Free Printable Hands-On Elementary Science Activities, Worksheets, Experiments

April is Earth Month and lesson plans focus on life science. The best ways to learn about life science are with E2I2-- explore, examine, interact and investigate. These activities require laboratory science experiments and outdoor exploratory science. Teachers, you can make classroom science lesson plans more exploratory by covering walls with posters, charts and diagrams. Placing science charts and diagrams at a student's glance give students quick reference, but also exploratory science experience as they examine the diagrams and digest the information. Here are free printable science charts, diagrams, graphs, posters, graphic organizers, maps to post in your classroom and homeschool. Print science worksheets in black and white and use as science coloring pages. Some free printable life science materials could be used as science worksheets, study guides, puzzles, fill-ins, crosswords, lessons, flashcards and more.

Life science subjects include food chains and food webs, insects, metamorphosis, frog life cycle, leaves, trees, plants, animal classification, habitats and more. Homeschool parents, use these life science activities in lesson plans. Even if your children are not homeschooled, parents, you can use these life science activities as homework helpers. Make science materials available to use as references for their science homework.

EcoKids is an ecology website for kids, students, parents and teachers. This site features online ecology mystery games that students can read and solve. Students must pay close attention and put their knowledge of the ecosystem into practice. Plus, there are free printable biology and life science coloring pages, worksheets, activities and lesson plans for Earth Day and Earth Month!

KidsKonnect has paid and free printable biology and life science worksheets, lesson plans, charts and diagrams. Life science activities are based around environments world wide. Enchanted Learning has a huge collection of free printable life science worksheets, coloring pages, charts and diagrams. There are also general science activities, crafts, mini booklets, puzzles and worksheets.

Ology is a kids' science website from AMNH, the American Museum of Natural History. Get free printable life science coloring pages, worksheets, posters, charts and diagrams galore. There free printable science activities for all earth science, chemistry and physics or physical science. LearningPage has free printable life science coloring pages, cut and paste science crafts, life science worksheets, puzzles, games, charts and diagrams.

TSL Books has free printable life science lesson plans organized by grades. A neat tidy homepage features a left column of links by grade and subject. Each grade page has free printable lesson plans for each subject. This site is free but they do ask that a donation of a few dollars per year will help keep it free.

Free Printable Star Charts, Constellation Maps for Astronomy, Earth Science

Hubble Space Telescope celebrates her 25th birthday April 24, which is also Arbor Day. Earth science and astronomy are fascinating subjects to teach kids. Children can enjoy stargazing anywhere and everywhere and it costs nothing. Looking for free printable star charts and constellation patterns to teach kids about space science? Here's a galaxy of astronomy diagrams, star charts, constellations patterns and night sky maps.

SFA Observatory offers free printable star charts divided by region of the sky. Each constellation is labeled with Latin name and star shape. There's a handy guide to help stargazers orient themselves and their telescope for best viewing.

Kids Astronomy has a free printable night sky map and star chart that can be customized by date and time. Kids Astronomy has entire interactive webpage for kids. Look for free printable earth science lessons, night sky activities, star charts and astronomy games. Homeschoolers and teachers, be sure to visit the educator resource page for free printable astronomy coloring pages, solar system vocabulary lessons and space science worksheets.

Sky Maps has free printable night sky maps based on latitude and hemisphere. Each month, users are sent a new edition of the sky maps reflecting the current month's constellations. Classroom, Jr.has printable constellation charts for Sagittarius, Virgo, Scorpio and Libra. Check this website for scads of free Earth Day printables.

NASA Space Place is an interactive astronomy website for children from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Kids can learn to make their own paper-folded star finder. This will help locate major constellations for each month. There are also free printable constellation patterns for each month. Download and print to use as coloring pages, star patterns and star finders, too.

Athropolis offers a collection of links to free kids' astronomy activities, simulation games, printable activities, star names, pronunciation guides and more. Children will love Star Child with a kids-club web design and easy astronomy activities. There are two sites--one for kids under 14 and one for those older than 14

Print a star chart for each student. Encourage them to trace the constellations on tracing paper. This will help them learn the star arrangements. They might use the charts as connect-the-stars activities

Free Printable Earth Science, Solar System Activities, Lessons

There are many reasons to celebrate April. April bids farewell to winter and ushers in spring. Easter and Earth Month are celebrated in April. April 22 is the official Earth Day. Here are environmental science worksheets and lesson plans to explore this "green" month of April.

