GK12
at
PEOPLE SCIENCE
EDUCATION STANDARDS PHOTOS
LESSONS
CHIHUAHUAN
DESERT NATURE PARK TOSHIBA
AMERICA FOUNDATION
GK12 IN THE NEWS RELATED PROGRAMS HOME
Skip To Lesson Lists:
Biology Chemistry Earth Science Physics
Welcome to an exciting set of inquiry-based,
interdisciplinary middle school science lessons! These lessons were developed through the
GK-12 grant from the National Science foundation and two grants from the
Toshiba America Foundation. To check out Toshiba America Foundation’s grant opportunities
for teachers, click here.
Do you want a copy of these
sixty-seven lessons on CD? Of course you
do! So email Nancy J. McMillan at nmcmilla@nmsu.edu with your name and
address, and a free CD is yours! This
offer lasts only until supplies run out….so act quickly!
As part of the grants, WeatherBug weather stations
were installed at four middle schools in southern
Description of the Lessons
The lessons were developed to enhance inquiry-based
learning in middle schools. In reality,
the lessons range from inquiry-based to guided inquiry, but student-directed
inquiry is an important aspect of each lesson.
Our intent was also to make each lesson interdisciplinary, i.e.,
involving two or more of the four disciplines in the program (geology, biology,
chemistry, and physics). That turned out
to be quite difficult for some lessons, so about a quarter of the lessons
involve only one discipline.
In the lists below, the
lessons are listed by grade level, correlated to the
Each lesson contains these sections: abstract, grade
level, objectives, national standards,
About two-thirds of the
lessons were translated into Spanish.
The English versions (doc and pdf) contain the teacher’s guide, the
glossary, and the student’s guide. The
Spanish versions (doc and pdf) contain only the glossary and student’s guide.
If you want the teacher’s guide, you will need the English version of the
lesson.
The lessons are listed in the
following tables in three ways, in the hope that you will be able to easily
navigate to an appropriate lesson by using one of the tables. First, the lessons are listed alphabetically
by title. Second, the lessons are listed
separately for each grade. Be aware that
many lessons are appropriate for more than one grade! Last, the lessons are listed by primary or
secondary discipline.
All Lessons; Alphabetical by Title
|
Title |
Primary
Discipline |
Secondary
Discipline |
Tertiary
Discipline |
Grade |
Associated Files |
Click in These
Columns to Open Lessons in English or Spanish, in doc or pdf format |
Click in This Column
to Open Associated Files |
|||
|
Ants |
Biology |
Earth Science |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Archimedes |
Physics |
|
|
8 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Artesian Well |
Physics |
Earth Science |
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
Ask a Question |
Biology |
Earth Science |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Bacterial Reproduction and Geometric Population Growth |
Biology |
|
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Biomes and Climate |
Biology |
Earth Science |
|
7 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Body Systems |
Biology |
Physics |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Brain Function |
Biology |
|
|
7 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Catalase |
Chemistry |
Biology |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Chemical Energy and Batteries |
Chemistry |
Physics |
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
Chemical Process of Digestion |
Chemistry |
Biology |
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
Classification System |
Biology |
|
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Classifying Molecules |
Chemistry |
|
|
8 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Day at the Zoo |
Biology |
|
|
7 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Desert Plant Adaptations |
Biology |
|
|
7 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Dichotomous Key |
Biology |
|
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Dissecting Light |
Chemistry |
Physics |
|
8 |
Yes |
|
|
|||
|
DNA in Cell Nuclei |
Biology |
|
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
DNA Isolation |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Egg as a Cell |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Electricity and Circuits |
Physics |
|
|
8 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Endothermic and Exothermic Reactions |
Chemistry |
Physics |
|
8 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Erosion |
Earth Science |
Physics |
|
6 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Fish |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Forensic Science |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
8 |
Yes |
|
|
|||
|
Going Batty |
Biology |
Physics |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Infiltration and Runoff |
Earth Science |
|
|
6 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Lever Arms |
Biology |
Physics |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Levers and the Human Body |
Physics |
Biology |
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
Magnetism |
Physics |
Earth Science |
|
6 |
|
|
||||
|
Making Cheese |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
Earth Science |
Biology |
|
6 |
|
|
||||
|
Marbles, Muscles, and Motion |
Physics |
Biology |
