Natural Science Teacher Resources

Natural science focuses on the phenomena of the natural world, whether it be through the eyes of a chemist, physicist, astronomer, or biologist. The beauty—and difficulty—of designing curriculum for natural science is how wide ranging the field itself can be. Luckily, Lesson Planet has just what you need for a perfectly applicable natural science activity!

Elementary learners will love participating in an introductory scavenger hunt for specific items in nature. Select an activity from a packet of practical natural science activities, including observation of the buoyancy in a cereal bowl and the distribution of ink in newspaper pictures.

For older students, a video on the history of earth science is a great place to start, or check out another video on how animal viruses can affect humans. Teach about natural selection as it relates to Darwin’s finches, or use an activity about the genes involved in particular types of cancer. Young astronomers can create a model of the moon’s rotation around the Earth, as well as the Earth’s rotation around the sun.

Our teacher team knows that you’d rather spend more time in the lab and less time in the planning book, so we’ve reviewed even more resources for every grade and skill level. Browse the lessons, activities, videos, and worksheets below for the perfect natural science unit!

Showing 23,963 resources
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Science 4 Inquiry: Middle School Earth Science Lessons

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
The Science 4 Inquiry: Earth Science Collection includes 16 lessons designed for middle school. Scholars learn about layering through hands-on exploration of everyday materials and apply their findings to diagram the layers of the Earth,...
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Middle School Chemistry: Chapter 6 - Chemical Change

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Catalysts, reactants, or products? The final unit in the middle school chemistry module examines chemical changes. Tweens perform experiments to determine what factors impact the rate of chemical reactions, study energy changes, both...
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6 Items in Curriculum Set
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American Chemical Society: Middle School Chemistry

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Introduce middle schoolers to the basic principles of chemistry with a curriculum set packed with activities and experiments that let learners explore the attractions and motion of atoms and molecules, the state changes of water,...
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Middle School Chemistry: Chapter 2 - Changes of State

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
The second module in the middle school chemistry unit looks at changes in the states of matter. Middle schoolers observe heat transfer, build molecular models of water from Styrofoam, conduct controlled experiments with condensation and...
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6 Items in Unit
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Middle School Chemistry: Chapter 3 - Density

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Chapter three in the middle school chemistry unit explores the relationship between volume and density. Young chemists conduct experiments to find volume through displacement, observe how temperature affects water density, and how the...
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Minute Physics: Intro to Special Relativity Course

For Teachers 10th - Higher Ed Standards
Special relativity is a physical theory that explains the relationship between space and time. A collection of eight videos makes this complex—and at times confusing—concept a little easier to understand. Simple drawings illustrate each...
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6 Items in Unit
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The Physics of Fluid Mechanics

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
In this collection, Pascal’s law, Archimedes’ Principle, and Bernoulli’s Principle aid young engineers in understanding the physics of fluid mechanics. Armed with the knowledge of how forces are applied to fluids, scholars design...
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Astronomy

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Space is the new frontier and astronomers boldly go where no humans have gone before. Guided by Einstein's theories, Kepler's Laws, and knowledgeable narrators, viewers of a 10-video collection explore the Universe and learn about...
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Middle School Fall Resources

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Seasons come, and seasons go—but why? And how? Middle schoolers learn more about the fall season with a collection of earth science resources, social studies lessons, and writing assignments. Start the school year off with a rigorous...
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Inquiry in Action: 5th Grade Science Lessons

For Teachers 5th Standards
Looking for remote learning science lessons aligned to NGSS? Check out the resources in this inquiry-in-action packet. Designed for fifth graders, the 16 lessons are divided into four chapters: Matter is Mad of Tiny Particles, Substances...
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MinutePhysics: The Big Picture (Time & Entropy, feat. Sean Carroll)

For Students 11th - Higher Ed
Talk about essential questions! The five videos in the Minute Physics collection look at the big picture and tackles some big questions: Why Doesn’t Time Flow Backwards? Do Cause and Effect Really Exist? Where Does Complexity Come From?...
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Adventures in Chemistry: Experiments

For Teachers Pre-K - 5th Standards
Twenty-one Inquiry-based lessons provide young scientists with an opportunity to experiment with a variety of chemical reactions. Classroom investigators make observations, develop basic lab skills, and follow step-by-step instructions...
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Physical Science: Introduction to Gravity

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Young scientists will feel the pull of a collection of five videos that introduce them to the concept of gravity. Viewers learn about Sir Isaac Newton's big ideas, gravitational forces, air resistance, and escape velocity. An engaging...
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Inquiry in Action: Fifth Grade Chapter 4 - Mass is Conserved in Physical and Chemical Change

For Teachers 5th Standards
Chapter 4 in the Inquiry in Action series for fifth graders consists of a single, hands-on lesson. To verify that mass remains the same, learners measure the mass of substances before and after melting, dissolving, and undergoing a...
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Crash Course: Ecology

For Students 7th - 12th Standards
Viewers take a Crash Course in Ecology with a 12-video collection that takes a look at where organisms come from, how they interact, and how they influence their environments. The videos, appropriate for in class or remote learning, use...
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Ricochet Science: Math in Science

For Students 9th - Higher Ed
The 11 resources in the Math in Science playlist cover concepts introduced in a high school or college biology class. Topics include Comparing Metric Units of Measurement, Mass and Weight, Volume, and Length. Other videos focus on...
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How Will You Describe Me?

For Teachers 1st - 5th Standards
There are many ways to describe people. Their physical appearances, personality traits, and behaviors are a few examples. This also applies to characters in literature, and it is important for our children to be able to identify obvious...
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Unit 1: Introduction to World Geography - The 5 Themes of Geography

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
The seven resources in the Introduction to World Geography - The 5 Themes of Geography unit are designed to give middle schoolers an overview of what they will learn studying geography. The first lesson focuses on the five themes...
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6 Items in Curriculum Set
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Inquiry in Action: Second Grade

For Teachers 2nd Standards
The six-unit modules in the Inquiry in Action curriculum set is designed for second graders. With hands-on instructional activities and experiments, young scholars investigate the properties of materials, liquids, and dissolving is a...
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STEM Ed Hub: Design Resources

For Students 3rd - 6th Standards
Engineering design-based activities make learning science fun. Young engineers design dams, lifeguard chairs, musical instruments, candy bags, and much more. They also use measurement skills to solve the mystery of the missing pin. Each...
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Up, Up and Away! - Airplanes

For Students 5th - 7th Standards
Oh, if only Sir Isaac and Bernoulli could see us now. Even Orville and Wilbur would be amazed by what engineers have designed using their ideas. Next generation engineers put these principles to use as they use what they learn about...
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5 Items in Curriculum Set
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Becoming Us

For Teachers 8th - 11th Standards
The mission statement of the National Museum of American History’s Becoming US: Teaching Immigration and Migration History in the 21st Century series is to provide “educational resources for high school teachers and students to learn...
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TeachEngineering: NanoTech - Insights into a Nano-Sized World

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Ferrofluids, quantum dots, and good nanoparticles. Young material scientists and engineers are introduced to the field of nanoscience with two lessons and four activities. Topics covered include an introduction to nanotechnology and its...
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TeachEngineering: Digital Mapping and Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
A multidisciplinary unit has young engineers explore Geographic Information Systems (GIS), an essential tool in planning any engineering projects. The lessons and activities in Part 1 of the unit look at GIS in general. Part 2 focuses on...