Turn your algebra learners into meteorologists. Students are given three graphs that contain information about the weather in Santa Rosa, California during the month of February, 2012. Graph one shows temperatures, graph two displays the...

The fall of Singapore in World War II was shocking news for the Allied forces—but why? High schoolers explore primary source documents and videos to determine why February 15, 1942 was a wake-up call to the British Empire and its allies...

Twelfth graders at the Institute for Collaborative Education, a small 6-12th grade NYC public school go on internships during their final 2 cycles (February - June) in High School. The Senior Interns work four days a week in real world...

Are marches and protests an effective form of resistance? That is the question high schoolers seek to answer in this inquiry lesson as they compare the 2020 protests to historical ones. Researchers use Venn Diagrams to compare images...

Zora Neal Hurston, Toni Morrison, and Maya Angelou are featured in a guided inquiry unit. High schoolers research the lives and works of these and other Black women writers and craft an argument, using evidence from their research, to...

First graders examine and discuss the Boston Tea Party, Paul Revere, Redcoats, Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence. They conduct an experiment done by Benjamin Franklin, solve a word puzzle written in code by Ben...

Finding good primary source materials to support any study of history can be a challenge and time-consuming. A set of 11 primary source letters, images, and text excerpts provide young historians with an opportunity to sharpen their...

"How did the slavery system undermine the United States' democratic principles?" This question launches a study of how the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence, Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, and Article IV,...

To understand why the topic of reparations is controversial, young scholars gather background information by reading articles, watching videos, and examining cases where reparations were made. Learners consider the lasting repercussions...

High schoolers research the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, as well as other primary source documents, to determine Reconstruction's impact on the North and South. The 34-page inquiry-based lesson includes a staging question and...

Experiment with chocolate coating on cookies! What a delightful way to learn about food processing and chemical engineering. Throughout this activity, groups collect measurements and make calculations. They conclude by writing...

How tall is your marshmallow structure? With limited supplies (including uncooked spaghetti noodles, masking tape, and one marshmallow), teams endeavor to support the marshmallow atop the tallest spaghetti structure they can build....

Design and construct buildings with rooftop gardens. Junior engineers work in groups to build two buildings and then perform experiments to determine whether or not a garden affects the building's temperatures. They graph and interpret...

Biofuel is a possible form of clean and renewable energy. Engineering explorers observe the fermentation process, and then alter the temperature to discover the effect on fermentation. The plan is complete with materials, procedures, and...

Diamonds are a girl's best friend! Crystal labs can be a science teacher's best friend because watching crystals develop is fascinating, and it results in such a pretty product! This activity is unique because the crystals are grown...

Kick off the school year with some math fun! New classmates share information about themselves by using graphs and interpreting data. The goal is to use a general graph shape, such as linear or exponential, and create labels for the axes...

Have your middle and high schoolers analyze instances of celebrities using racial slurs or making prejudiced comments in public. After reading an article, they consider the roots and effects of prejudice and bias. As a class, they...

Actual stream water is analyzed in this environmental science activity. Participants measure water temperature and pH, and then survey the macroinvertebrates living in their samples. The data worksheet, troubleshooting tips, and...

Your scientists-in-training extract DNA from a banana. Then, they wrap it around a glass rod in order to view the threads of DNA. They draw their observations.

Youngsters love to write on their hands, and in this fabulous activity they are actually asked to. Using numbers written on the tips of their fingers, they will learn how the binary number system works. This hands-on activity is a...

Design your own video game, engineer accident-proof highways, or even develop a new phone app! The Engineering Design Model can be used with all ages and in all subject areas to create a product, system or service. The resource explains...

Although preparation-intensive, this would be an unforgettable experience in materials engineering. Stimulate learners' curiosity with a slide show and then introduce them to the components of concrete. Small groups mix and pour concrete...

Attractive and logical instructions are provided for constructing a balloon-powered car. Young physical scientists measure the distance their car travels and record it on a pre-printed data sheet. The make alterations to improve the...

A well-laid-out lesson plan, this can be used in an engineering, STEM, or physical science course. Laboratory groups design a structure using pasta and marshmallows, measure its height and weight, and then discover the load that it can...