Curated OER
Groundwater Basics
Groundwater is an essential natural resource, not to mention a fascinating topic to study. Here is a series of twelve amazing lessons on the water source and how we use it in our daily lives. Concepts require higher math and physics...
Curated OER
Designing a Study
Students explore features to consider when designing a scientific study. In this science research lesson, students examine different methods of data collection and consider which method would be appropriate for determining how many types...
Gears Educational System
Battery Basics
In a series of activities, high schoolers research and compare batteries of different chemistries (such as nickel-cadmium), measure current and voltage, and use multimeters and math to compute their capacities. In the end, they try to...
California Academy of Science
Building Better Buses: Transportation Design Challenges
Scholars learn about a series of three challenges when they design a bus system for a small town. They determine the bus routes and then figure out the best type of fuel to use before considering the cost of going electric. Learners...
Space Awareness
Navigating with the Kamal
Historians have proven that as early as 1497 skilled navigators were using a kamal to sail across oceans. Scholars learn about navigation tools and astronomy before building their own kamals. They then learn how to use it to determine...
National Security Agency
Going Green with Graphs
In this unit designed for second graders, youngsters are introduced to conducting surveys and creating tally charts based on the data they gather. Students then construct bar graphs, and observe the relationships between the two types of...
Code.org
Good and Bad Data Visualizations
Good versus bad data. Pairs rate online collections of data representations from good to bad and then suggest ways to improve the visualizations. The class then creates a list of best practices and common errors in data representations...
Space Awareness
The Sun Compass of the Vikings
Evidence shows the Vikings likely navigated by using a simple sundial to find their course. Videos, a short story, and discussion help bring this time period to life as they study European history with a hands-on experiment. Scholars...
Colorado State University
What Is a "Model"?
Model the transfer of energy during a typical 24-hour period. Young scholars use a game-like approach to learning the patterns of heat transfer through the day and night. Groups of four exchange different tokens as the energy transfers...
Curated OER
Using High Stakes Testing to Make Students and Schools Accountable for Learning
Students conduct an informal survey about their views on high stakes testing and use basic computation skills to evaluate results as a group. They participate in activities related to high stakes testing and "No Child Left Behind"...
Curated OER
Two-Step Problems and Money Concepts
Elementary schoolers solve two-step equations and practice money concepts. They solve multi-step addition and subtraction contextual problems and apply money concepts to real life situations. Pupils use pictures and counters to help them...
Curated OER
Skills You Need to Succeed
Students identify basic skills needed to succeed in the world of work, including communication skills, computation skills, problem solving skills, and interpersonal skills.
Space Awareness
How To Travel On Earth Without Getting Lost
Have you ever wanted to travel the world? Take a virtual trip with a geography lesson that uses longitude and latitude, the position of the sun, an astronomy app, and a classroom globe.
Curated OER
Mathematical Modeling
Study various types of mathematical models in this math lesson plan. Learners calculate the slope to determine the risk in a situation described. They respond to a number of questions and analyze their statistical data. Then, they...
Curated OER
Soils
Students apply knowledge of soil, environmental impacts, economics, multiple human demands, and use given data for a proposed scenario in making land use decisions. They debate land use issues and/or scenarios and discuss a case study.
Illustrative Mathematics
How Many Cells Are in the Human Body?
Investigating the large numbers of science is the task in a simple but deep activity. Given a one-sentence problem set-up and some basic assumptions, the class sets off on an open-ended investigation that really gives some context to all...
Shodor Education Foundation
Surface Area of Rectangular Prism
With this interactive lesson, learners compute the surface area of rectangular prisms. They visit an online investigation applet and record data on the provided handout. Pair this lesson with the volume lesson by the same publisher as an...
Curated OER
Getting Into Shapes: Identifying and Describing Two-Dimensional Shapes
Young scholars examine their classroom to find examples of various types of shapes. After identifying and describing the various shapes, they draw as many as they can on a piece of paper. They organize them into an image based on their...
Shodor Education Foundation
Introduction to the Concept of Probability
Acquaint mathematicians to the concept of probability with a discussion about the results of a game. Then have them play a dice, card, spinner, or coin game and recording the number of wins vs. the number of tries on an interactive web...
Curated OER
Describing Patterns
Fourth graders investigate repeating and growing patterns. Models, graphs and words are used to describe, extend and represent patterns. Students use evidence from models and graphs to support the identification of patterns.
Curated OER
Graphing
Students collect data to create different types of graphs-line, pie, and bar graphs. They use StarOffice 6.0 to create graphs.
Curated OER
Classification
Students investigate how different types of food can be classified then counted. In this sorting, arranging, and classifying lesson plan, students explore how to group foods based on commonalities. Students are asked four questions which...
Curated OER
Clock Arithmetic and Cryptography
Students investigate modular clock arithmetic and cryptography. They perform basic operations in modular (clock) arithmetic and encode and decode messages using simple shift and affine ciphers.
Curated OER
From Probability to Combinatorics and Number Theory
Students see how division is used to help solve probability problems. They use tables as data structures where they are used to count outcomes and to compute probabilities. Students use games to help solve probability problems.