Maine.gov has a free printable earth science activities. There lessons on different environmental features. Teach them as parts of the body.

Rocks (igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary). Rocks are the bones of our planet.

Minerals (quartz, silica sand, crystals, MOS Hardness Scale, cleavage, color, mineral identification). Minerals are earth's tendons.

Water (ground water, aquifers, watershed, water cycle, precipitation, percolation, wetlands, acid rain, bodies of water, oceanography, polar ice caps). Water is our earth's lifeblood.

Soil (structure, layers, decomposition, fossils, fossil fuels, composting). Soil is the muscular system.

Geophysics (geology, plate tectonics, magnets, earthquakes, volcanoes, the Ring of Fire, thermodynamics, geysers). Geophysics is the endocrine system. Given the recent earthquake, tsunami and nuclear reactor meltdown in Japan, these lessons are even more vital and significant.

Ecology (land use, deforestation, slash and burn farming, fallow periods, water testing, soil evaluation). Think of ecology like health. Caring for the earth is like caring for our bodies. What we put into or do to our bodies heal and sustains or hurts and destroys. Likewise, what we do to our earth either helps or harms it. Environmental groups are like the earth's physicians.

This booklet provides hands-on activities, games, simulations, map reading exercises, field trips, treasure and scavenger hunts, experiments and extensions for social studies, reading and math. It gives interactive practice applications for Point-Slope formula (y=mx+b). That's helpful for S.T.E.M. (science, technology, engineering, math) connections. In keeping with earth month, don't waste paper printing. Use recycled paper or scraps from your recycling bin. Print with biodegradable ink.

For more printable science lessons, visit my blogs Free Printable Lesson Plans and Free Lesson Plans 4U and Science Experiments and Chemistry Lessons.

Free Printable Earth Day Lesson Plans, Activities, Crafts

Earth Day is celebrated on April 22. In fact, the entire month of April is devoted to Earth Month. Here are hands-on, interactive, student-directed earth science activities to make lessons come alive. Use free printable earth science booklets, games, word searches, crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, coloring pages, science crafts and printable dioramas and 3D models. Topics includes astronomy, solar system, earth's poles, sun, moon and magnetism.

Windows to the Universe a website of the National Earth Science Teachers Association offers loads of free printable earth science worksheets, earth science games, crafts, cut and paste activities and lesson plans. Scroll down the page to the "Coloring Books and Paper Activities" section. Here you'll find a printable seven-page cut-and-paste mobile to color on animals of the arctic. There's another printable science activity on magnetism and the magnetic polar forces.

Print a free scientists coloring booklet. This activity makes a good resource for biography study or living history museums. Students might use to portray famous scientists. Biographies include Tycho Brahe, Ada Byron, Marie Curie, Charles Darwin, Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, Evelyn Granville, John Glenn and Sally Ride.

Here are free printable solar system coloring books at easier and more challenging reading levels. There's a page for each of the nine planets, the sun, asteroids and comets. Scientists from the University of Michigan have created free printable science flip books to demonstrate different solar phenomena in action. Included is an aurora, aurora oval, several coronal mass ejections (CME) a solar eruption and a solar flare. Students learn how processes occur by drawing and coloring them.

Free Printable Dr. Seuss Lorax Coloring Pages

March 2 marks the birthday of American icon Dr. Seuss, aka Theodor Suess Geisel. Dr. Seuss wrote pearls of wisdom in silly verse. He illustrated them in candy flavors and neon colors. The Lorax, Horton, the Grinch, The Cat in the Hat are among the world's most beloved children's books. He also wrote educational preschool stories under the scrambled pseudonym Theo LeSieg. March is also National Reading Month, kicked off with Read Across America. Use these activities to celebrate with children in classrooms or homeschool.

Start your activities quest at About.com Here are free printable Dr. Seuss activities. Outer-Limit.net has free printable Grinch coloring pages from Dr. Seuss's holiday classic "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." The Grinch and the Whos of Whoville are some of Dr. Seuss's best-known and most beloved characters. Homeschool Share has many free printable Dr. Seuss worksheets, coloring pages and activities. Lucy Learns has Cat in the Hat coloring pages. There are also printables of The Sneetches, The Lorax, Sam-I-Am and Green Eggs and Ham.

