Teach Engineering
Aerogels in Action
Model an oil spill cleanup. An engaging engineering lesson has groups using aerogels to simulate an oil spill cleanup (vegetable oil in water). Along the way, they learn about nanotechnology and hydrophilia/hydrophobia.
Kenan Fellows
Farm to Fuel: The Alternative Fuels Industry
Need a lesson to fuel young minds? A variety of hands-on activities is sure to get your class fired up! Beginning with an introductory slideshow and culminating with group presentations, the week-long unit has something for everyone....
Illustrative Mathematics
Sort and Count
Young mathematicians are on their feet and moving around in this primary grade sorting activity. After giving each child an object or picture card, they then sort themselves into groups, counting to see which has the most or least...
Baylor College
Plant or Animal?
Teach your class about the necessities of life using the book Tillena Lou's Day in the Sun. After a teacher-read-aloud, students make puppets depicting different plants and animals from the story and illustrating the habitat in which...
Desert Discoveries
How Old is Old? (And, How Much is a Million?)
Here is an interesting instructional activity on how old things are designed for young scientists. In it, learners compile a list of their birthdays, and the class puts them in sequential order from youngest to oldest. Then, they...
Virginia Department of Education
Similar Solids and Proportional Reasoning
Double the dimensions, quadruple the surface area. Pairs build similar prisms and compare the ratios of their surface areas and volumes to the ratio of the heights. Given two similar cones, partners determine the ratios of the lateral...
Polar Trec
Nature's Density Column
Nature provides density columns in the polar regions that provides food for many animals. Young scientists build their own density columns with water in order to answer analysis questions. Through a slideshow presentation, scholars...
The New York Times
Understanding the Mathematics of the Fiscal Cliff
What exactly is the fiscal cliff? What are the effects of changing income tax rates and payroll tax rates? Your learners will begin by reading news articles and examining graphs illustrating the "Bush tax cuts" of 2001 and 2003. They...
It's About Time
Oil and Gas Production
Would you consider a power failure a current event? This lesson uses multiple experiments, guided inquiry activities, and group discussions to cover the topics of oil and gas production. This is the seventh lesson in a series of eight.
Curated OER
Describing Data
Your learners will practice many ways of describing data using coordinate algebra in this unit written to address many Common Core State Standards. Simple examples of different ways to organize data are shared and then practice problems...
Curated OER
Hazards: Fourth Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Learn about damage associated with earthquakes and materials that best withstand a quake. A lab engages class members in the experimental design and construction of sturdy structures that can endure various earthquake intensities. Groups...
Curated OER
Earthquakes: Fourth Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Examine earthquake intensities and ways to measure an earthquake through the comparison of the Mercalli and Richter scales. After completing the pre-lab worksheet, fourth graders compare high and low intensity quakes by testing the...
Curated OER
Plate Tectonics: Fifth Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Fifth graders continue their investigation of the plate tectonics cycle with an exploration of the movement of Earth's crust. During the lab, young geologists conduct an experiment to discover the result of different types of stress...
Curated OER
Plate Tectonics: Kindergarten Lesson Plans and Activities
This unit focuses primarily on plate tectonics and plate boundaries surrounding continents. It contains pre- and post-lab sections that walk young geologists through plate movements in order to visualize what's going on inside Earth.
Mary Pope Osborne, Classroom Adventures Program
Mummies in the Morning Egyptian pyramids, hieroglyphics
Visit the Magic Treehouse and take your class on a trip through time with a reading of the children's book Mummies in the Morning. Using the story to spark an investigation into Egyptian culture, this literature unit engages...
Curated OER
Identifying Linear Functions from Graphs
Keep your mathematicians engaged using this group linear functions activity. Each of ten groups receives two graphs with both an image and equation, as well as a "who has" phrase to call out the next graph. Scholars stay on their toes as...
August House
Stone Soup
Sharing and cooperation are difficult skills for kindergartners to grasp. Using the story Stone Soup and a series of activities, kids learn about the benefits of working together, categorizing and comparing items, and eating healthy foods.
Education Development Center
Similar Triangles
Model geometric concepts through a hands-on approach. Learners apply similar triangle relationships to solve for an unknown side length. Before they find the solution, they describe the transformation to help identify corresponding sides.
Alabama Learning Exchange
Writing Equations for Parallel Lines
Acquaint your class with the concept of parallel lines. Learners watch a PowerPoint presentation about how to write equations of parallel lines. Their understanding of linear equations and slope is taken a step further by the exercises...
Curated OER
Money Management Part I: Money and You: An Introduction to Money Management and Budgeting
Learners discuss personal finance and create personal budgets. They discuss the importance of managing their money and how money management skills impact their future. Note: This lesson is intended for use with a SMART Board and...
Teach Engineering
Not So Simple
Compound machines, nothing more than a combination of simple machines working together, are the focus of an activity that asks class members to use the provided information to take a look at the way innovators combine simple machines to...
Visa
Making Decisions
What economic factors can influence personal and financial decisions? In an effort to understand opportunity costs and the time value of money, pupils engage in role-playing activities and discussion, as well as view a PowerPoint...
National Gallery of Canada
Counting Circles
Learners look at bands of colors and estimate how many rings of color there are. While working in groups, they come up with a plan of how to accurately count the rings. They attempt to find a pattern in the colors, and decide whether...
Curated OER
Splish! Splash! From the Bath to my Glass
An excellent lesson on the water cycle! In it, learners should gain a general understanding of the water cycle, along with how water first falls as precipitation, then ends up coming out of our faucets. This lesson nicely integrates...