Fun, FREE Hands-on Science Lessons and Unit Studies for Kids

Have you been looking for fun, FREE hands-on unit studies to teach science? Each of the below unit studies is filled with active projects that are both educational and fun! Learn by doing! Included are 17 unit studies comprised of more than 90 lessons! Click on the individual lesson plans to see the experiments, dramatizations, observations, art projects, cooking, edible projects, singing, and/or lapbook ideas! Also included are our favorite "living books"/picture books that compliment each lesson.

For FUN Science, choose from:

Biology Taught from a Christian Worldview lessons for Middle School:

• Biology (30 lessons, 55 minutes per lesson)

Earth/Space unit study lessons for all ages (PreK - Gr. 8):

• Astronomy
• Earth Science
• Extremes Earth Science: Oceans, Mountains, & Poles
• Ecology
• Meteorology/Weather

Biology unit study lessons for all ages (PreK - Gr. 8):

• Anatomy of the Human Body
• Zoology
• Plants/Botany
• Ecology
• Genetics and DNA
• Forensic Science
• Five Senses

Engineering unit study lessons for all ages (PreK - Gr. 8):

• Simple Machines & Inventions
• Bridges
• Floating & Flying: Ships & Airplanes

Chemistry unit study lessons for all ages (PreK - Gr. 8):

• Chemistry
• Science of Bread

• Biology Series of 30 Lessons- This is a series of 30 hands-on lessons covering middle school or upper elementary biology from a Christian perspective. This is the link for the first lesson. Links to the remaining free lessons can be found at the bottom of the page.I used this plan while teaching a 55 minute middle school biology class in a co-op setting. Each lesson plan includes homework assignments and a variety of hands-on activities to make each lesson engaging & memorable.

Make planet pizzas as you study planets, form the lunar phases using Oreo cookies as you study the moon, study and paint Van Gogh's "Starry Night " as you study stars, build and blast off rockets as you study space exploration, make presentations on individual planets, and more during this 4 part hands-on unit study on the solar system.

• Solar System Lesson - This is part 1 of a 4 part hands-on unit on Astronomy. Make planet pizzas, take a planet walk, and more in this exciting lesson on our fascinating solar system!
• The Sun and the Moon Lesson - This is part 2 of a 4 part hands-on unit study on Astronomy. Form the lunar phases using Oreo cookies, drop balls in flour to make a crater-filled lunar surface, recreate Galileo's famous gravity experiment, and more!
• Comets, Asteroids, Meteors, Stars, & Constellations - This is part 3 of a 4 part hands-on unit study on Astronomy. Make a comet, study and paint Van Gogh's "Starry Night," decorate a cookie to learn the parts of the sun, form asteroids out of mashed potatoes, assemble constellations using marshmallows, and more!
• Astronauts, Rockets, and Space Ships Lesson - This is part 4 of a 4 part hands-on unit on Astronomy. Make rockets, try out astronaut tasks, make and eat a spacecraft, and more in this fun lesson on space exploration!
• Astronomy Presentations and Field Trip Ideas - This is the culminating activity we did after a 4 part hands-on unit on astronomy. We held a star-gazing party and dinner. The children each presented on an assigned planet and they sang the astronomy songs we've been learning during our unit. Also included are the field trips we took during this unit.

Create edible DNA models, made models of the insides of bones, dissect deer organs, create a working model of the respiratory system, play immune system freeze tag, and more in this fun 7-8 lesson unit on human anatomy! (An optional lesson on genetics and DNA is included.)