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
Mars |
Earth Science |
Physics |
Biology |
6 |
|
|
||||
|
Microscopy |
Biology |
Earth Science |
|
8 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Mixtures, Solutions, Compounds, and Separations |
Chemistry |
Physics |
|
8 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Molecular Geometry |
Chemistry |
|
|
8 |
Yes |
|
|
Go to Molecular Geometry Subdirectory to get the Web Page files |
||
|
Multi-Stage Rocketry |
Physics |
|
|
8 |
Yes |
|
|
|||
|
Natural Selection |
Biology |
|
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Natural Selection and Extinction |
Biology |
|
|
7 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Nodule Module |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Osmosis, Selective Permeability, Diffusion and Cell Size |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Ozone |
Chemistry |
Earth Science |
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
Periodic Table |
Chemistry |
Physics |
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
Periodic Table of Minerals |
Chemistry |
Earth Science |
|
8 |
Yes |
|
|
|||
|
Phase Changes |
Chemistry |
Physics |
|
8 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Plate Tectonics and Volcanoes |
Earth Science |
|
|
6 |
|
|
||||
|
Polymers |
Chemistry |
|
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
Population Distribution |
Physics |
Biology |
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
Population Growth |
Biology |
Earth Science |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Potential Energy |
Physics |
Earth Science |
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
Recycling |
Biology |
Earth Science |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Snake Predation |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Soil Quality |
Chemistry |
Biology |
|
8 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Soils and Plants |
Biology |
Earth Science |
|
7 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Stream Gradient |
Physics |
Earth Science |
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
Sugar Rock cycle |
Earth Science |
Physics |
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
|
Chemistry |
|
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
Topographic Maps |
Earth Science |
Biology |
|
6 |
|
|
||||
|
Tornados |
Earth Science |
|
|
6 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Transpiration in the Desert |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Water Cycle and Aquifers |
Earth Science |
Biology |
|
6 |
|
|
||||
|
Weather with exp calculation |
Earth Science |
Biology |
|
6 |
|
|
||||
|
Weather without exp calculation |
Earth Science |
Biology |
|
6 |
|
|
||||
|
Why Chew |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Wings and Things |
Biology |
Physics |
|
7 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Zen and the Art of Microwaving Popcorn |
Chemistry |
Physics |
|
8 |
|
|
|
|
||
All Lessons; Alphabetical by Grade
|
Title |
Primary
Discipline |
Secondary
Discipline |
Tertiary
Discipline |
Grade |
Associated Files |
Click in These
Columns to Open Lessons in English or Spanish, in doc or pdf format |
Click in This
Column to Open Associated Files |
|||
|
Erosion |
Earth Science |
Physics |
|
6 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Infiltration and Runoff |
Earth Science |
|
|
6 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Magnetism |
Physics |
Earth Science |
|
6 |
|
|
||||
|
|
Earth Science |
Biology |
|
6 |
|
|
||||
|
Mars |
Earth Science |
Physics |
Biology |
6 |
|
|
||||
|
Plate Tectonics and Volcanoes |
Earth Science |
|
|
6 |
|
|
||||
|
Topographic Maps |
Earth Science |
Biology |
|
6 |
|
|
||||
|
Tornados |
Earth Science |
|
|
6 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Water Cycle and Aquifers |
Earth Science |
Biology |
|
6 |
|
|
||||
|
Weather with exp calculation |
Earth Science |
Biology |
|
6 |
|
|
||||
|
Weather without exp calculation |
Earth Science |
Biology |
|
6 |
|
|
||||
|
Ants |
Biology |
Earth Science |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Ask a Question |
Biology |
Earth Science |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Bacterial Reproduction and Geometric Population Growth |
Biology |
|
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Biomes and Climate |
Biology |
Earth Science |
|
7 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Body Systems |
Biology |
Physics |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Brain Function |
Biology |
|
|
7 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Catalase |
Chemistry |
Biology |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Classification System |
Biology |
|
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Day at the Zoo |
Biology |
|
|
7 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Desert Plant Adaptations |
Biology |
|
|
7 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Dichotomous Key |
Biology |
|
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
DNA in Cell Nuclei |
Biology |
|
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
DNA Isolation |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Egg as a Cell |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Fish |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Going Batty |
Biology |
Physics |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Lever Arms |
