Here's a five-star lesson plan in which inquisitors conduct sophisticated experimentation with cellular respiration in plant seeds. Placing seeds in a closed system they measure the amount carbon dioxide produced and relate it to...

Young botanists dig into a lesson that has them planting lima bean seeds and observing their growth. They compare their experience to that of the speaker in Robert Frost's poem, "Putting in the Seed."

After a grand conversation about seeds, adaptation, and dispersal, scholars work collaboratively to examine seeds and record their findings on a four-column chart.  Small groups share their observations and further discuss seed...

How do seeds get around? It's not like plants can control seed dispersal—or can they? Dig deeper into the amazing mechanisms of seed dispersal observed in tropical plants through interactives, a video, and plenty of hands-on data...

After a discussion of the factors that affect seed germination, class groups harvest and preserve seeds from the school garden.

"One of these things is not like the other. . ." After listening to a story about seeds and discussing the role of seeds, kindergartners sort five different seeds by size, shape, and color.

After listening to a book about seeds, individuals locate, collect, and illustrate five seeds from the school garden and determine how the seed traveled to the plot.

Engineering challenges are not just man-made ... nature has its own set of them. A hands-on STEM activity has groups designing a seed dispersal system. Each group can only use one sheet of paper — a tough task!

Junior biologists journey through the hiearchy of living things with these activites. Using a dichotomous key, they identify common algae, plants, and fish. They design their own key for a mixture of seeds and a collection of...

Can a coral cure cancer? Take seventh and eighth grade science sleuths to the underwater drugstore for an investigation into emerging pharmaceutical research. The fifth installment in a series of six has classmates research the wealth of...

If you're looking to set your class up for writing effective arguments, try out this idea. While originally created with freedom as a guiding idea, the activity could easily be adapted for other themes. As a class, create a chart of...

After listening to From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons, learners take a walk around their school looking for plants. They use digital cameras to photograph the plants, then construct a class book which has the identities of the plants,...

The Clark's nutcracker bird hides seeds in 25,000 different sites every year to save for winter. Lesson demonstrates how difficult it would be to find these seeds months later when they need them for food. In the first of five lesson,...

It's time for a field trip! Scholars take their new-found knowledge of adaptations and seed dispersal on a field trip to a local botanical garden. They gain an up-close look at how ecological interdependence works in a distinct...

Celebrate fall with four pumpkin themed hands-on activities! After learning about pumpkins, scholars complete two activity sheets that reinforce estimation and word problems. They then plant pumpkin seeds and bake a pie in...

After planting a bean seed in a jar, young scientists observe the growth patterns over several days. As the bean becomes a sprout, and the sprout becomes a plant, partners measure and plot the data. They notice patterns, practice...

View vegetables a little differently. A hands-on instructional activity begins by examining different vegetables and identifying the part of the plant they come from. Learners then create exploding seed balls they take home to grow their...

From a tiny seed needing water and warmth to the bud that will blossom into a flower, elementary pupils illustrate the stages of the sunflower life cycle through dance and drawing.

Build understanding of theme with an activity designed for The Cay and the Common Core. Small groups or pairs use graphic organizers to determine themes, find and record related details from the text, and formulate theme statements. In...

Encourage your learners to examine the setting in Theodore Taylor's The Cay. Pupils work in small groups to put together a description of the setting before reading two more chapters of the book. They use their double-entry journals to...

Make a study of the First Amendment and its relationship to freedom. Pupils rewrite the amendment and discuss the central idea before focusing on a specific phrase. After discussing, class members write a journal entry about the included...

"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again!" Through this assignment, emerging engineers examine how failed experiments are simply part of the process of an outstanding design. They begin with some reading about the microwave oven,...

Three activities make up a lesson that explores the connection between former president George Washington, the farming industry, and leadership. Scholars listen to two read aloud,  Farmer George Plants a Nation by Peggy Thomas and...

Conduct a close reading of chapter 9 of The Cay. Read the chapter again and ask pupils to respond to a list of included text-dependent questions. Finish the class with the provided writing assignment, which asks learners to use textual...