• Cells and DNA Lesson - This is part 1 of a 7 part hands-on unit study on anatomy of the human body. Create edible models of human cells and DNA, look at cheek cells under a microscope, and more!
• Genetics Lesson – This is an optional but very worthwhile lesson for the Human Anatomy Unit Study. Use M&M's to determine genetic traits, extract DNA from a strawberry using normal household materials, create edible DNA strands using marshmallows and licorice, design dog breeds as you select alleles, and more in this fun lesson on Genetics!
• Skeletal and Muscular Systems Lesson - This is part 2 of a 7 part hands-on unit study on anatomy of the human body. Create models of bone parts, use stickers to label the bones on your body, dissect soup bones, measure the range of motion of your joints, and more!
• Nervous System Lesson - This is part 3 of a 7 part hands-on unit study on anatomy of the human body. Create a clay model of the brain, twist together a pipe cleaner neuron, train your reflexes, dissect a deer brain and a cow eyeball (optional), and more!
• Digestive System Lesson - This is part 4 of a 7 part hands-on unit study on anatomy of the human body. Demonstrate how each part of the digestive system works using crackers, pantyhose, create teeth molds, prepare and eat a salad while discussing healthy eating habits, and more!
• Circulatory System Lesson - This is part 5 of a 7 part hands-on unit study on anatomy of the human body. Walk through your circulatory system, create a blood model and fake movie blood, measure your heart rate, dissect a heart, and more!
• Respiratory System Lesson - This is part 6 of a 7 part hands-on unit study on anatomy of the human body. Create a lung model, measure lung capacity, dissect a lung, play a respiratory relay race, and more!
• Immune System Lesson - This is part 7 of a 7 part hands-on unit study on anatomy of the human body. Play immune system freeze tag, watch how germs spread, observe bacteria under a microscope, and more!
• Human Body Unit Study Presentations and Field Trip Ideas - This is the culminating activity for the 7 part hands-on unit study on anatomy of the human body. Children presented game show themed games related to the human body or other creative presentations, and we had a systems-of-the-human-body-themed meal. Recipes are included! Also included are the field trips we attended during this unit.

Make an edible model of the earth as you study the Earth's layers, bake cookies that demonstrate how sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks form, create fossil casts, build marshmallow structures that can withstand a jell-o earthquake, carve gullies and valleys in sand using wind, water, and ice, make presentations on various aspects of the Earth, and more during this 6 lesson hands-on unit study of Earth Science!

• Earth's Layers and Soil Composition Lesson - This is part 1 of a 6 part hands-on unit on Earth Science from a Christian perspective. Make an edible model of the earth, act out each of the Earth's layers, do core testing on a cupcake, make oobleck, and more!
• Rock Classification Lesson - This is part 2 of a 6 part hands-on unit on Earth Science from a Christian perspective. Make and eat "Sedimentary" Seven Layer Bars, create "Metamorphic" Snickers bars, do some rock mining, and more!
• Fossils Lesson - This is part 3 of a 6 part hands-on unit on Earth Science from a Christian perspective. The focus of this lesson is fossils! Create fossils casts, dig up and piece together dinosaur skeletons, excavate dinosaurs, eat edible ammonites, and more!
• Plate Tectonics and Volcanoes Lesson - This is part 4 of a 6 part hands-on unit study on Earth Science. Make edible volcanoes, build an erupting ring of fire, demonstrate plate tectonics using graham crackers, form each type of volcano using play-doh, and more!
• Earthquakes Lesson - This is part 5 of a 6 part hands-on unit study on Earth Science. Create a tsunami, build marshmallow structures that can withstand an earthquake, act out seismic waves, build and use a seismograph, and more!
• Erosion Lesson - This is part 6 of a 6 part hands-on unit study on Earth Science. Demonstrate various types of erosion as children carve gullies and valleys in sand using air, water, and ice. Re-create the Grand Canyon. Compare how soil resists erosion.
• Earth Science Presentation and Field Trip Ideas - This is the culminating project we did after a 6 part hands-on unit on Earth Science. We made edible volcanoes, performed earth science demonstrations, displayed paintings of the earth's layers and volcanoes, sang songs about the earth science, and more! Also included are the field trips we attended during this unit.

Make ocean floor pies, carry "eggs" like a penguin, sketch Mount Everest, compete in a "Base Camp" relay race, prepare and eat pemmican, and more in the exciting 3 lesson adventure as we explore the poles of the Earth, the heights of the mountains, and the depths of the oceans! This unit includes habitats, food chains, earth science, oceanography, and more!