PBS Kids offers free printable Dr. Seuss character coloring pages and activities. The homepage,The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That has a plethora of Seuss-themed lesson plans, games, crafts and puzzles. Lessons cover math, reading, writing and science. Gerald McBoing-Boing, red and blue fishes, Horton Hears a Who and other Seuss characters help kids learn.

Seussville is the homepage for all things Dr. Seuss. This link takes you to the games and activities page, with lots of free printable Seuss goodies. There are printable Earth Day games based on the Lorax, Cat in the Hat counting games, preschool worksheets, coloring pages and gobs more. But don't stop there. Check the Parents and Educators tabs for other educational Seuss activities.

Happy Birthday 111th, Ted Geisel. Thanks for the memories!

Free Printable Rainbow Magic, Tinker Bell, Fairytopia, Pixie Hollow Lesson Plans, Fairy Crafts

Parents, are you looking for fairy crafts for your little fairy princess? How about free printable Tinker Bell, Barbie Fairytopia, Fairies of Pixie Hollow and Rainbow Magic fairies? Start with Rainbow Magic fairy stories created by a collection of authors writing under the pseudonym "Daisy Meadows." Rainbow Magic is illustrated by Georgie Ripper. There are several dozen Rainbow Magic fairy stories. Here are free printable Rainbow Magic fairy crafts.

The series began with the Rainbow Fairies, seven sisters each named after a color of the rainbow: Ruby, Amber, Saffron, Fern, Sky, Izzie and Heather. Two little girls, Rachel and Kirsty discover the rainbow fairies and their magical kingdom. The Rainbow Fairies series has blossomed to include fairies for practically every theme: princess, jewel fairies, pet keepers, weather, fun day, sporty, Christmas, flowers, music, magic animals, dance, party, ocean, green, twilight and several other fairy groups.

Start your free printable Rainbow Fairies activities quest here. The Friendship fairies offers free printable friendship activities, fairy crafts, puzzles and word games. The Green fairies are all about the environment and keeping the earth healthy. Visit the Green fairies page for free printable fairy crafts, activities and games and Rainbow Magic free printable picture frames, post cards, stationary, puzzles, word games, door hangers and coloring pages.

Here are free printable coloring pages of fairies from literature such as Shakespeare. There are old school Tinker Bell images and pictures of the Blue Fairy from Pinocchio. Here are more free printablefairy princess crafts and Medieval fantasy crafts with fairies. Here are free printable Barbie Fairytopia coloring pages. And you can't let an article about fairy crafts go to print without a nod to the greatest fairy of all Tinker Bell! No, don't get mad Tink, because the best is always saved for last! Here are free printable Tinker Bell and the Fairies of Pixie Hollow coloring pages.

Print a whole booklet of Tinker Bell, Barbie Fairytopia and Rainbow Magic activities to occupy a sick child or pass the time on a family car trip. Pack her a "Care-y Fairy Package," including printable booklet, crayons or markets, stickers, scissors, glue sticker and pencil. For extra fun, add some glitter (fairy gurus often refer to this as "pixie dust.") By the way, June 24 is Fairy Day!

Free Printable Earthquake Lesson Plans, Earth Science, Emergency Preparedness Lessons

April and May kick off severe weather season in the northern hemisphere. Hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, hail, lightning and thunder storms are all in the spring forecast. Here are educational movies on earth science, severe weather phenomena, geology and natural disasters. Use these great educational movies for science lessons and severe weather exploration? Educational movies include links for free printables to follow up earth science lessons. These educational movies cover many aspects of earth science in an exciting, visceral way.

"Twister" (1996, Bill Paxton, Helen Hunt) This is one of the action-adventure educational movies on severe weather. In heart-pounding action from start to finish, Twister uses mid 1990s computer generation to show the action of tornadoes in a believable way. Twister shows two storm chasing teams compete to develop accurate tornado tracking and monitoring devices. The cheesy little back-burner love triangle between storm chasers doesn't detract from the main concept of this geology thriller, For free printables on earth science lessons and follow up activities from Twister, click here. Here's are more free printables on tornadoes.

"Vertical Limit" (2000 Chris O'Donnell, Bill Paxton, Scott Glenn) In Vertical Limit, climbers attempt to scale K-2 one of the largest Everest mountains peaks. When one team gets separated and trapped the others must attempt a rescue during a brutal storm. Vertical Limit shows severe weather conditions a top the mountains as well as the effects of high altitude on the human body. Vertical Limit in earth science lessons on geology and avalanches. For free printables of earth science lessons on Vertical Limit and click here.

