In the United States, most trains operate at a top speed of 100 miles per hour. Scholars use information on the distance and time of a train trip to determine if the train ever reaches a specific speed. They connect pieces of information...

Learners explore issues and situations that make for a city and its local environments. In this local government lesson, students design maps, define issues and create brochures that illustrate their understandings of these concepts and...

When is a foot not a foot? When you use the length of your own foot to measure distances, of course. To underscore the importance of standardized units of measurement, middle schoolers engage in a series of activities that ask them to...

Take a seat on the parade route with a holiday-themed set of word problems. Young mathematicians answer questions based on the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Parade in New York City, including finding the average number of members in a...

Students read a story called Mayor Puts City on Diet to Lose a Million Pounds and answer vocabulary and comprehension questions about it. In this current event Lose a Million Pounds lesson plan, students respond to literature by...

Sixth graders brainstorm the reasons why people would want to leave their homeland to live in the United States. In groups, they research the political representation of the Board in New Haven, Connecticut. They also write a paper on...

Have you ever wondered how many ants make up an elephant? Inquisitive minds will be amazed as they use scientific notation to compute and compare the mass of an elephant to an ant. Have participants make guesses and see how close they...

Fourth graders reserach the state of Missouri. In this Missouri History instructional activity, 4th graders plan a vacation to a region of Missouri. Students work in collaborative groups to determine all aspects of the trip....

Students are introduced to an Underground Weather Stations. In groups, they use the internet to research the weather in different parts of the United States locating each city. To end the lesson, they summarize the information they...

This lesson enables teachers to use blues styles and performers to think about various geographical regions of the United States. By studying different blues styles from the Mississippi Delta, Texas, and the Piedmont region of the...

Students research and conduct non-experimental research, such as journals, the weather channel and the internet, to collect and record data for analysis on weather conditions in the United States and abroad. They identify, pronounce and...

Students explore the American cattle industry history. In this United States history and reading comprehension cross curriculum lesson, students read an article about the history of longhorn cattle, then answer comprehension questions on...

Census-takers view the Internet to find the total population of a city and its total land area. They work with different mathematical scenarios that involve populations and land area in their city. They complete math problems and unit...

Even magicians can't make energy disappear. In a discussion-based lesson, young scientists learn about energy forms and conversions. They see how energy is neither created nor destroyed; it just changes forms. This is the 11th...

More planning goes into a budget than a high schooler thinks. Here, they learn about the expected expenses and incomes, along with outside factors such as natural disasters. Learners prepare their own budget and adjust it based on...

Integrate geography with literature in this interdisciplinary lesson. Begin by reading a poem such as The Time We Climbed Snake Mountain by Leslie Marmon Silko. On a large map, place push pins in the cities or states mentioned. An...

Put economics and currency exchange rates into a real-world application kids can understand. They'll compare bus fares from various cities around the world. Each child selects three international cities to research. They determine the...

Students collect real world data from the Web regarding high and low tides at various locations in the United States. They find a function which models this data and make predictions on tide levels based on the information found.

The language and features of functions get careful treatment in a complex but doable lesson. Learners get a lot of practice really figuring out what a graph means in context, and also identifying key features of graphs. Key ideas...

Students, after reading Chapter 1 in the book, "Latinos Today: Facts and Figures," identify and characterize the four main ethnic/racial groups in America. They calculate and design a bar graph showing their populations by their...

Eighth graders prepare for a field trip to Washington, DC by researching landmark, monument, or building in Washington. They use the information in small groups to design a multimedia presentation. They include a spreadsheet that shows...

Fourth graders use triangle paper to design patterns using geometric figures and find the areas of those figures by counting units. Students are assessed by determining which figure has the greatest area and explaining their reasoning.

Students, after watching the program "New Kid in Town," are introduced to the White House in Washington, D.C. They explore the difficulties of fitting into a new environment along with new acquaintances. They stress and address the...

Students analyze a graph representing college tuition increases, consider the possible causes and consequences of these tuition increases and collect data on tuition changes at colleges in the United States by region and graph the data.