• Race to the Poles: A Lesson on Polar Exploration - This is part 1 of a 3 part hands-on unit on Global Expeditions. Train like scientists do for trips to Antarctica, make and eat pemmican, carry eggs like penguins, and more
• To Mount Everest and Beyond: A Lesson on Mountain Climbing for Children - This is part 2 of a 3 part hands-on unit on Global Expeditions. This lesson is on Mountain Climbing. Sketch Mount Everest, compete in a Base Camp relay race, use a ladder to cross a “crevasse,” and more!
• Dive into the Ocean: An Oceanography Lesson for Children - This is part 3 of a 3 part hands-on unit on Global Expeditions. This lesson is on Oceanography. Sculpt ocean floor pies, act out what creates tides, create ocean wave bottles, try on scuba gear, make ocean zone flip books, and more!

Examine pond water and yeast cells under a microscope, test out various insect mouths, dissect a fish, create an egg model, perform a play about mammals, present on a specific animal phylum or genius, and more during this fun 5 part hands-on unit study on animal classification!

• Taxonomy, Animal Classification, and Invertebrates Lesson - This is part 1 of a 5 part hands-on unit study on zoology. Examine pond water and yeast cells under a microscope, dissect an oyster, sing “The Six Kingdom Song,” eat 5 of the kingdoms on a supreme pizza, and more!
• Insects and Spiders Lesson - This is part 2 of a 5 part hands-on unit on zoology. Test out various insect mouth types, examine insect parts under a microscope, make and eat edible ants, test out spider webs for vibration, and more!
• Amphibians, Reptiles, and Fish (Cold-blooded Vertebrates) Lesson - This is part 3 of a 5 part hands-on unit study on Zoology. Peel your “skin” like a reptile, dissect a fish, make origami jumping frogs, compare amphibian and reptile eggs by feeling tapioca and grapes, and more!
• Birds Lesson - This is part 4 of a 5 part hands-on unit on zoology. Create an egg model, make edible nests, test out various types of beaks, compare bird bones with mammal bones, examine various feathers, dissect a gizzard, sing a song about bird traits, and more!
• Mammals Lesson - This is part 5 of a 5 part hands-on unit on zoology. Perform a play about mammals, experience how blubber keeps marine mammals warm, sniff out your “baby,” examine animal skulls, dissect an owl pellet and piece together a rodent skeleton, and more!
• Zoology Presentations and Field Trip Ideas This describes the culminating activity for the 5 part hands-on unit on zoology. The children each presented on an assigned phylum, class, or order of animals. They also sang some of the animal classification songs and enjoyed an animal-themed meal. (Recipes are included.) Also included are the field trips we attended during this unit.

Race cars down ramps as you study inclined planes and wedges, build and test catapults as you study levers and screws, create waterwheels as you study wheels and axles, lift each other using pulleys as you study gears and pulleys, use static electricity lift hair and separate salt and pepper as you study electricity, devise Rube Goldberg machines to place toothpaste on a toothbrush without touching either one, present on famous inventors, and more during this exciting 6 part hands-on unit study on simple machines and inventions!

