Curated OER
Pardon Me. Do You Have Change For a Dollar?
Upper elementary and middle school learners explore currencies from a variety of countries. They use the Internet, video, and engage in hands-on activities. They practice converting U.S. currency to foreign currency and vice versa. This...
Curated OER
Is That Measurement Stuff For Real, Life?
Fifth and sixth graders engage in a series of activities which show them the importance of using different types of measurement strategies. One of the primary goals of the lesson plan is to show learners that measurement is helpful in...
Curated OER
Northwest Coast Indians: Spring and Summer Salmon
Here is a fabulous lesson about the cultures of the Northwest Indians. Through an exploration of a story about the Salmon People, learners study the practice of harvesting salmon and the cultural importance of salmon to the Northwest...
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Buying a Home: Income vs. Monthly Payments
Purchasing a house takes more plan than elementary schoolers realize. Each buyer will look at monthly income to determine what they can afford for a mortgage and other expenses.
National Security Agency
Fraction Fever
This unit on fractions allows for upper-aged elementary learners to explore ways to find the greatest common factor and least common multiple of two numbers. Ultimately, young mathematicians will be able to identify equivalent fractions,...
Curated OER
Sort It Out
Elementary schoolers engage in a game of logical reasoning called Secret Sort. A Venn diagram is used as a way to sort objects. This resource would be a great way to introduce the Venn diagram (maybe the most famous, and most-useful...
Voyage Solar System
Round and Round We Go — Exploring Orbits in the Solar System
Math and science come together in this cross-curricular astronomy lesson plan on planetary motion. Starting off with a hands-on activity that engages the class in exploring the geometry of circles and ellipses, this lesson plan then...
National Science Teachers Association
Hop into Action
Young scientists find out what makes amphibians such unique and interesting animals in this simple life science lesson. After looking at pictures and discussing the characteristics of amphibians, learners complete a series of three Venn...
Curated OER
Pick A Number
Elementary schoolers find out which month has the most class birthdays (mode) and which birthday represents the middle point of all the birthdays (median). They gather and organize data to find one number that fairly represents the whole...
Curated OER
Monster Frog Function Machine
Elementary schoolers use a function machine in order to help them look at the relationship between input and output, and to look at the rule for the change. The machine is actually a cardboard box, and it serves quite well for the...
Education World
Predicting Pumpkins
If you want more pumpkin seeds, you should get a bigger pumpkin—right? Young harvesters use estimation skills to make a hypothesis about how many seeds they will find in a pumpkin before examining the real number inside.
PBS
Blow the Roof Off!
Blow the minds of young scientists with this collection of inquiry-based investigations. Based on a series of eight videos, these "hands-on, minds-on" science lessons engage young learners in exploring a wide range of topics from making...
Curated OER
Making Regolith
You may not be able to take a field trip to the moon, but that doesn't mean your class can't study moon rocks. Using graham crackers as the moon's bedrock and powdered donuts as micrometeorites, young scientists simulate the creation of...
National Security Agency
Growing Patterns: Practical Pattern Problems
Your learners explore growing patterns by describing, extending, creating, and evaluating practical pattern problems in this three-day collaborative unit. Beginning with concrete patterns and function tables to extend and describe with a...
NOAA
Sustaining Our Ocean Resources
Lead young scientists on an investigation of fishery practices with the final installment of this four-part unit. Using a PowerPoint presentation and hands-on simulation, this lesson engages children in learning how fish populations are...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Sky High
How are skyscrapers built? What does it take to make a structurally sound building? How can one work within a budget to complete a building project? These guiding questions will be investigated and answered within a hands-on...
Curated OER
Time Travel
Elementary schoolers practice measuring elapsed time between events. Learners work together to complete a worksheet, embedded in the plan, on elapsed time. The puzzle they must solve takes some time to complete. One of the tasks each...
Super Teacher Worksheets
I Have...Who Has...Multiplication Game
Get the whole class involved in practicing their multiplication facts with this fun collaborative activity. With each child given a card containing both a product and an unrelated multiplication sentence, the activity begins as the child...
Skyscraper Museum
Building a Skyscraper
Creating buildings that reach hundreds of feet into the sky is no easy task. The third instructional activity in this series begins with four activities that engage young architects in exploring the major challenges that are faced when...
Chicago Children's Museum
Simple Machines: Force and Motion
Get things moving with this elementary science unit on simple machines. Through a series of nine lessons including teacher demonstrations, hands-on activities, and science experiments, young scientists learn about forces, motion, and...
Berkshire Museum
Adopt a Schoolyard Tree
Help young scientists connect with nature and learn about trees with a fun life science lesson. Heading out into the school yard, children choose a tree to adopt, taking measurements, writing descriptions, and drawing sketches of it in...
Berkshire Museum
Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle: Sorting Through Personal Choices
Raise children's awareness about the importance of conservation with this hands-on science lesson plan. Start by breaking the class into groups and having them collect trash from around the school or local park. Students then use the...
Scholastic
The Flight of Amelia Earhart Teaching Guide
Amelia Earhart's accomplishments and strength of character extend beyond her status as one of the first female aviators in America. Elementary and middle schoolers learn about Earhart's early life and the historical context surrounding...
Space Awareness
History of the Universe
Your pupils may believe that you and their parents are the oldest things in the universe, but surprise! There are elements of the universe that are even older. Elementary scientists create a class timeline to demonstrate the expansive...