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Urban Ecosystems 2: Why are There Cities? A Historical Perspective
Second in a series of five lessons, this lesson encourages preteens to consider cities as urban ecosystems. First, they keep a food diary for a few days. They visit the Natrional Agricultural Statistics Service website for current data...
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Urban Ecosystems 4: Metabolism of Urban Ecosystems
Cities are compared to living, breathing, metabolizing organisms. Fourth in a five-part series of lessons, this one focuses on the flow of materials through a city. Links to interesting websites and images make your delivery of...
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The Empirical Challenges of Racial Classification
This lesson will help students examine their preconceptions and assumptions about racial categories and understand the impossibility of constructing a consistent system of human racial classification.
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Plants and Animals: Partners in Pollination
Students describe the complementary relationships between pollinators and the plants they pollinate, identify adaptations that flowers have developed to "encourage" pollination, and create and draw their own "designer" flowers.
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Urban Ecosystems 3: Cities as Population Centers
Learners discover that throughout history cities have been centers of population but that human exploitation of fossil fuels was key to the growth of large cities worldwide. They research urban growth through a number of websites.
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Mineral Scavenger Hunt
Students complete a scavenger hunt worksheet as they find examples in their classroom, at home, etc., of minerals. Excellent worksheet!
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Create a Classroom Exhibit: Rocks and Minerals
Young scholars bring in rocks and minerals from home. They observe them and describe them carefully, completing a worksheet. Finally, a classroom exhibit is created.
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Letters from the Japanese American Internment
Students examine letters of Japanese-American children during internment in World War II. They discover what it was like in the camps and how they were treated once they were released. They also view photographs of the camps.
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Plants and Animals, Partners in Pollination
Students participate in multiple hands-on activities to explore reproduction and pollination. In groups, using a cotton swab and powder, students simulate being pollinators and plants. They name the parts of the flowers and the function...
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Rocks and Minerals
Learners bring rocks and minerals from home to investigate in the classroom. In this rocks and minerals lesson plan, students observe all the rocks and minerals brought into the class and answer 7 questions about the features of the...
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"ART ZOO 'Blacks in the Westward Movement', 'What Can You Do with a Portrait', and 'Of Beetles, Worms, and Leaves of Grass'"
Students study black history, examine portraits and portrait making and create their own portraits, and investigate their natural environment. This humanities activity provides a text that can be used to teach lessons in black history,...
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The Westward Movement
Students study the westward movement through examining stamps. In this westward movement lesson plan, students draw conclusions, determine cause and effect relationships and examine the westward movement of the United States by...
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How Size Shapes Animals
Students investigate how size affects large and small animals differently. In this animal lesson plan, students determine how size affects different animals by constructing their own animal out of marshmallows. Once students create...
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Fossils Footprints Across Time
Learners examine fossils to understand how they are formed and how they give information about geological history. In this fossil lesson plan, students research and write about fossils and make models of different fossil types.The PDF...
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Going...going...gone? Tropical Rainforests-How They Work, What They Do for Us, What's Being Done to Them...
Sixth graders explore the Tropical Rainforest and come to understand what it is and how it affects the ecosystem. In this rainforests instructional activity, 6th graders write about the Tropical Rainforest, imagine they are in the...
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Exploring Explorations-Ocean Exploration
Young scholars learn about Earth's deep ocean discoveries and their benefits. For this ocean exploration lesson, students review previous explorations of the Earth's deep oceans and learn about the discoveries of the past.
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Cardiac Arrest! Using Forensics to Investigate Cardiovascular Anatomy and Function
Learners identify the different parts and functions of the cardiovascular system. For this forensics lesson, students collect and analyze evidence on a fictional crime. They describe different causes of cardiac arrest.
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Unearthing Ancient Greece
Students locate and analyze clues about ancient Greek life. In this ancient Greece instructional activity, students look at art, architecture, and artifacts to determine what was important to the Greeks and discover details about their...
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Plants and Animals: Partners in Pollination
Students identify the plant parts and bee structures that are involved in pollination. They simulate pollination in a group activity and process the information.
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Minerals, Crystals, and Gems
Young scholars discover the relationships between minerals, crystals and gems. They bring in rocks that they find at home, in the schoolyard, etc. and examine them and attempt to identify them. They set up a classroom exhibit that...
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Japan: Images of a People
Students learn the geography of Japan and its location in reference to the United States.
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JAPAN, IMAGES A PEOPLE
Young scholars interpret Japanese and American paintings; evaluate paintings as sources of cultural and historical information
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Views of the American West: True or False?
Young scholars explain that a landscape painting may or may not accurately represent a specific place. They identify techniques that create the illusion of three-dimensional space on a flat surface.