• Inclined Planes and Wedges Lesson - This is part 1 of a 6 part hands-on unit on Simple Machines and Inventions. Race cars down ramps, compare carrying luggage to pulling it up an inclined plane, slice through apples using wedges, and more!
• Lever and Screw Simple Machines Lesson - This is part 2 of a 6 part hands-on unit on inventions and simple machines. Build and test catapults, lift an adult using a lever, test out screws of various threads, and more!
• Wheels and Axles Lesson - This is part 3 of a 6 part hands-on unit on Inventions and Simple Machines. Build and test waterwheels, use cylinders to make wheel cookies, experiment with matchbox cars to demonstrate friction, compare the mechanical advantage of an adult and a child's bicycle, and more!
• Gears and Pulleys Simple Machines Lesson - This is part 4 of a 6 part hands-on unit on inventions and simple machines. Build and test pulleys, play pulley tug-of-war, find out how a clock works, and more!
• Electricity Lesson - This is part 5 of a 6 part hands-on unit on inventions and simple machines. Watch static electricity lift hair and separate salt and pepper, build and test circuits and switches using household materials, play an electron game to demonstrate how...
• Inventions and Rube Goldberg Machines Lesson - This is part 6 of a 6 part hands-on unit on inventions and simple machines. Work in groups to devise a confetti launcher and a Rube Goldberg machine that makes the simple task of squirting toothpaste onto a toothbrush as complex and fun as possible!
• Inventions and Simple Machines Presentations and Field Trip Ideas - Included are the presentations on famous inventors our students created following our 6 part hands-on unit on Inventions and Simple Machines. They also sang the Simple Machines song and ate a simple machine-themed lunch. (Recipes are provided.) Also included are the field trips we attended during this unit.

Build an aluminum foil barge that can hold the most pennies, experiment with what floats and sinks and why, create working models of various ships and a submarine, design and build a variety of airplane and parachute models, and more during this 5 part hands-on unit study on floating and flying.

• Buoyancy and Floating Lesson Plan - This is part 1 of a 5 part hands-on unit study on Floating & Flying (Fluid Mechanics). This week's focus is buoyancy (floating). Build an aluminum foil barge that can hold the most pennies, experiment with what floats and sinks and why, explore the relationship between density and buoyancy, and more!
• Floating Ships and Boats Lesson - This is part 2 of a 5 part hands-on unit study on Floating & Flying (Fluid Mechanics). This week's focus is ships and boats. Create working models of sailboats, submarines, and hovercrafts, test out jet power, examine the impact of density of liquids and surface tension on floating, and more!
• Air Pressure and Aeronautics Lesson - This is part 3 of a 5 part hands-on unit study on Floating & Flying. Discover the properties and power of air as you watch as air pressure blows up a balloon, sucks an egg into a bottle, collapses a can, holds water in an upside-down glass, and more!
• History and Forces of Flight Lesson - This is part 4 of a 5 part hands-on unit study on Floating & Flying. Learn about the history of flight from the time of the Greeks through present day. Design and redesign foam fliers, balloon jets, parachutes, drag-chutes, and more as you examine the four forces of flight!
• Paper Airplanes & The Four Forces of Flight Lesson - This is part 5 of a 5 part hands-on unit on Floating & Flying. Have fun while creating various types of paper airplanes in order to examine the relationship between plane design and the four forces of flight!
• Floating and Flying Unit Presentations and Field Trip Ideas – This is the culminating activity for the five part hands-on unit on Floating & Flying. The children made ship and plane-themed dishes (recipes are included) and presented on famous planes or ships. Also included is where we went for field trips during this unit.

Build grape and toothpick truss bridges, piece together a play-doh arch bridge, act out the forces involved in bridge building and suspension bridges, paint famous bridges, hold a bridge-building contest, and more in this fun 2 part unit study on bridges!

• Bridge Lesson on Forces, Arch Bridges, & Truss Bridges - This is part 1 of a 2 part hands-on unit study on bridges. Build grape and toothpick truss bridges, piece together a play-doh arch bridge, act out the forces involved in bridge building, and more!
• Bridge Lesson on Suspension, Cantilever, & Cable-Stayed Bridges and Bridge Building Contest - This is part 2 of a 2 part hands-on unit study on bridges. Create and act out cantilever, suspension, & cable-stayed bridges, compete in a bridge-building contest, and more!
• Bridge Unit Presentations and Field Trip Ideas - This is the culminating project following a 2 part hands-on unit study on Bridges. Also included are the field trips we went on during this unit and fun recipe ideas with a bridge theme.

• Genetics Lesson – This lesson can be done alone or cane be combined with the Human Body/Human Anatomy Unit Study. Use M&M's to determine genetic traits, extract DNA from a strawberry using normal household materials, create edible DNA strands using marshmallows and licorice, design dog breeds as you select alleles, and more in this fun lesson on Genetics!

