This abstract for an instructional unit using three-minute mysteries, stories by Sir Arthur Canon Doyle, and Edgar Allan Poe includes a short history of detective fiction, sample plans, and suggestions for exercises and activities...

Test your learners' sensory awareness with three hands-on activities that ask pupils to use their other senses to identify and describe everyday objects hidden from sight.  

DNA is like the fingerprint of genetics. A quick lesson introduces the topic of DNA sequences with a mystery about an endangered species. The lesson shows how DNA extraction, replication, and sequencing often provide undeniable evidence...

Match up the DNA code. Pupils read the website from the American Museum of Natural History about how DNA can determine whether a skin is from a particular type of reptile. Using the same technique, learners match up products with the...

In 1977, scientists discovered hot springs in the middle of deep, cold ocean waters near the Galapagos Islands. Scholars research the chemical reactions that explain what scientists found at the Lost City. A discussion connects many...

Calling all junior detectives! Scholars use the tools of investigation to determine the causes and impacts of the American Civil War. Using viewing guides, videos, group research, and written resources, they discover what it takes to...

A picture really can speak a thousand words—no matter how old! Scholars become history detectives as they learn how to analyze historical photos and evidence to uncover the past. The fun hands-on activity makes history come alive through...

Promises made and promise broken. Spies and activists. Voting rights in Mississippi are the focus of a lesson that has class members research the history of the struggle in Mississippi. Learners take on the role of voting rights...

Young scientists meet Edward Alexander Bouchet who, in 1876, was the first African American to receive a PhD in Physics. This two-part lesson plan first looks at the debate between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois about the type...

Who and what can you trust online? How do you know? After viewing a pair of introductory videos on positive and safe online conduct, learners discuss the content and put it into practice during an online search activity about alien...

Rather than who done it, the mystery literary detectives have to solve as they examine the evidence found in Edgar Allan Poe's famous "The Tell-Tale Heart" is why did he do it?

A straightforward slideshow presentation explains the meaning and use of context clues when defining new words. Each slide presents an example of what context clues are, how to identify them, and how it helps reading comprehension....

To prepare for a sensory walk outside, the whole class engages in a discussion of the five senses, kids close their eyes, and share what they sense. Groups then follow a guide, tour an area, and share what they experience...

Placement of parentheses is paramount. Scholars adjust the location of parentheses in a numerical expression so its value matches a given value. A slider interactive helps with this task.

It's sure getting hot out there! Scholars analyze satellite data on land use and surface temperatures, and then learn how to ground truth satellite data through an activity. They apply technology to identify urban heat islands and...

Imagine a lesson that models for learners how to separate facts from opinions. How to detect bias. How to evaluate a source of information. How to identify propaganda. Although designed for middle schoolers, the activities in this packet...

Authors are constantly leaving clues that help the reader to understand the sequence of events in a story. Teach young readers how to pick up on these key temporal words and phrases with this slide show. After an introduction to commonly...

I bet I can cross the room without having the lights come on. Class members set up an experiment in which they try to determine what materials will mask motion detected by a sensor. Groups predict how materials will interact with...

James Jamerson. You probably heard him but may not have heard of him. But fans of Motown Records will certainly recognize his contributions to the sound that desegregated popular music during the 1960s. Challenge young history...

As an introduction to the hypothesis and testing method of investigation, young history detectives engage in a special investigation of a family artifact. After watching a short video that demonstrates the method, they develop a...

Information on the biomedical use of nanotechnology, specifically in the detection and treatment of cancer, is the focus of a lesson that seems like it is out of a science fiction novel. Pupils learn about electrophoresis, which is used...

To gain an understanding of the treatment of African American soldiers during World War I, class members watch an excerpt from the History Detectives film, Our Colored Heroes, and then examine three recruitment posters from that...

Spy games are not just for professionals anymore! Scholars use short video clips, primary documents, and photographs to investigate Nazi spies in America during World War II.  The young detectives analyze the paranoia warfare can...

Being a historian requires serious sleuthing. They examine primary source documents and look for evidence, for clues that reveal who wrote the document, when, and why. After watching two historians model the process, young history...