The original drawing is eight units — how big is the scale drawing? Classmates determine the scale percent between a scale drawing and an object to calculate the length of a portion of the object. They use the percent equation to find...

The question of how to balance Fourth Amendment Rights with national security concerns becomes critical in an age of planned terrorist attacks, election interference, and fake news. Get young social scientists involved in the debate with...

Investigate the properties of three-dimensional figures with this Arctic-themed math lesson. Beginning with a class discussion about different types of solid figures present in the classroom, young mathematicians are then given a...

Can three works of literature work together to establish and develop a common central idea? Put your thoughts into writing with a final assessment focused on a unit-long analysis of Christopher Marlowe's "The Passionate Shepard to His...

True! Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" makes readers nervous. But how? Young scholars create a drawing while listening to a reading of Poe's eerie tale to understand how writers create the mood of their stories and what their writing style...

Pupils determine scale factors from one figure to another and the scale factor in the reverse direction. Scholars compute the percent changes between three figures. 

Similes and metaphors make writing more beautiful and detailed, but can be a little harder to decipher during a first reading. Use a passage from The Man Who Loved Words to show young readers how to think through passages that...

Develop a more precise definition of similar. The lesson begins with an informal definition of similar figures and develops the need to be more precise. The class learns about dilations and uses that knowledge to arrive at a...

Review the principles of scaling areas and draws a comparison to scaling volumes with a third dimensional measurement. The exercises continue with what happens to the volume if the dimensions are not multiplied by the same...

Young seismologists learn more about plate tectonics with a set of pre-lab, lab, and post-lab lessons plans on earthquakes. After exploring how waves travel through various materials, sixth graders record their observations and...

"Who says a pen has to be called a pen? Why not call it a frindle?" Inspired by this quote from the award-winning novel written by Andrew Celements, this lesson allows children to invent their own...

Break out those math manipulatives, it's time to teach about area! Capturing the engagement of young mathematicians, this three-lesson series supports children with learning how to measure the area of squares, rectangles, and other...

Benjamin Franklin's famous aphorisms are a perfect time capsule of colonist values in the mid-18th century, as well as a clever reminder of the way life still works today. Middle and high schoolers select one aphorism to interpret...

Let me break it down for you! Introduce your class to a way of breaking up a complicated task into its component pieces. Individuals draw a complex figure using JavaScript and then break it down to help determine the...

Scholars use interactive resources to figure out how to mathematically draw a reflection of a geometric shape viewed in a mirror. To conclude the activity, class members are asked to deduce the result of multiple reflections across...

Give youngsters the components of a solar-powered electric circuit and turn them loose to figure out how to connect them in order for a light to shine or motor to turn. They compare energy output of a solar panel to that of a battery. On...

Metaphors are word pictures, creating images in our brains that draw readers to consider how two seemingly unrelated items are alike. Poems by Langston Hughes, Margaret Atwood, and Naomi Shihad Nye provide learners with an opportunity to...

All the 2-D and 3-D measurement work you need is in one location. Divided into three sections, the geometry lesson plans consist of visualization of three dimensions, classifying geometric figures, and finding surface area and volume....

Build an interest and appreciation for architecture in your young learners with this fun 10-lesson art unit. Engaging children in using their five senses, the class first observes the environment around them, paying...

Scholars determine distances on the coordinate plane to find areas. The instructional activity begins with a proof of the formula for the area of a parallelogram using the coordinate plane. Pupils use the coordinate plane to determine...

Sharpen your pencil and grab a ruler, it's time to draw some quadrilaterals! Given the definition of a parallelogram, rectangle, and rhombus, learners draw examples and nonexamples of each figure. The three definitions are...

Anansi is a tricky character, but can he realize he's wrong and write an apology letter? Learners use Anansi and the Pot of Beans to practice writing, art, and figurative language. A series of activities are engaging for both...

Is the ocean blue at all depths? Nope! Explore the science behind the light spectrum in deep, dark waters. The lesson recommends watching The Blue Planet: Open Ocean—The Deep, but it's not integral, or you can substitute another clip....

Prove the Law of Sines two ways. The ninth segment in a series of 16 introduces the Law of Sines to help the class find lengths of sides in oblique triangles. Pupils develop a proof of the Law of Sines by drawing an altitude and a second...