• Detectives & CSI Lesson - This is a hands-on lesson plan on detectives. Analyze fingerprints and hair samples, take mug shots, solve a real crime, and more in this fun lesson on Detectives and CSI!

Go on a seed hunt, act out germination, create seed mosaics, make and eat a plant parts salad, dissect a flower, decorate sunflower cookies, compete in a photosynthesis relay race, got on a plant scavenger hunt, and more during this fun four part unit study on Botany and Plants!

• Plant Parts & Seeds Lesson - This is part 1 of a 4 part unit study on Botany and Plants. Go on a seed hunt, act out germination, create seed mosaics, make and eat a plant parts salad, and more in this fun lesson on plants!

• Flowers Lesson - Go on a flower hunt, dissect a flower, create edible flowers, paint flowers, and more in this fun lesson on flowers! This is part 2 of a 4 part unit study on Botany and Plants.

• Bee & Honey Lesson - This is part 3 of a 4 part unit study on Botany and Plants. (This lesson is optional if you need to squeeze this unit into 3 parts rather than 4.) Dance like a bee, make edible bees using honey balls, use cheese puff balls and and juice boxes to dramatize pollination, create pipe cleaner bees and have them fly to the tune of Flight of the Bumblebee, and more!

• Trees & Leaves Lesson - This is part 4 of a 4 part unit study on Botany and Plants. Play a photosynthesis relay race, create an edible leaf structure, act out the parts of a tree, examine and classify tree leaves and use them to identify trees, and more in this fun, hands-on lesson on leaves and trees!

• Botany Scavenger Hunt & Field Trip Ideas - This is the culminating activity we did after a 4 week hands-on unit study on botany/plants. Children went on a fun-filled scavenger hunt for a variety of plants, and afterward had a plant-themed picnic lunch. Also included are the field trips we went on while studying this unit on botany and plants.

Make tornadoes and clouds in a bottle, create and use rain gauges, dramatize a storm front, design and eat clouds, race against prevailing winds, and more during this exciting 4 part unit study on weather and meteorology!

• Sun, Seasons, and Weather Lesson - This is part 1 of a 4 part hands-on unit study on Meteorology and Weather. Conduct experiments and demonstrations on how the sun, soil, and water affect the seasons and weather, dramatize the Earth's revolutions around the sun, and more!

• Wind and Air Pressure Lesson - This is part 2 of a 4 part hands-on unit study on Meteorology and Weather. Make weather vanes and barometers, act out high and low pressure, blow up a balloon and collapse a can using hot water, make and eat prevailing winds, and more!

• Clouds and Precipitation Lesson - This is part 3 of a 4 part hands-on unit study on Meteorology and Weather. Make clouds in a bottle, create rain, build rain gauges, form and eat clouds, and more!

• Tornadoes, Hurricanes, and Lightning Lesson - This is part 4 of a 4 part hands-on unit study on Meteorology and Weather. Create tornadoes in a bottle, form a hurricane in a mixing bowl, produce lightning and thunder using pie plates and balloons, and more!

• Weather Unit Presentations and Field Trips - This is the culminating activity for our 4 part hands-on unit on Meteorology and Weather. The children presented art projects, lapbooks, and weather experiments they created or performed during the unit. Afterward we had a weather-themed lunch. Recipes are included. Also included is where we went for field trips during this unit.

Build a crawl-through ear as you study hearing, play scales on water glasses as you study music and sound, dissect a cow eyeball as you study sight, try to identify mystery objects simply by their smell, present on various aspects of the five senses, and more during this 4 lesson hands-on unit study of the five senses!