"The Day After Tomorrow" is one of the sci-fi severe weather educational movies. But kids can still learn about global warming and how it causes severe weather and natural disasters. Students can learn vital earth science lessons on the water cycle and development of severe weather patterns.

"When the Levees Broke" and other Hurricane Katrina documentaries show the devastation of natural disasters on an urban area. Hurricane Katrina, Aug. 25-29, 2005, was one of the worst natural disasters in the U.S. Students learn earth science lessons on hurricanes, storm surges and floods. Here are earth science lessons and printables on Hurricane Katrina and other severe weather natural disasters. Click here for other Hurricane Katrina lesson plans.

"The Perfect Storm" (2000 George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, John C. Reilly) The crew of a small fishing boat is caught off the shores of Glouchester, Massachusetts between two huge storm systems, The Perfect Storm filmography is intense. This is one of the best action educational movies on the use of radar in severe weather study. Preview The Perfect Storm to edit out superfluous and crude parts that are not necessary to the plot. The Perfect Storm in based upon the book by the same name by Sebastian Junger. Here are free printables on earth science lessons from The Perfect Storm.

Free Printable Columbus Day Activities, medieval maritime, navigation lesson plans

Columbus Day is celebrated on October 12. In school, kids study the voyages and exploration of Christopher Columbus. But you can study American history on any U.S. holiday--Memorial Day, Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, 4th of July or Labor day. Re-discover American history--or discover it anew if you've never paid attention before. 

The best place to start is at the beginning, which usually assumed to be with the discovery of the "New World" by Christopher Columbus. The land now called "America" didn't start when the Italian navigator Christopher Columbus stumbled upon it. Christopher Columbus wasn't even the first European to find it and he certainly wasn't the first world traveler to. 

St. Brendan and the Vikings beat him to it. Christopher Columbus is credited with discovery of the New World because he brought attention to it as no one had before. Here are free printable Christopher Columbus lessons on world explorers, colonial expansion, early mapmaking and navigation.

Garden of Praise says that Christopher Columbus was from Genoa in Italy. He was part of the massive push by world explorers to discover unknown regions. Columbus's real skills lay in mapmaking and marine navigation. Check out these awesome free printable medieval navigation tools like the ones Columbus would have used. 

Experiment with the sextant, astrolabe, kamal, cross-staff and quadrant. Bear in mind, these tools were the keys to unlocking the secrets of the unknown world. Many world explorers were looking for a new trade route to the West Indies. And the only way to get the spices, silk, opium and trade goods was to sail east. This was a long, hard trip and 99 percent died trying. So Columbus decided to do something new and (most agreed) crazy.

As navigation and mapmaking expert, Columbus studied geography inside and out. He would try going west to get to the east. He would avoid the whole Straits of Magellan mess and try getting to the West Indies through the back door. But people believed that the world was flat. No one knew what was in the west sea. People thought Columbus had gone berserk. "You'll fall off from the earth!" they said. (Students, if you like to be different, like Columbus, check out those earlier links for free printable navigation and mapmaking his way.)

Ocean voyages also cost a lot of money, so Columbus needed a royal patron to sponsor the trip. But no one wanted to invest in his nutty scheme and he had a hard time convincing anyone to lend him the money. Finally, Columbus asked Queen Isabella I of Spain. That good lady wanted more land for her empire so even though everyone thought Columbus was wrong to sail west, the queen agreed to help. Columbus assembled three ships with crew and supplies. He named them Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria after the Blessed Virgin and Child Jesus. He hoped they would bless his journey.

The three ships set sail from Palos, Spain on August 3, 1492. On October 11, Columbus got a major surprise when he bumped smack dab into a chunk of land he hadn't expected to be there. Where his navigation predicted the West Indies, was a previously unknown land which today is called the Bahamas. Still thinking he was somewhere in India, he decided this must be the East Indies. He called the native people "indios" or Indians. The myth persisted and the name stuck. That's why native American peoples are referred to and still refer to themselves sometimes as American Indians.

