Curated OER
Revised: Adventures in Earth Day: Why Do We Care About Our Environment? - Biology Teaching Thesis
To describe the ecological and aesthetic importance of the Potomac River, Middle schoolers name the ways in which the river's values are jeopardized and explain the purpose of Earth Day. They write a response to a newspaper article in a...
Teach Engineering
Photosynthesis—Life's Primary Energy Source
Wouldn't it be great if you could produce your own food? Scholars learn about the processes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration in plants. They consider how to use photosynthesis as a model of an efficient system and how to apply...
Curated OER
Erosion... Can You Fight It?
Students study erosion and its effects on shorelines. In this erosion lesson, students work in an engineering team to design a seawall and submit a cost bid to their teacher. Students must determine the energy of a wave and design a wall...
PLS 3rd Learning
It Costs How Much!?!?
Many teens conjure up images of how great their first apartment will be, but they lack a solid understanding of what it will cost to make it look that way. To gain an appreciation for the cost of furnishings, they create a collage of a...
PLS 3rd Learning
Monthly Budget & Operating Costs
What teenager wouldn't want a car? But before they make that big purchase, this exercise helps them to understand the costs involved. It includes a worksheet to calculate expenses like taxes and fees, maintenance, gas and insurance, as...
Curated OER
Lessons in Looking: Contraband in Paintings
Using the paintings On to Liberty and A Ride for Liberty, 10th graders analyze historical perspectives on life after the Civil War. They attempt to determine what the Civil War meant for free slaves, then read a paragraph highlighting...
Curated OER
Anti-Semitism Workshop
Originating from the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem, here is a resource to support your world historians in their study of World War II, the Holocaust, your cultural scholars learning about anti-semitism, or your...
Teach Engineering
How Hot is Hot?
Elementary schoolers identify the three methods of heat transfer: conduction, convection, and radiation. The lesson is mostly lecture-based. When the teacher has finished the presentation, groups of pupils get into teams and they must...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Alabama's 1901 Constitution: What Was at Stake?
Who should be able to vote? As part of a study of the 1901 Alabama Constitution, class members examine primary source document that reveal the reasons the authors gave to support their positions on this question and their assumptions in...
Curated OER
Home Living/Daily Living: Selecting an Outfit
When people make clothing choices, they should be attempting to buy clothes that are the proper size. Unfortunately, for most that is a skill that they have never been taught. Make sure your special education learners can purchase...
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
Comparing Cultural Dances
All cultures express similar thoughts, feelings, and ideas. But, often times those things are expressed differently. Learners compare and contrast traditional dances from two cultures. They watch videos of each performance, stop to...
Frontline
Obama's Deal
Government classes benefit from examining how a bill passes through Congress, while they focus on the compromises made by Obama's administration regarding health care reform. This includes an online video and a couple of handouts. The...
Visa
Smooth Sailing: Exploring Insurance and Estate Planning
While purchasing insurance and estate planning may seem like a rather irrelevant topic for high school high schoolers, introducing this concept now can help your learners develop a solid foundation of financial literacy that will support...
Cartwells
MyPlate Lesson and Relay
Youngsters are up and moving in an exciting relay race designed to help them better understand where common foods fall on the MyPlate nutritional guidelines. Working in teams, they identify images of foods and name what food groups they...
Food a Fact of Life
Curry to Go!
Spinach, potato, and chickpea curry, lamb korma, Thai green chicken curry. Class groups mix up a variety of dishes featuring this versatile spice.
Curated OER
More on Conduction and Convection
Why do some items feel colder when they are the same temperature? How should you keep your soda cold? What makes the wind blow? These are just some of the things middle schoolers discover when completing a lesson plan on conduction and...
PBS
Technology: Conveniences and Consequences
It's a delicate balance—using technology to improve our lives while still protecting the environment, and ourselves, from the hazards of technology use. Class members examine statistics about the increase in media use, complete a survey...
National Park Service
Leave it to Beavers
Many people know cats mark their territories by rubbing the back of their necks to leave a scent, but not many people know beavers also leave a scent to mark their territories. During the first activity of two, scholars use their noses...
NPR
Progressive Era Lesson Plan
The women working for equal rights in the early 20th century weren't a part of one large group; rather, they were members of dozens of small groups focused on social reform. Explore the ways groups in the Progressive Era like National...
Teach Engineering
Biomimicry and Sustainable Design - Nature is an Engineering Marvel
Discover how copying nature can be beneficial to humans. Scholars read articles about examples of biomimicry and its potential applications. Along the way, they learn about Nature's Nine Laws and how they relate to biomimicry. This is...
Teach Engineering
Body Full of Crystals
Your body has lots of crystals, just not any gemstones. The first installment of a three-part unit provides a PowerPoint presentation on crystallization occurring in the human body and about crystallization in general. The resource gives...
PBS
Stories of Painkiller Addiction: Prescription Drug Abuse Awareness Campaign
The I-STOP law was designed to regulate the distribution and tracking of prescription drugs. After reading an article about its signing and implementation, middle and high schoolers work together to come up with their own ideas for an...
Teach Engineering
Energy in Our Lives Carousel
Don't waste any more energy trying to find a great resource on energy. The third installment of a 25-part Energy Systems and Solutions unit focuses on energy use in pupils' lives. They consider how their daily routines consume energy and...
Generation Rx
My Generation Rx: Lead the Scene
Prescription drugs may start out with legitimate usage, but lately they are finding their way to high school and college party life. Have a discussion with the teenagers in your class on prescription drug abuse with a PowerPoint...