Smithsonian Institution
Solomon G. Brown: Letter Writing
Personal correspondence in the form of letters is not as common as it once was. This resource presents an opportunity for you to introduce your class to letter writing and cover topics in social studies. Learners read a letter written in...
Have Fun Teaching
March Journal Prompts
Engage your class in writing right away during the month of March. This resource provides writing prompts for every day in March, and each is decorated with a shamrock. For most of the prompts, learners use creative writing skills,...
Media Education Lab
Defining Propaganda
21st century learners live in a media world. Help them develop the skills they need to be able to analyze the barrage of propaganda they face daily, with a resource that introduces them to the type of persuasive appeals found in...
Cornell University
Airboats
Don't let the resource blow you away. Scholars build airboats from basic materials and collect data on how far the boats move. They refine their designs taking Newton's laws into consideration.
Curated OER
Treasure of the Tar
Students use the Canadian Atlas to discover the natural resources available in various areas of the country. Using the region known as the "Tar Sands", they identify the area's characteristics and develop hypothesis about the future...
Curated OER
Environmental Science/Water Pollution
Students study natural habitats, aquatic life, renewable and non-renewable resources. They discuss conservation efforts for sea otters and desert toad in this units.
Curated OER
Watershed Management
Students investigate the concept of a watershed. They conduct research into the concept using a variety of resources. Students take a field trip to a local watershed to make observations. The outcome is a report concerning the outside...
Curated OER
The Science Behind Phone Systems
Learners, in groups, discuss the origin of voice communications. In small groups students research the science behind innovations related to voice communications up through today's satellite systems. They make models or demonstrations.
Curated OER
Disease Warriors
Learners explore the importance of vaccines in fighting childhood disease. In this health lesson, students play a game to model how vaccines protect against the spread of infectious disease. Learners play a tag based game in which...
Curated OER
Treasure of the Tar
Students, using an atlas, locate the region known as the "Tar Sands" in the Central Plains of Canada. They hypothesize about the future economic potential of this natural resource. They create a poster about the Tar Sands industry in...
Curated OER
Fishing for the Future
Learners research Hawaii's fishing regulations. In this conservation lesson, students explore the reasons behind ocean conservation. Resources are provided.
Curated OER
Challenge to Communicate
Students use Lewis and Clark's journals to identify the forms of non-verbal communication they used. They discover the problems they faced on their journey and how they overcame them. They practice using the non-verbal language of the...
Curated OER
Unlikely Communicators: Carrier Pigeons
Second graders explore information about carrier pigeons and other means of communication. They describe different types of communication and transportation and identify their advantages and disadvantages They develop a Communication...
Curated OER
Pathfinders: Using Information Resources
Eighth graders gather and use information on a chosen topic for a hypothetical research paper. They use organizational features of printed text, the Internet, and other media to locate information and choose a specific topic.
Curated OER
A Heritage Study: Using Information Resources to Research Family History and Traditions
Students research their family history through ethnographical study. They locate information through a variety of sources, interview people, write a report and present an oral presentation to the class.
Wake Forest University
Authentic Activities for Connecting Mathematics to the Real World
Check out the handout from a presentation that contains a collection of high school algebra projects connecting a variety of mathematics to the real world. Activities range from simple probabilities to calculus. The activities...
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Numbers Are Made of Parts
Children play with barnyard animal cards to practice composing and decomposing numbers. With their "secret number" of animal cards in a cup, they shake and spill them onto a barn story board, counting how many animals fall in the barn...
Curated OER
Teaching Lewis and Clark: Challenge to Communicate
Students note instances in the journals of Lewis and Clark where they relied on non-verbal communication (sign language.) They discover some basic sign language and play a game in which they must use their new sign language skills to...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Electric Messages: Then And Now
Learners engage in a instructional activity that is concerned with the history of communication devices that are used today and in the past. They practice using morse code as a look into the past and then cover the modern subjects of...
Curated OER
Cyberspace Pursuit
Students are introduced to a variety of communications technology. Using the internet, they complete a Cyberspace worksheet in which they complete a variety of activities using the different types of technology. To end the lesson, they...
Curated OER
Mending Walls: Barriers in Communications
Students explore a literal and figurative wall. In this communication lesson, students examine and discuss barriers in communication as they analyze Pink Floyd's "The Wall" and Robert Frost's "Mending Wall".
Curated OER
Designing a Poster to Communicate Information: Yellowstone National Park
It's not hard to convince someone to visit the beauty of Yellowstone National Park. But there's more than meets the eye in this region! Learners watch a short historical video and conduct research before creating an advertisement for...
Curated OER
Government and Community Resources
Young scholars explore how to communicate using past tense and present perfect tense verbs. They discuss words related to postal activities and the procedures to follow when mailing letters and packages, registering mail, and buying...
Curated OER
Animals and Humans Say the Darnedest Things
Students explore and analyze human and animal communications and create a short film that illustrates their findings.