Students investigate the physical characteristics of dinosaurs. They participate in a puppet show, take a field trip to a dinosaur museum, and compare/contrast dinosaur characteristics at the museum.

Students study insects. They examine how insect wings operate and make a model airplane that mimics the way insect wings operate as the insect is flying. They compare and contrast different kinds of insect wings and color a page of...

First graders share their wishes for the future and discuss changes that have taken place. They observe a puppet who describes life in the future and identifies positive and difficult challenges he may face. Individual students draw a...

Students investigate, read, and discuss about other famous Afro-American leaders. Students compare/contrast slaves home, activities, etc. with that of Afro- Americans today. Students create a time line to post on the wall of Harriet's...

Students discover how to classify things based on their similarities and differences. Students give the characteristics of insects and create a classification list. Given examples of various types of insects, students classify them...

Students observe and classify different types of shells. They compare and contrast an exhibit they created with one that already exists in a musuem. They discover the different characteristics of shells.

First graders study plants and their parts to see what parts are edible.  In this plant lesson students are assigned plant parts and they are to put them in the right category. 

Students predict and test different items to see if they sink or float. For this sink and float lesson plan, students predict whether an item is buoyant or not, and learn that size and weight do not matter when it comes to buoyancy.

Learners create their own compost.  In this soil activity, students fill a bag with waste and soil, in order to create a mini compost bin. Learners observe the baggies over a 6 week period, they record their findings and collect...

Students identify how the different plants and animals work together to cause the changes in the log. Students discuss the sequence of events in the life of the tree and log. Students plant a seed to take home and care for. Students...

Students write a class letter to a local policeman asking him to come and talk to the class and create a list of safety tips as a class. Students research information on police dogs: type of dogs used, where they come form, how they are...

Students read The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojacieckowski. They complete a variety of cross-curricular activities surrounding the Christmas holiday. Included are reading, art, math, science, writing, social studies,...

Students read Dancing With the Indians by Angela Shelf Medearis. They complete a variety of cross-curricular activities surrounding the study of Native American festivals and traditions. Included are reading, art, math, science, writing,...

Learners explore the differences between animals of the wild and domesticated animals.  For this wild animals lesson, students understand that tame animals ancestors were once wild.  Learners illustrate the differences by...

Kids usually love crayon resist projects. It is so fascinating for them to see how the dark paint accentuates and resists the waxy crayon. Here are instructions for executing a crayon resist project of your own. Tip: Make the project fit...

Enhance a reading of the Caldecott Medal-winning children's book Joseph had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback with this collection of learning activities. Starting with general background information about the book and author,...

Students draw conclusions about an mystery person based on documents and artifacts provided. In this drawing conclusions instructional activity, students become detectives by reading and analyzing evidence provided. This instructional...

Students explore the adaptations that are made by the snowy owl. They discuss why these adaptations are necessary and how they protect the owl. Students create a snowy owl puppet.

Students investigate how to use the senses to gather information about objects such as size, shape, color, texture, sound, position, and change (qualitative observations are utilized throughout this lesson). They investigate and explain...

Students watch a caterpillar change and become a butterfly. In this lesson about the life cycle of a caterpillar and a butterfly, students prepare and maintain the habitat of the caterpillar. Students observe the stages of the...

Learners name and describe three edible plants, plant corn kernels native to Laguna Pueblo (Indian Corn), care for their individual plants and compare and contrast ears of Indian corn to sweet corn.

In this fish and amphibian characteristics instructional activity, students will two idea maps to compare fishes and amphibians. Students will complete 2 short answer questions based on these idea maps.

Learners investigate animal habitats in zoos. In this animal habitat instructional activity, students fill in a KWLH chart about zoos before looking at pictures of African animals in zoo habitats. They discuss what they see and take a...

Learners view a demonstration of the ocean and what we can do to help it, and also identify seafood items that students would order on a menu. In this ocean lesson plan, learners learn how people are connected to the ocean and how we can...