Reading, writing, and rings! A lesson from NASA combines space science with authentic reading and writing tasks. Included in this lesson are pre-reading activities, four mini informational booklets on Saturn, a structured...

Using an online internet simulation, learners will role-play various members of a family living in rural Haiti. The objective is to increase global awareness by requiring them to consider poverty as an obstacle to education in Haiti....

Second graders study the criteria for biographies and the vocabulary that is specific person and time. They take notes, write e-mail and gather information on a famous person.

Five segements from Ken Burns' documentary series Prohibition, easily accessed on the PBS website, are at the center of a terrific short unit on the roots of America's ambivalent relationship with alcohol. Engage your secondary...

Space explorers take a virtual trip around the sun right within your classroom! They stand in a circle facing away from the "sun" (a lamp) in the center of the room. As they move according to your instructions, they view different...

Elementary schoolers explore the concepts associated with comparison shopping, and the concept of need versus want. They also look closely at the power of advertising and become more aware of the messages that ads present. After taking...

Students read The Call of the Wild, noting its theme of survival. They investigate the book's concepts with word webs, spider maps, or graphic organizers. They conduct a panel discussion on dogs and wolves. They write a letter to the...

Students view the video on Mary Tyler Moore Show. They discuss what they notice about the treatment of Mary Tyler Moore's character in the show. Students listen to a lecture covering notes on web diagram, such as: Fads, fashion, the New...

Students take a closer look at comparative advantage. In this economics lesson, students discover details about opportunity cost, comparative advantage, and absolute advantage. Students participate in a simulation that requires them to...

Students explore the dispersal of animals.. Students take on the role of a specific animal. They simulate finding a new home due to overpopulation. Through hands-on activities performed during the simulation, students discover the area...

Students use M&M's to create a pie graph that expresses their understanding of the composition of air. They watch and conduct several simple experiments to develop an understanding of the properties of air (it has mass, it takes up...

Fourth graders take an unannounced test (failure is expected) and the top scores are rewarded with candy bars. They compare this test to the literacy tests given before 1960 and votes to candybars. They journal their responses.

Young scholars read news reports and first-person accounts of a blackout in a large city and keep weblogs or journals. They take on different roles of people who live in the city or commute there to work and then use their journal...

Students take an online virtual tour of Yellowstone National Park. They act as park rangers to research geological features of Yellowstone, locate these features on maps, and describe and define associated geologic terms.

Students explore economics by writing a fictitious news article. In this personal wealth lesson, students participate in a role-playing activity in which the year is 2025 and they must write an article about their extremely wealthy...

The Holocaust is the focus of this interactive poetry strategy. The classroom will be set-up to remind students of the Secret Annex, with a table, lamp, and various other props. Each participant will receive 3  Saltine crackers and...

What would your scholars do if Susan B. Anthony walked into class? Shock them to attention with this lesson, which has the school secretary (or any willing participant) dress as the famous suffragette and answer questions as a surprise...

Head to the treeline and beyond to examine how this feature of the landscape affects weather and climate, which gives scientists clues about its health. Class members' observations of photographs provide the data...

Explore the surface of Mars without leaving the comforts of your home or classroom! Learn about volcanoes, missions to the red planet, view the topography, and more. 

Third graders place the notes B, A, and G on the staff and compose his/her own music. Students share their piece of music with a partner and play on a recorder.

Students practice basic social etiquette skills. They view a video, write a thank you note with an addressed envelope, eat a dinner and simulate introductions and phone conversations. They identify accepted manners and demonstrate them.

Students discover the Theatre of the Oppressed. In this diversity lesson, students practice confronting injustice as they participate in "circle sculpture" to role play performance models that deal with social justice issues. Students...

Learners investigate Daisyworld, a very simple planet that has only two species of life on its surface - white and black daisies, and bare ground. They construct a Stella model of Daisyworld and perform guided experiments to explore the...

Learners work together to use a sample seismograph. They role play the position of an engineering firm that is to analyze the machine. They discover how engineers develop new machines to take measurements.