As your class finishes the novel Dragonwings, use these culminating projects. A vocabulary list is given for chapters eleven and twelve and either an epitaph or letter activity concludes the book. The final project consists of creating a...

Data is a powerful tool that your class can use for both good and evil! Help your classes become knowledgeable consumers of information through a game-based exploration. Learners examine a method of determining the reliability of a...

Help young researchers find credible sources online. Modeling with a Google search for information about Shakespeare’s Macbeth, use a computer projector or Smart Board to show class members how weak the top three search results are....

Lead your class in a discussion about how they believe money influences politics. After reading "Go Ahead, Try to Stop K Street" from the New York Times, they evaluate the claims in the article about the current lobbyist scandal in...

Explore how illustrations add to a story. Young learners will look at picture books to see how the pictures tell the story. They create illustrations to go with a chosen story, and then flip the activity so they have to write a story to...

Statistics can be manipulated to say what you want them to say. Teach your classes to be wise consumers and sort through the bias in those reports. Young statisticians study different statistical reports and analyze them for...

Discover how trend lines can be useful in understanding relationships between variables with a lesson that covers how to informally fit a trend line to model a relationship given in a scatter plot. Scholars use the trend line to make...

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...

Teaching learners how to evaluate a research source is an important part of the research process. The fresh idea here is that groups first develop a list of reasons why resources should be evaluated, transform these reasons into...

How has your local neighborhood changed throughout recent history? Young researchers evaluate census data, images, and primary source descriptions describing the living situation in the antebellum Five Points neighborhood. They consider...

In this math/nutrition lesson, the nutritional value of 3 snack foods is recorded on a data chart and represented on a bar graph. Students analyze and compare information, construct data charts and related bar graphs, and draw...

How has the Internet of Things affected our lives? Scholars examine the massive influence of mobile devices in this analysis lesson, which begins with a seven-minute documentary clip. They also read a New York Times article (linked)...

"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,...

Young scholars record two consecutive days of food intake. They identify which nutrients are below 70%. They compare diet composition between protein, fats, and carbohydrates. They evaluate fat in the diet to fall below the American...

Your young learners will discover how muscular strength and endurance can increase with this truly hands-on activity! Beginning by writing an acrostic for the word strength, class members then engage in tracking their ability to squeeze...

High school seniors investigate what national, state and local rules say about voting. After examining the Constitution's articles, clauses, and amendments, researchers look at videos, listen to podcasts, and read articles to gather...

Learners practice listening to and reading various types of media and text. In groups, learners use video, newspapers, magazines, and more to compare and contrast different types of information. They identify the differences between fact...

This is one in several lessons that explore the relationship between temperature and phase changes of water. After some discussion, elementary physical scientists place wet paper toweling on a hot and a room-temperature water bag...

Get kids' heads spinning by challenging them to design a top that will rotate for a minimum of 10 seconds without leaving a 30-cm circle. Groups of learners collaborate through a planning stage, testing stage, and evaluation stage. Some...

"Words, words, words." Despite Hamlet's opinion, words can be significant. In this inquiry lesson, middle schoolers learn how the words in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, in the view of many, lead to the American Civil War. To...

Students determine how to critically evaluate visual and medias aspects of web sites. They examine the purpose of assigned web sites.

Students generate 2 or more questions without teacher support. They state known information and make personal connections without teacher support. They select two or more resources to answer his/her question. They distinguish...

Students locate and access data to help them with their science inquiry.  In this geographical positioning lesson students evaluate and compare data sets. 

How do you decide what sources are credible when researching online? Evaluate sources with a focus on researching health issues. After brainstorming common health concerns and how they would try to diagnose these problems, class members...