How exactly does a crime scene investigation work? The resource, a unit on criminology, covers everything from the deductive reasoning skills needed for detectives to DNA fingerprinting, all the way to how to gather evidence and bring...

Turn students into detectives as they decipher encrypted messages.  Introduce your class to modular arithmetic and have a little fun encrypting and decoding secret messages. The activity does not hit many content standards, but...

Students think of one way to detect photosynthesis in plants besides those ways shown in class. They identify the reaction that occurs during photosynthesis. Students define the difference between an acid and a base. They identify acidic...

Using the NASA website, class members try to determine if changes could be detected in cloud cover, temperature, and/or radiation measurements due to the lack of contrails that resulted from the halt in air traffic after the attacks...

Young scholars role play as history detectives. In this historical inquiry lesson, students discuss what detectives do, analyze a trunk of "artifacts" and make conclusions about its fictional owner. Young scholars complete six pages of...

Students examine the life and lifestyles of New England colonists in the year 1628, and then investigate what life was like in their own area during the same time period. They watch segments from the PBS hands-on history series COLONIAL...

Fifth graders discover lines of symmetry for shapes and everyday objects. In this lines of symmetry lesson, 5th graders use a butterfly outline to find lines of symmetry. Students analyze everyday objects for symmetry and use...

Students work to determine when the flu is most prevalent in the United States. They gather data on their own, create calendar, charts, and graphs, analyze their findings and present them. This is a very appropriate winter lesson!

Making inferences can be a tricky proposition for middle schoolers. In the lesson presented here, pupils practice the skill of drawing a conclusion and making a judgment - which are what making an inference is all about! There are five...

The Fantastic Voyage is becoming close to reality. The class reads an article on the use of nanotechnology in the medical field and participate in a discussion about what they read. The discussion method helps class members become more...

Let nature guide your engineering designs. By taking apart a flower, pupils learn about reverse engineering. They use the results to brainstorm designs for new products or ideas. This is the seventh installment of a nine-part Life...

Students read about and discuss water and how it is used as a resource and how engineers use technology to preserve it. In this water lesson plan, students look at a picture of water treatment and tell what is wrong with the picture.

Students read and discuss waves and their wavelengths and amplitudes. In this waves lesson plan, students draw the wavelength and amplitude of a wave and discuss tsunamis and storms.

Learners determine what the pulse is before examining how to measure the heart rate in different situations. They build a simple device that measures the heart rate, take heart rates, and record them on a worksheet. They discuss how...

Students interpret Japanese and American paintings; evaluate paintings as sources of cultural and historical information