesson plan in which students learn about Charles Darwin. See also Darwin Day and Evolution Wing: Theory and History.  

Origin of the Species vs. Zoological Philosophy
A middle or junior high school lesson plan in which students debate the theories of Darwin and Lamarck.

Scopes Trial Activity
A lesson plan in which students learn about the Scopes Trial and how it impacts academic freedom today. Scroll down the page to access the Evolution/Creation Pre and Post-Essay Activity . For other lesson plans on this topic, see Beyond the Scope (an Internet-based lesson plan for grades 9-12 on this famous trial) and Whose 'Truth' Is Out There? (a lesson plan for grades 6-12 which examines the historic significance of the Scopes trial and its application to the "evolution versus creation" debate in education today). For background information, see The Antievolution Crusade of the 1920s, Clash of Cultures: The Scopes Trial, Tennessee vs. John Scopes: The Monkey Trial, and The 'Intelligent Design' Debate.

Online Lessons for Students: Learning Evolution
Seven lesson plans providing " multimedia pathways to help students understand evolution and the nature of science ."

Evolution WebQuest
See also Evolution WebQuest!

Tree of Life
Information about phylogeny and biodiversity. "The information is linked together in the form of the evolutionary tree that connects all organisms to each other."

Resources and Lesson Plans on Plants ( Including Lessons on Farms)
For botany/plant resources, including pictures, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and directories, click here.

Photosynthesis , Trees, and the Greenhouse Effect
An 8th-grade lesson plan from Natiobnal Geographic. Click here for an excellent resource on photosynthesis.

Photosynthesis and Transpiration
A lesson plan for grades 6-8.

We Need Trees and Their Oxygen Cycle
A 5th-grade lesson plan from Penn. State University.

Follow that Light
A 4th-grade lesson plan on phototropism.

Botany Lesson Plans
More than 15 lesson plans, mostly for the elementary level,  from The Educator's Reference Desk. Click here for a Dictionary of Botanical Words.

Plant Systems
A primary-grade lesson plan from the above site. Also, see the GardenWeb Glossary of Botanical Terms.  

Identifying Parts of a Flower
An elementary-grade lesson plan. See also Friendly Flowers for a K-2 lesson.

Illinois Native Wildflowers
Information about wildflower species and lesson plans for grades four to six. See also Identify Wildflowers of Texas for a 7th-grade lesson plan in which students create a guide to help identify wildflowers and Go Wild! Start a Native Wildflower Garden for ideas about starting a wildflower garden at your school. For information on wildflowers, go to The Wildflower Center and Wildflowers.