Biology |
Physics |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Making Cheese |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Natural Selection |
Biology |
|
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Natural Selection and Extinction |
Biology |
|
|
7 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Nodule Module |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Osmosis, Selective Permeability, Diffusion and Cell Size |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Population Growth |
Biology |
Earth Science |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Recycling |
Biology |
Earth Science |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Snake Predation |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Soils and Plants |
Biology |
Earth Science |
|
7 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Transpiration in the Desert |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Why Chew |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Wings and Things |
Biology |
Physics |
|
7 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Archimedes |
Physics |
|
|
8 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Artesian Well |
Physics |
Earth Science |
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
Chemical Energy and Batteries |
Chemistry |
Physics |
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
Chemical Process of Digestion |
Chemistry |
Biology |
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
Classifying Molecules |
Chemistry |
|
|
8 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Dissecting Light |
Chemistry |
Physics |
|
8 |
Yes |
|
|
|||
|
Electricity and Circuits |
Physics |
|
|
8 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Endothermic and Exothermic Reactions |
Chemistry |
Physics |
|
8 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Forensic Science |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
8 |
Yes |
|
|
|||
|
Levers and the Human Body |
Physics |
Biology |
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
Marbles, Muscles, and Motion |
Physics |
Biology |
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
Microscopy |
Biology |
Earth Science |
|
8 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Mixtures, Solutions, Compounds, and Separations |
Chemistry |
Physics |
|
8 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Molecular Geometry |
Chemistry |
|
|
8 |
Yes |
|
|
Go to Molecular Geometry Subdirectory to get the Web Page files |
||
|
Multi-Stage Rocketry |
Physics |
|
|
8 |
Yes |
|
|
|||
|
Ozone |
Chemistry |
Earth Science |
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
Periodic Table |
Chemistry |
Physics |
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
Periodic Table of Minerals |
Chemistry |
Earth Science |
|
8 |
Yes |
|
|
|||
|
Phase Changes |
Chemistry |
Physics |
|
8 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Polymers |
Chemistry |
|
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
Population Distribution |
Physics |
Biology |
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
Potential Energy |
Physics |
Earth Science |
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
Soil Quality |
Chemistry |
Biology |
|
8 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Stream Gradient |
Physics |
Earth Science |
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
Sugar Rock cycle |
Earth Science |
Physics |
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
|
Chemistry |
|
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
Zen and the Art of Microwaving Popcorn |
Chemistry |
Physics |
|
8 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Title |
Primary
Discipline |
Secondary
Discipline |
Tertiary
Discipline |
Grade |
Associated Files |
Click in These
Columns to Open Lessons in English or Spanish, in doc or pdf format |
Click in This
Column to Open Associated Files |
|||
|
Ants |
Biology |
Earth Science |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Ask a Question |
Biology |
Earth Science |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Bacterial Reproduction and Geometric Population Growth |
Biology |
|
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Biomes and Climate |
Biology |
Earth Science |
|
7 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Body Systems |
Biology |
Physics |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Brain Function |
Biology |
|
|
7 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Catalase |
Chemistry |
Biology |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Chemical Process of Digestion |
Chemistry |
Biology |
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
Classification System |
Biology |
|
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Day at the Zoo |
Biology |
|
|
7 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Desert Plant Adaptations |
Biology |
|
|
7 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Dichotomous Key |
Biology |
|
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
DNA in Cell Nuclei |
Biology |
|
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
DNA Isolation |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Egg as a Cell |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Fish |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Forensic Science |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
8 |
Yes |
|
