Though Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle shocked the American public into a thorough examination of the meat-packing industry, the author was disappointed that his book's main argument—the exploitation of American immigrants—was not...

Really neat! Kids choreograph a dance phrase and then measure the distance and speed of the phrase using a timer and a meter stick. They collect the data on a table which they use to determine an average. A series of observation and...

The six instructional shifts in this workshop definitely move math and science teachers' understanding of instruction. The workshop, 13th out of a series of 15, asks participants to examine sample tests and to look at how the six...

Help learners construct relationships between written narratives and book illustrations, and between the narratives in formal visual art and the subject of the visual art. Look at Caldecott winning books and focus on the pictures drawn....

Your entire class works together to create an illustrated insect field guide. The intent is that they venture outside of the classroom, find a critter, and then research it using reference materials, insect books, and the Internet for...

Surrealistic painters like Marc Chagall and Wendy Rouse show viewers an expansive world in a small area. Young artists have a opportunity to create their own surrealistic paintings in response to a study of works by Chagall and Rouse.

Introduce Nancy Farmer's award-winning science fiction novel, The House of the Scorpion, with an anticipation guide that asks readers to agree or disagree with a series of statements that reflect the major concepts in the story. Follow...

In order to learn more about energy conservation, pupils work to promote energy efficiency by participating in a school-wide science fair with an emphasis on energy conservation. In addition to displaying their projects, learners invite...

Using personal experience, visual art, and music that evoke natural disasters, your older high schoolers create their own expressions of storms. Learners conduct online research about weather drama. They make their own expressive...

Young learners explore nutrition and the food groups in these two mini-lesson plan ideas. First, kindergarteners have a discussion about their health and how different foods contribute to it before making their own personal food pyramid....

Experiment with light and dark in a series of interactive activities that lead up to reading and writing poetry. Class members have the opportunity to observe their feelings while sitting in the light and dark and to play with shadow...

Students research the topics Boat People: A Refugee Crisis, Dr. Henry Morgentaler: Fighting Canada's Abortion Laws, and CANDU: The Canadian Nuclear Reactor on the CBC Radio and Television Archives Web site.

Young scholars create a car using physics. In this forces and motion instructional activity, students create a car and test which changes in design change the performance of the car. Young scholars complete a graphic...

Tropical fish make great art projects! Use paper plates to design, color, and assemble round and oval-shaped fish based on photographs of actual fish found along the Moorea Coral Reef. Kids learn about different fins- including the...

Students engage in this, the third in a three-part series on ships. The overall lesson series is designed to allow students to extend their understanding of floating, sinking, density, and buoyancy and apply it to the design and testing...

Small groups place sand and ice in a covered box, place the box in the sunlight, then observe as evaporation, condensation, and precipitation occur. These models serve as miniature water cycles and demonstrations of the three phases of...

Strap on those backpacks, it's time to travel through history with this literature unit based on the first four books of The Magic Tree House series. While reading through these fun stories, children create story maps, record...

Students research local waste management services, discuss findings, give opinions about what they have found, offer solutions and ideas, and create performance art, design art works, and fine art works to convey information on waste...

It's always great to find cross-curricular lessons, especially when they integrate two very interesting topics. Learners will consider three paintings as they relate to both science and art. They'll discuss each piece and then respond to...

How is the Earth's weather created? Middle schoolers will explain how the Sun's energy is transformed into different forms. They will perform mathematical calculations of volume, mass, and temperature. They they will explain the...

Students investigate the interdependence of agriculture and the environment. They research areas of interdependence and provide examples of situations where farmers are practicing conservation in the local area. Their findings are...

The forests of Minnesota provide middle schoolers with an integrated learning opportunity. They examine the three biomes and their histories, conduct experiments, read stories, and draw pictures. A lovely lesson about trees.

Students sort teddy bears according to types and then graph the results. They each bring a bear to class and then discuss their similarities and differences. Once the bears have been sorted into groups according to size and color,...

Fifth graders develop and practice the steps involved in imaginative writing. They follow the steps/worksheets included and write imaginative stories of their own.