Curricular Resources

UT Dallas > Science and Mathematics Education > Outreach > K-12 Teachers > Curricular Resources

Faculty and affiliates of the Department of Science/Mathematics Education at UT Dallas have written curricula that is useful in the K-12 classroom. These resources range from hands-on simple activities to astronomy resources to virtual field trips.

General Science

How Big is a Million, resource is based on a Powers of Ten approach to building number sense a million and beyond. An accompanying 4th grade lesson focusing on number sense and place value and was field-tested in Allen ISD in 2010. Written by Dr. Mary Urquhart, inspired by Dr Fred Fifer’s Million Mark’s book.

Space Science Resources

For more details on each of these head to the Space Science Resources page written by Dr. Mary Urquhart.

CINDI in Space, educational resources from UTD in conjunction with NASA satellite project.
Stars and Planets, 5th grade to college level conceptual astronomy curriculum, the full curriculum is available to download on this page
Reaching for the Red Planet, Mars exploration resource astronomy curriculum *curriculum being updated for digital
Lunar Phase Wheel, Moon phase exploration lesson

Earth Science Resources

The Vivid Earth Science Plate Tectonics (pdf) series is a set of short, engaging videos that use informative graphics, animations, and clear student-friendly language to explore this important Earth Science topic and its historical development. Plate tectonics can be a challenging topic to teach and to learn. Let Vivid Earth Science help! These videos are ideal for classroom instructional use in grades 6-12, for flipped classrooms, or for review.
- Project led by 2022 UTD PhD graduate in Geosciences, Dr. Ning Wang and his advisors Dr. Robert Stern (Geosciences) and Dr. Mary Urquhart (SME) who also serves as series narrator.
- See a CAST Workshop presentation on this series – recording on our CAST page
Google Earth GEOED Video Library (GEGVIL), [partnership with UTD Geoscience] is a video library that includes place & event-based geoscience educational videos which have been made or reviewed by geoscientist and/or domain experts. You can also use it to create your own video library.
Change Over Time, K-8 Earth science project led by Barbara Curry and previous UTD Texas Regional Collaborative members. There is not currently a digital version of this curriculum, if you would like to borrow the Teacher’s Edition or be sent a copy of the CD please contact us.

Life Science Resources

The Zebrafish Summer Institute (ZSI) offered by Dr. Vinita Hajeri is a unique professional development opportunity for secondary science educators. During a weeklong workshop followed by school year support, teachers learn how to use zebrafish (a small, freshwater fish commonly found in pet shops) to engage their students in authentic, real-world scientific investigations.
Survivor! Food Webs and the Introduction of Foreign Species (.pdf) is a food web activity based on the island of Guam developed by Dr. Homer Montgomery.

Physical Science Resources

Scaffolded Training Environment for Physics Programming (STEPP) into Kinematics and Newton’s Laws – The purpose of STEPP is to augment current instruction in introductory physics at the high school level. STEPP is designed to work synergistically with what you are already doing in your classroom.
- Overview pdf
- See a CAST Workshop presentation on this series – recording on our CAST page

Penny Ante Science

Penny Ante Science: by Dr Cynthia Ledbetter and Dr Fred Fifer – This SME duo created several books to help teachers with science activities that cost little to no money.

Penny Ante Science Volume 1 is now on Amazon – is a collection of more than 75 hands-on science activities that use very inexpensive materials such as paper clips, plastic cups, tape, paper and other household materials: hence, the name Penny Ante. Students looking for science fair ideas, or for things to do that are simply fun will enjoy this book. Teachers and parents will appreciate that each activity is focused on a particular concept rather than complicating learning by introducing several ideas at once. The activities are open-ended; this means that the answers to the questions posed are based on the data collected rather than a set of facts to be memorized. Teacher tested with elementary through high school students, Penny Ante Science activities make learning fun.
Class Starter & Focus Activities: (QuickTime video clips and .pdf instruction sheets) Fun icebreaker, team building, and brain logic warm-ups for your class. Developed by Dr. Rebekah Nix and Penny Ante Science
Penny Ante Science Earth Science Activities: a group of lessons related to the research of the Research Vessel Melville and The Subduction Crew.

Virtual Field Trips

SME’s Virtual Field Trips are designed for use in any and every classroom. Although the main topics are based in ecology (life science), geology (earth science) and humankind (environmental science), these sites also support lessons in computer science, technology, mathematics, physics, social studies, geography, history, language arts and classical art. The structure is open so that you may approach almost any topic from virtually every direction. Each “element” is woven into the “Big Picture” with links and references to allow you and your students to explore the presented information through the most logical route. The same scientific principles and processes apply in other geographic locations as well!

Big Bend Virtual Field Trips by Dr. Francis Redfern, Texarkana College
The Subduction Crew!, Spring 2001