Wait, you mean researchers don't all use Wikipedia? Teach your class about intelligent research with a lesson plan about evaluating digital sources. The lesson plan starts with a quickwrite and includes vocabulary exercises and...

Can the president of the United States hire anyone he or she wants for any position in the executive branch? The answer may surprise scholars! After investigating the appointment process, historians, by themselves or in pairs, analyze...

While the European Union has been a part of economic landscape for decades, it grew out of a period of economic integration after World War II. Using a round table method, class members analyze and discuss the events leading up to the...

Place value to the millions is the focus of this math lesson. Third and fourth graders investigate multiple ways to represent a number. They examine place value while studying factual information about Pablo Picasso. Resources are provided.

Take your class on a field trip to Fractalland where they'll learn all about number and shape patterns. Based on Disney's movie Alice in Wonderland, this resource takes young mathematicians on an adventure as they explore patterns in...

Explore connections within and between informational texts with this lesson about encyclopedia articles. Middle schoolers write encyclopedia articles focusing on topics in American history. They discuss how to determine credibility...

How do events reported in mainstream newspapers, on television news, blog posts, and social network sites differ? Ask your class to investigate the way the same news item is presented in the many information sources available. Groups...

At the heart of this resource is a beautifully detailed PowerPoint presentation (provided in PDF form) on the overall physical geography of Australia, basic facts about the country, Aboriginal history, and Australia culture and lifestyle.

The ripple effect from one small event can impact many others. Young historians research the ripple effect World War II had on decolonization in the second installment of an eight-part series. Through primary and secondary documents as...

Glide into the study of flight. An engaging lesson has scholars research information on the Wright brothers. They develop props and produce a recreation of the first flight at Kitty Hawk. They then report on the event as if they were...

Go with the flow and use a helpful resource. A set of two activities has learners investigate flow rates. They first determine the flow rate of a faucet by measuring how long it takes to fill a bucket. Using the results, they make a...

Sugar isn't good for you, but it's great for yeast! Scholars design an experiment to investigate how variables affect the rate of sugar consumption in yeast. The last installment of a nine-part Life Science unit considers how scientists...

Imagine if Sigmund Freud or Charles Darwin had a Facebook page. As part of a study of major historical figures in the field of psychology, class members are assigned a psychologist and design a mock Facebook page that includes...

Students consider the nature of objectivity and subjectivity in photography as an art form by taking a class poll, discussing the results and writing a one-page paper.

Help your class understand the design challenges when trying to land a remote spacecraft on a planet. Class members examine the provided information to understand how each component of a spacecraft is designed in order to safely land a...

Class members use mathematics in order to better understand magnetic forces and their interaction on charged particles. After a demonstration of the interaction between a magnet and an electron beam using a CRT computer monitor,...

The second lesson of a pair about Paul Laurence Dunbar, this plan focuses in particular on his poem, "We Wear the Masks." After a short historical introduction, class members conduct a series or readings, marking up the text and...

Partners examine the family tree of Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, a Spanish admiral and explorer who founded St. Augustine, Florida, and answer several questions about the text using a worksheet. After they've explored the family tree,...

  Your archaeologists combine proportional reasoning with exponential functions in a real-life task centered on Carbon 14 dating.          

Your young basketball players will build a table and develop a general formula for a decaying exponential scenario involving the rebound distance of a bouncing ball. Using a CBR and graphing calculator can make this even more hands-on...

Your learners analyze population data to discern if it best fits a linear scenario. The idea of change by equal differences over equal intervals is enforced in this real-life task. 

Modeling population growth gives learners an opportunity to experiment with real data. Comparing the growth rates in this real-life task strengthens learners' understanding that exponential functions change by equal factors over equal...

Your young population scientists analyze a table of values, write a model to represent the real life data, finish the table of data and predict future populations in a collaborative, real-life activity.

Learners discover the impact of women on civil rights in United States history by analyzing primary source clues to identify influential female figures.