|
|||
|
Going Batty |
Biology |
Physics |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Lever Arms |
Biology |
Physics |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Levers and the Human Body |
Physics |
Biology |
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
Making Cheese |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
Earth Science |
Biology |
|
6 |
|
|
||||
|
Marbles, Muscles, and Motion |
Physics |
Biology |
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
Mars |
Earth Science |
Physics |
Biology |
6 |
|
|
||||
|
Microscopy |
Biology |
Earth Science |
|
8 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Natural Selection |
Biology |
|
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Natural Selection and Extinction |
Biology |
|
|
7 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Nodule Module |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Osmosis, Selective Permeability, Diffusion and Cell Size |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Population Distribution |
Physics |
Biology |
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
Population Growth |
Biology |
Earth Science |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Recycling |
Biology |
Earth Science |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Snake Predation |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Soil Quality |
Chemistry |
Biology |
|
8 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Soils and Plants |
Biology |
Earth Science |
|
7 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Topographic Maps |
Earth Science |
Biology |
|
6 |
|
|
||||
|
Transpiration in the Desert |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Water Cycle and Aquifers |
Earth Science |
Biology |
|
6 |
|
|
||||
|
Weather with exp calculation |
Earth Science |
Biology |
|
6 |
|
|
||||
|
Weather without exp calculation |
Earth Science |
Biology |
|
6 |
|
|
||||
|
Why Chew |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Wings and Things |
Biology |
Physics |
|
7 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Title |
Primary
Discipline |
Secondary
Discipline |
Tertiary
Discipline |
Grade |
Associated Files |
Click in These
Columns to Open Lessons in English or Spanish, in doc or pdf format |
Click in This
Column to Open Associated Files |
|||
|
Catalase |
Chemistry |
Biology |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Chemical Energy and Batteries |
Chemistry |
Physics |
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
Chemical Process of Digestion |
Chemistry |
Biology |
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
Classifying Molecules |
Chemistry |
|
|
8 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Dissecting Light |
Chemistry |
Physics |
|
8 |
Yes |
|
|
|||
|
DNA Isolation |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Egg as a Cell |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Endothermic and Exothermic Reactions |
Chemistry |
Physics |
|
8 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Fish |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Forensic Science |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
8 |
Yes |
|
|
|||
|
Making Cheese |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Mixtures, Solutions, Compounds, and Separations |
Chemistry |
Physics |
|
8 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Molecular Geometry |
Chemistry |
|
|
8 |
Yes |
|
|
Go to Molecular Geometry Subdirectory to get the Web Page files |
||
|
Nodule Module |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Osmosis, Selective Permeability, Diffusion and Cell Size |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Ozone |
Chemistry |
Earth Science |
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
Periodic Table |
Chemistry |
Physics |
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
Periodic Table of Minerals |
Chemistry |
Earth Science |
|
8 |
Yes |
|
|
|||
|
Phase Changes |
Chemistry |
Physics |
|
8 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Polymers |
Chemistry |
|
|
6 |
|
|
||||
|
Snake Predation |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Soil Quality |
Chemistry |
Biology |
|
8 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
Chemistry |
|
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
Transpiration in the Desert |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Why Chew |
Biology |
Chemistry |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Zen and the Art of Microwaving Popcorn |
Chemistry |
Physics |
|
8 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Title |
Primary
Discipline |
Secondary
Discipline |
Tertiary
Discipline |
Grade |
Associated Files |
Click in These
Columns to Open Lessons in English or Spanish, in doc or pdf format |
Click in This
Column to Open Associated Files |
|||
|
Ants |
Biology |
Earth Science |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Artesian Well |
Physics |
Earth Science |
|
8 |
|
|
||||
|
Ask a Question |
Biology |
Earth Science |
|
7 |
|
|
||||
|
Biomes and Climate |
Biology |
Earth Science |
|
7 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Erosion |
Earth Science |
Physics |
|
6 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Infiltration and Runoff |
Earth Science |
|
|
6 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Magnetism |
Physics |
Earth Science |
|
6 |
|
|
||||
|
|
Earth Science |
|||||||||