But not finding the West Indies and finding this New World instead wasn't all bad for Columbus Part of the agreement with Queen Isabella was that Columbus would get 10% of everything he discovered. Imagine owning 10% of North, South and Central America?! Of course as the magnitude of his find reached European ears, his piece of the pie was drastically reduced. But Columbus was made governor of Hispaniola, the name for the New World. That was a better deal that most world explorers got!

However some complained that Christopher Columbus was cruel to the local people whom he ruled. Columbus returned in chains to Spain and was put on trial. He was acquitted and allowed to return, but was not allowed to govern Hispaniola again. Christopher Columbus made four voyages in all. He died on May 20, 1506, believing he had found and should own "East India." The U.S. celebrates Columbus's voyages on October 12. For free printable Christopher Columbus lessons and world explorers, mapmaking and navigation activities, click the links in this article.

For more free printable social studies lesson plans, including a whole unit on American history activities, scroll around this blog Free Printable Lesson Plans or Free Lesson Plans 4U.

Free Printable Columbus Day Activities, medieval maritime, navigation lesson plans

Columbus Day is celebrated on October 12. In school, kids study the voyages and exploration of Christopher Columbus. But you can study American history on any U.S. holiday--Memorial Day, Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, 4th of July or Labor day. Re-discover American history--or discover it anew if you've never paid attention before. 

The best place to start is at the beginning, which usually assumed to be with the discovery of the "New World" by Christopher Columbus. The land now called "America" didn't start when the Italian navigator Christopher Columbus stumbled upon it. Christopher Columbus wasn't even the first European to find it and he certainly wasn't the first world traveler to. 

St. Brendan and the Vikings beat him to it. Christopher Columbus is credited with discovery of the New World because he brought attention to it as no one had before. Here are free printable Christopher Columbus lessons on world explorers, colonial expansion, early mapmaking and navigation.

Garden of Praise says that Christopher Columbus was from Genoa in Italy. He was part of the massive push by world explorers to discover unknown regions. Columbus's real skills lay in mapmaking and marine navigation. Check out these awesome free printable medieval navigation tools like the ones Columbus would have used. 

Experiment with the sextant, astrolabe, kamal, cross-staff and quadrant. Bear in mind, these tools were the keys to unlocking the secrets of the unknown world. Many world explorers were looking for a new trade route to the West Indies. And the only way to get the spices, silk, opium and trade goods was to sail east. This was a long, hard trip and 99 percent died trying. So Columbus decided to do something new and (most agreed) crazy.

As navigation and mapmaking expert, Columbus studied geography inside and out. He would try going west to get to the east. He would avoid the whole Straits of Magellan mess and try getting to the West Indies through the back door. But people believed that the world was flat. No one knew what was in the west sea. People thought Columbus had gone berserk. "You'll fall off from the earth!" they said. (Students, if you like to be different, like Columbus, check out those earlier links for free printable navigation and mapmaking his way.)

Ocean voyages also cost a lot of money, so Columbus needed a royal patron to sponsor the trip. But no one wanted to invest in his nutty scheme and he had a hard time convincing anyone to lend him the money. Finally, Columbus asked Queen Isabella I of Spain. That good lady wanted more land for her empire so even though everyone thought Columbus was wrong to sail west, the queen agreed to help. Columbus assembled three ships with crew and supplies. He named them Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria after the Blessed Virgin and Child Jesus. He hoped they would bless his journey.

The three ships set sail from Palos, Spain on August 3, 1492. On October 11, Columbus got a major surprise when he bumped smack dab into a chunk of land he hadn't expected to be there. Where his navigation predicted the West Indies, was a previously unknown land which today is called the Bahamas. Still thinking he was somewhere in India, he decided this must be the East Indies. He called the native people "indios" or Indians. The myth persisted and the name stuck. That's why native American peoples are referred to and still refer to themselves sometimes as American Indians.

But not finding the West Indies and finding this New World instead wasn't all bad for Columbus Part of the agreement with Queen Isabella was that Columbus would get 10% of everything he discovered. Imagine owning 10% of North, South and Central America?! Of course as the magnitude of his find reached European ears, his piece of the pie was drastically reduced. But Columbus was made governor of Hispaniola, the name for the New World. That was a better deal that most world explorers got!

However some complained that Christopher Columbus was cruel to the local people whom he ruled. Columbus returned in chains to Spain and was put on trial. He was acquitted and allowed to return, but was not allowed to govern Hispaniola again. Christopher Columbus made four voyages in all. He died on May 20, 1506, believing he had found and should own "East India." The U.S. celebrates Columbus's voyages on October 12. For free printable Christopher Columbus lessons and world explorers, mapmaking and navigation activities, click the links in this article.

