Introduce your freshmen to analogies with this packet of prompts that also includes strategies for solving these critical thinking puzzles.

Making inferences and drawing conclusions is a key component to successful active reading. Encourage your class to use context clues and prior knowledge to infer different elements of a story, including the setting, plot, and character...

Twenty insightful questions follow a read aloud of the story, Amos and Boris by William Steig. Scholars then show what they know through completion of a cause and effect chart, reading fluency assessment, and a written...

A historic site marks a place where a relevant historical event occurred, no matter how many people know about it. Small groups choose their own historical sites, including a place where a class member was born, or even a...

Get the word out about friendship, support, and a safe school community with a media literacy lesson about bullying. Young journalists investigate instances of bullying and take descriptive pictures as they compile a magazine to fight...

Give the class the most interesting lesson yet with a fun grammar presentation on superlative adjectives. With animated slides and sound effects, the presentation is the greatest way to introduce proper usage.

Test the limits of gravity while encouraging full class participation with this thrilling lesson. Pupils investigate the meaning of work and how it is equivalent to energy. They explore the joule and apply it as a unit of work. They...

Life is only a reflection of what we allow ourselves to see. The lesson includes three experiments on light reflection, light refraction, projection, lenses, and optical systems. Each experiment builds off the ones before and...

Running low on money? Out of ideas for gifts? Feeling crafty? Whatever the reason may be, homemade gifts are perfect for the creative person or the person trying to save a dollar here and there. Packed with hands-on crafts for kids, the...

The engineering design process meets laparoscopic surgical robots with an activity that is the last part in a series of 10 and brings all the lessons of the unit together. Teams design and build a remotely controlled laparoscopic device....

The power to solve exponential equations lies in the resource. Scholars first learn how to solve exponential equations. An activity matching cards with equations, intermediate steps, and solutions strengthens this skill.

Transform your lesson plan on transformations. Learners use given congruent triangles and tracing paper to determine the single transformation that carries one to the other. The concept is extended to combinations of transformations...

How do you decide the best person for each job? Would it be easier if you didn't have to consider their feelings? The lesson begins with a discussion of underwater robots. Then groups research one of these robots and present their...

The 12th lesson in a series of 20 opens with a demonstration of exponential functions using pasta. This concept is connected to the Richter Scale, which is also an exponential function. Scholars compare the exponential scale that...

Do flexible circuits change dimensions during fabrication? Groups use GeoGebra software to measure the length of pictures of flexible nano-circuits. To determine if the circuits change dimensions, future engineers use Microsoft...

The Mammoth Lakes area regularly releases warnings to hikers and skiers to be careful because melting snow releases trapped gases from volcanic vents. The 17th lesson in the 20-part series opens with a demonstration of carbon...

Three major types of volcanoes exist: cinder cone, composite/strata, and shield. The 18th lesson in a 20-part series covers the various landforms created from volcanoes. Scholars work in pairs to correctly identify the three...

Historians believe the first vertical water wheel was invented in Rome during the Augustan Age. The sixth lesson in the series of 10 has scholars experiment with designing their own water wheels. Through testing various pastas and...

Did you know there are at least 12 different energy sources? Scholars apply their knowledge about the different types of energy as they sort energy sources by renewable and nonrenewable. Then they pick one from each section to...

MacGillivray Freeman's film Arabia presents viewers with remarkable images and insights into this ancient and mysterious land. An educator's guide is designed to provided teachers with the materials they need to support a...

Cut-and-paste a great activity into your lesson plans. Scholars analyze real-world problems involving proportions. To change things up a bit they cut-and-paste quantities to create a proportion on their way to solving the problems.

Imagine being part of a team of scientists that discover the oldest human remains in North America. Imagine being part of the crew that documents this discovery. Class members get a change to be part of such an exciting adventure in a...

What happens to light as it passes through a hole? This is the main question centered around the designing of a solar eclipse dynamic art piece that uses a solar eclipse and paper to create a pinhole projection of the art.

Silver pennies and copper nickels are made possible by applying some chemistry. Learners use electrolysis to coat a penny with zinc sulfate and a nickel with copper sulfate. Their investigation builds an understanding of electroplating...