• Hearing and Sound Waves Lesson - This is part 1 of a 4 part hands-on thematic unit on the five senses. Build and crawl through a model of an ear, watch sound waves at work, make paper cup phones, use a stethoscope and otoscope, and more!
• Music and Instruments Lesson - This is part 2 of a 4 part hands-on unit study on the five senses. See the inside of a piano and how it works, study pitch while playing water glasses, test out different instruments, and more!
• Eyes and Seeing Lesson - This is part 3 of a 4 part hands-on unit on the five senses. Make an edible model of an eye, dissect a cow eyeball, visit an eye doctor, and more!
• Touch, Smell, & Taste Lesson in Five Senses Unit - This is part 4 of a 4 part hands-on unit on the five senses. Feel, smell, and taste mystery items, make a touch and feel book, and more!
• Five Senses Culminating Project and Field Trip Ideas - This is the culminating project for the 4 part hands-on unit on the five senses. The students created presentations on people and ideas related to the 5 senses and shared 5 Senses-themed snacks and desserts. (Recipes are included.) Also included is where we went for field trips during this unit.

• Biomes - Make leaf rubbings, assemble rain forest terrariums, make pine needle tea, experiment with forms of animal insulation, and more while learning about biomes!
• Food Webs - Learn about food webs and food chains using fun hands-on activities such as playing Predator & Prey, making a paper food chain and food chain pyramid, playing the Camouflage Candy game, and more while learning about food webs.
• Mushrooms, Yeast, and the Fungi Kingdom - Observe mushrooms, learn their parts, taste mushrooms, learn how they reproduce, create a mushroom craft, create dough, blow up a balloon using yeast, and more in this fun, hands-on lesson plan on the fungi kingdom.

• The Science of Bread - What makes bread rise? Does the water temperature really matter? What about sugar? What's the difference between whole wheat and white flour? What does wheat look like? Find out all this and more in this fun, hands-on lesson or play date activity on the science of bread!

• Teaching Chemistry to Young Children - Are you in search of great resources for piquing your students' or children's interest in chemistry? This webpage features the books and YouTube video clips we found most helpful during our 3 part unit on atomic research/chemistry: Atoms, Periodic Table of Elements, and Chemical Bonds & Reactions. We relied heavily on a particular book for activities, so in lieu of listing our activities, I am recommending the book. To give you a peek at the fun we had using this book, I have included some photos of our activities and experiments.

Each of the below unit studies is filled with active projects that are both educational and fun as you learn through Experiments, Cooking, Dramatizations, Costumes, Edible Crafts, Games, Crafts, Songs, Lapbooks, and lots of living books!

• Science Lessons and Unit Studies (17 unit studies & 90 lessons) : Astronomy, Geology, Biology, Plants, Genetics, CSI, Human Anatomy, Simple Machines, Electricity, Earth Science, Fossils, Weather, Five Senses, & Ecology
• American History Lessons and Unit Studies (8 unit studies & 81 lessons) : Explorers, Native Americans, American Colonies, Independence, Westward Expansion, Presidents, and more through World War II
• World History Lessons and Unit Studies (8 unit studies & 39 lessons): Tabernacle, Medieval Period, Leonardo da Vinci, Protestant Reformation, Explorers, China, Russia, & Africa
• Geography Lessons and Unit Studies (8 unit studies & 112 lessons) : 50 States, China, Japan, Russia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, & Countries A - Z
• Art Lessons for Early Elementary (34 lessons) : Artists and Elements of Art, Leonardo da Vinci, Medieval Art, Sculpting, & Pottery
• Preschool Lessons (23 lessons) : Horses, Manners, Five Senses, Attributes of God, Butterflies, Plants, Bees, Military, Construction, Sculpting, Science of Bread, Ladybugs, Sheep & Wool, Japan, Lighthouses, Laws & Obedience, Illusions & Deception, & the Gingerbread Man
• Holiday Lessons (13 lessons) : Thanksgiving, Christmas, St. Patrick's Day, Summer Fun, & Reformation Day

• Homeschool Schedules & Tips : Our Homeschool Schedules at various stages, what I do with my Toddlers and Babies, how to Start a Co-op, our Favorites, and our lessons for Classical Conversations, KONOS, and Abeka.