For more free printable social studies lesson plans, including a whole unit on American history activities, scroll around this blog Free Printable Lesson Plans or Free Lesson Plans 4U.

Free Printable Labor Day Coloring Pages and Lesson Plans

Spring is a poignant time in labor history. March 25, 1911 remembers 146 workers, mostly women, lost in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. April 16 mourns Ireland's Easter Rising of slain Feinians. April 28 marks Workers' Memorial Day, on which the organized labor movement pays tribute to the fallen in workplace accidents or in organized labor struggles. May 1 is May Day, honoring International Workers' Day. May 4 commemorates casualties at Chicago's Haymarket riot at a 1886 labor rally. May 19, 1920 is a day when the organized labor movement grieves the Matewan and Mingo County massacre of coal miners. On May 26, 1937 those who would from unions were assaulted at Ford's River Rouge plant "Battle of the Overpass" in Detroit.

Organized labor history is taught as part of American history, but there is no American (or world) history without labor history. Unions, collective bargaining--the fight for workers' rights impact every industry, occupation and person. Teachers and homeschoolers, you can educate students about unions with these free printable May Day and labor history lesson plans. These links include websites, activities, worksheets, movies and books on the organized labor movement.

The American Labor Studies Center offers a gamut of free printable organized labor movement lesson plans. It covers history, events, strikes, lockouts, workplace injuries, child labor, working conditions, collective bargaining, 8-hour workday, sweatshops, slavery, organizing, indentured servitude, socialism and labor, women's rights, African American labor issues, minority discrimination concerns, ULP (unfair labor practices). Lessons cover the Triangle fire (the worst workplace accident in history), West Virginia labor, Pullman Strike (1894), Lawrence Textile Strike (1913), Lowell Strike, Paterson Silk Strike, agriculture strikes and other events. Get free printable union labor worksheets, fill-ins, puzzles and study guides. There are links to films and books.

Modern Heroes of the American Labor Movement explores famous labor leaders: Noam Chomsky, Joe Hill, "Big Bill" Haywood, Pete Seeger, Jimmy Hoffa, Caesar Chavez, the Wisconsin 14 and others from the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World), AFL-CIO, Teamsters and more. Here's another list ofbiographies of union organizers. This site has biographies of women labor leaders including Elizabeth Gurley Flynn Mary Harris "Mother" Jones and more. To use in lessons, print the list of names on one side and short bios on the other side (mixed up). Students match person with details. Print photos and pin to a map at places they are associated with. Or make a time line along the wall. Plot images in history.

The National Endowment for the Humanities offers two companion lessons in its series The Industrial Age in America. "Sweatshops, Steel Mills and Factories" and "Robber Barons and Captains of Industry" define the problems faced by workers in labor history and the reasons for the organized labor movement. Use the worksheets and activities with middle school and high school students.

The Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs at Wayne State University in Detroit maintains the largest organized labor history archive in the U.S. It has an impressive collection of images in physical exhibits and digital archives on The Labor Movement and Organizations. It also maintains a labor history document base. The library is named for the leaders of UAW (United Auto Workers) and CIO (Congress of Industrial Organizations) unions Walter Reuther who was one of several injured at Ford's Rouge factory "Battle of the Overpass" in Detroit.

The United Farm Workers is the union begun by Cesar Chavez that tends to itinerant and agricultural labor issues. Along with labor movement, the UFW educates people about food safety, immigration, deportation, earth and green initiatives, pesticides and more. An important piece is the youth activism page. UFW seeks to take union and agricultural awareness beyond the classroom walls and into real life.

The Wobblies is a documentary about the IWW (the Industrial Workers of the World). The IWW is a world-wide union that seeks to organize all workers regardless of occupation. This authoritative video is engaging and covers a broad labor perspective. It helps students understand the differences between business, trade and collective unions. The IWW honors May Day as the real Labor Day.

In honor of May Day, here's a quote from the Albert Shanker Institute. "Imagine opening a high school U.S. history textbook and finding no mention of-or at most a passing sentence about-Valley Forge, the Missouri Compromise...Benjamin Franklin, Lewis and Clark. Imagine if these key events and people just disappeared as if they'd never existed...That is what has happened in history textbooks when it comes to labor's part in the American story." Use these lesson plans to keep the May Day stories and message alive.

