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Marine Sanctuaries
Middle schoolers delve into diverse marine ecosystems and the problems they face. They discover students the national marine sanctuaries found in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and off the coast of American Samoa.
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Ships 3: Grand Designs And Great Failures
Students engage in this, the third in a three-part series on ships. The overall lesson series is designed to allow students to extend their understanding of floating, sinking, density, and buoyancy and apply it to the design and testing...
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Sizing Up The Solar System
Students investigate and design various models of size and distance related to the solar system. They work together to build a solar system model. The models should focus on distance and scale. They don't include moons or satellites in...
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Sorting
Students examine Library organization. In this logic lesson, students watch a Between the Lions episode and consider how the library has been organized. Students each list their 3 favorite book titles and how they would classify them....
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Forensic Detectives: Archaeology at Work
Dig in! Middle schoolers learn about archaeology by exploring the remnants of the Chiribaya bodies found in Illinois. Compare archaeological investigations, and then write a mystery detailing the discovery of a body! Consider bringing in...
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Community Action
Fifth graders decide how one uses resources within a particular bioregion. In this decision making lesson, 5th graders consider the biodiversity and complexity of the ecosystem. Students select a resource (water, paper, electricity)...
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Independence and Conservation
Young scholars read an original story "Brothers of the Rainforest" downloaded from the internet site provided. Students investigate the impact of the demise of a particular species on the rest of the environment. Young scholars...
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Knowing the Essential Elements of a Habitat
First graders compare their environment with that of Belize by researching via the internet on the sites provided. Students participate in various activities/centers utilizing the information they discovered.
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Flip and Flop: An Adaptation Through Dancing Echoes with Shapes and Locomotor Movement
Dancers practice echoing through dance. They listen to a story "Flip and Flop" and then are put into pairs. One partner is Flip, while the other is Flop. Flip creates a shape by dancing, and Flop, the other student, echoes that shape by...
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Swiss Ball Square Dance
Combine square dancing and a Swiss ball. There are quite a few square dance moves and how to do them while sitting on, or carrying a Swiss ball. Teach these square dance moves to the class. Then have them work together in small groups to...
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Dance Cards
Let little dancers choreograph a dance using steps they have learned in the unit. Write the names of the dance steps that have been taught on sets of index cards. Make sure that each set of cards you create has a mix of the dance steps....
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Ramses The Great
Middle schoolers investigate the statue that memorialized Ramses II. In this world monuments lesson, students research national and local monuments to find out if there are any controversies regarding their construction. Middle schoolers...
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Transportation Fuels Rock Performances
Here is an exciting way to get small groups teaching each other about different fuels that are used for transportation; have them write a song about a fuel type and sing it for the class! Each group must write a three-line, informative...
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Journey to Gettysburg
Students use latitude and longitude to map the path of the Battle of Gettysburg.
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Geo-Magazine
Divide your geography class into groups and have each research an assigned region. The result of this project is a regional magazine that addresses the five themes of geography. Many valuable resource links are embedded into the page...
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Solving the Puzzle
Students create a map showing the United States borders at a specific period in history and produce three questions to be answered by examining the map. They also write a productive paragraph explaining who, what, when, where, how/why a...
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Introducing Maps Through Dance
Students are introduced to the key concepts of maps; direction, pathway/line, shape and symbol. They create the pathways and shapes they have "mapped" out on paper on the floor. They dance along the paths.
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The Eyes Have It: Learning About Cultures Using Photos
Young scholars focus on determining what the characteristics of culture are. They look for these characteristics in a set of photos. They complete a worksheet imbedded in this plan.
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Enduring Patterns: Pre-Columbian Ecuadorean Textile Designs
Students examine Pre-Columbian Ecuadorean design motifs. They view examples of the designs, discuss the motif themes, and replicate the designs on modern fabric using authentic methods.
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This House is Made of Mud: Exploring the Shapes in Our Lives
Students study about our dependence on the earth's resources for materials. They practice their knowledge of geometric shapes by recognizing them in the context of the story.
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Living in the Desert
Conduct an investigation on the plants used by the Hohokam tribe. To survive in the harsh desert environment the Hohokam used many natural resources. Learners read, research, map, and graph multiple aspects of Hohokam plant use as a...
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Food Pyramid
The Food Pyramid is an important tool for youngsters to be introduced to. This lesson succeeds at combining direct instruction with artwork and a movement activity to help young learners discover the food pyramid. A cut-and-paste...
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Morning Fitness Tips
Share Morning Fitness Tips with your class, or your whole school! You will have to put time and effort into preparing your costumes and in getting together what fitness information, you want to share, but the program is a great addition...
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Create a Youth Consumer Magazine
To underscore the importance of being informed consumers, kids check out youth consumer magazines and websites and then create their own. Although no detailed plans are included in the resource, it is packed with ideas and suggestions.