Chicago Botanic Garden
Preparing for Project BudBurst
Adopt a plant and get to know its phenophases. The third instructional activity in a six-part series combines plant identification and phenology. Pupils begin by creating their own field guides to learn about the features and...
American Museum of Natural History
Train of Thought
Hop aboard the train of thought. A remote learning resource has learners consider thought experiments to consider scientific theories. It provides two examples, one on orbiting bodies and the other on the speed of light, for them to work...
American Museum of Natural History
Thinking in the Three Dimensions
Discover different dimensions with paper folding. Pupils first read about zero, one, two, and three dimensions, and then learn about the fourth dimension, time. They then use origami to create models of shapes in three dimensions and use...
American Museum of Natural History
Space Jell-O
Might as well learn about how space bends around massive objects while making dessert. A remote learning resource provides an opportunity for scholars to model how stars and planets bend space. They use Jell-O to represent space and...
American Museum of Natural History
Space and Time
Carve out some time to learn about space-time. Young scientists use a remote learning resource to read up on the relationship between space and time. They consider the idea of relativity, see how objects with a large mass can bend space...
American Museum of Natural History
Light, Matter and Energy
Let Einstein's work shine the way. Pupils read about Einstein's iconic equation, E=mc^2, using a remote learning resource and see how ideas from other scientists such as Kepner, Curie, Galilei, and Newton led to its discovery. They...
American Museum of Natural History
Light Quest
Grab a partner and shed some light on light. A remote learning resource has scholars play a board game to answer trivia questions about light. They also read about how Einstein contributed to the understanding of light as both a wave and...
American Museum of Natural History
Atomic Mobile
Structure an activity around atoms. Learners use their knowledge of the parts of atoms—the protons, neutrons, and electrons—to build a model of a carbon atom. Scholars create a nucleus by using clay balls to represent the protons and...
American Museum of Natural History
See the Light
It's time to see the light! Scholars perform three different experiments with light to reveal properties using a great remote learning resource. The pupils see how light reflects from a surface and refracts through different materials....
Chicago Botanic Garden
Ecological Mismatches
Modeling is a powerful teaching tool. The final installment in a six-part series has pupils complete an activity to model a food web and discover the interconnected relationships in an ecosystem. They then read about changes in migratory...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Plant Phenology Data Analysis
Studying data over time can paint a pretty interesting picture. Learners use data they collected in the previous lesson to compare to historical data in a similar region. They graph the data of the first bloom of a specific species over...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Seasons of a Plant
Reading the cues from nature can be as much an art as a science. The second installment in a six-part unit on climate teaches learners that environmental and biological events have significance. They first learn the difference between...
International Technology Education Association
Singin' the Black and Blues
How does the color of the sky change from blue to reds and oranges to black? An illuminating lesson explains how light travels through different mediums using the sun's light as an example. By examining diagrams and illustrations, pupils...
Thoughtful Learning
Setting and Reaching Goals
An activity boosts self-management through goal setting and reflection. Scholars choose one goal they wish to obtain by the end of the week. Participants brainstorm ways to make their goal a reality then reflect on whether or not their...
Thoughtful Learning
Using Perspective Shifting to Imagine History
Imagine what it would have been like to walk from Georgia to Texas! Perspective shifting, a key part of developing social awareness, involves just this sort of imaging. A short mini-lesson asks learners to shift their point of view and...
Thoughtful Learning
Using Perspective Shifting to Understand Others
Being able to see things from another's perspective is an important part of social awareness. A short activity permits scholars to practice perspective-taking, which in turn helps them develop empathy, appreciate diversity, and promote...
Thoughtful Learning
Using Progressive Relaxation
Stress makes a mess of our minds and bodies. Like a vicious circle, stress causes our bodies to tense and makes it more difficult to get rid of the stress. Break the cycle for you and your students by practicing progressive relaxation....
Thoughtful Learning
Creating a Growth Mindset
A quick mimi-lesson models how to replace a fixed mindset with a growth mindset, a mindset that says improvement is possible with practice. Included is an activity that asks individuals to rewrite 10 fixed mindset statements with 10...
Thoughtful Learning
Using 5-5-5 Breathing to Calm Down
Scholars calm their minds and bodies with a 5-5-5 breathing exercise. Learners breathe in for five seconds, out for five seconds, then wait five seconds to start again. The exercise takes one minute to complete.
PBS
Document This
Being a historian requires serious sleuthing. They examine primary source documents and look for evidence, for clues that reveal who wrote the document, when, and why. After watching two historians model the process, young history...
American Museum of Natural History
Make Your Own Einstein Stationary
No need to be an Einstein for this project! Clever crafters add their name, address, and country to three Einstein-themed templates and create their own, personalized stationary. A great way to stay connected while social distancing.
American Museum of Natural History
Make Your Own Stationary
Revive the art of letter writing with a project that enables class members to craft their own, personalized stationary. Young scholars add their name, address, and country to three different templates that features images of mythic...
American Museum of Natural History
Make Your Own Mythic Mask or Puppet
No need to wait until Halloween to create a mask. Young anthropologists get involved in the centuries-old tradition of mask and puppet making with the help of an engaging resource that shows them how to craft their own masks or puppets.
American Museum of Natural History
The Legend of the Flying Frog
Young conservation biologists have an opportunity to get involved in the effort to save endangered species. After reading and illustrating the tale of the Flying Frog, they craft a tale about another fictional endangered species.