Free Printable Green Environmental Science Earth Day Lesson Plans

There are many reasons to celebrate April. April bids farewell to winter and ushers in spring. Easter and Earth Month are celebrated in April. April 22 is the official Earth Day. Here are environmental science worksheets and lesson plans to explore this "green" month of April.

Maine.gov has a free printable earth science activities. There lessons on different environmental features. Teach them as parts of the body.

Rocks (igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary). Rocks are the bones of our planet.

Minerals (quartz, silica sand, crystals, MOS Hardness Scale, cleavage, color, mineral identification). Minerals are earth's tendons.

Water (ground water, aquifers, watershed, water cycle, precipitation, percolation, wetlands, acid rain, bodies of water, oceanography, polar ice caps). Water is our earth's lifeblood.

Soil (structure, layers, decomposition, fossils, fossil fuels, composting). Soil is the muscular system.

Geophysics (geology, plate tectonics, magnets, earthquakes, volcanoes, the Ring of Fire, thermodynamics, geysers). Geophysics is the endocrine system. Given the recent earthquake, tsunami and nuclear reactor meltdown in Japan, these lessons are even more vital and significant.

Ecology (land use, deforestation, slash and burn farming, fallow periods, water testing, soil evaluation). Think of ecology like health. Caring for the earth is like caring for our bodies. What we put into or do to our bodies heal and sustains or hurts and destroys. Likewise, what we do to our earth either helps or harms it. Environmental groups are like the earth's physicians.

This booklet provides hands-on activities, games, simulations, map reading exercises, field trips, treasure and scavenger hunts, experiments and extensions for social studies, reading and math. It gives interactive practice applications for Point-Slope formula (y=mx+b). That's helpful for S.T.E.M. (science, technology, engineering, math) connections. In keeping with earth month, don't waste paper printing. Use recycled paper or scraps from your recycling bin. Print with biodegradable ink.

For more printable science lessons, visit my blogs Free Printable Lesson Plans and Free Lesson Plans 4U and Science Experiments and Chemistry Lessons.

Free Printable Sid the Science Kid Lesson Plans

"Sid the Science Kid" is a cute preschool show from PBS Kids. Sid the Science Kid helps children explore early childhood science concepts. Here are free printable life science, nature, earth science, chemistry and physics lesson plans for young children. Children color, draw and study everyday science concepts from the classroom, home, playground and kitchen.

The Sid the Science Kid games are great for early childhood activities. Preschool and young elementary school students will enjoy playing:

Balancing Act: block balancing games to learn about building and gravity
Weather wheel
Kitchen magic: to explore chemistry
Sandbox symphony: explores sound and sound waves
I Sense: games to explore five senses
Mix it up: nutrition and health
Science Jar: encourages observation, description and scientific process

Check out the free printable Sid the Science Kid activities. Visit this link for a free printable 18 page booklet featuring drawing activities, coloring pages, lesson extensions, matching, counting and other science lesson plans. This free printable booklet makes an excellent follow-up lesson plans for any preschool science activities. Use free printable Sid the Science Kid lesson plans and preschool science activities to follow up on preschool science experiments of seed planting, nature observation health, nutrition and other basic science concepts. Children will enjoy making a color, cut and paste Weather Cube for nature study games.

Try the Sid the Science Kid collection jar activities to teach children to learn how to look at things in their environment with a scientist's eye. Using chalk, a magnifying glass and a magnet, Sid guides students to explore objects and describe what they see. Visit Sid's homepage for more free preschool science activities on cooking, chemistry, health, nutrition, human body and much more.

Preschool teachers, homeschoolers, parents, day care providers, be sure to check out the dozens offree printable Sid the Science Kid lesson plans, games, worksheets, charts, diagrams and activities. Each lesson is linked to an episode of Sid the Science Kid. Each of the science activities and worksheets gives content connections that will fit with most educational curriculum. Students can watch the show from this site and use the free printable science extensions for lesson plans. Check out the homepage for Sid's Science Fair apps, games and other preschool science activities.

PBS in an industry leader in education, particularly preschool and early childhood. "Sid the Science Kid" is a perfect complement to any preschool science activities. For more free printable activities, visit Free Printable Lesson Plans.