Curated OER
Whose Side Are You On?
Students role play, persuading and staying neutral during arguments. In this viewpoint lesson, students examine the viewpoints of soldiers in the Spanish-American War and role play. After a discussion, some students try to persuade the...
Curated OER
Signal Corps
Learners examine the role of signal corps during the Civil War and explore the technique of 'wigwag.' In this Civil War lesson, students discuss the way they communicate long distance today, they research how a civil war soldier...
EduGAINs
Preparation for Transitions and Change— Guidance and Career Education
Every hopeful in your class has gone through some kind of life change, from parents' divorce to a death in the family to moving up into another grade. Encourage them to discuss these changes, the skills they used and acquired during...
PBS
The Sixties: Hitsville USA
James Jamerson. You probably heard him but may not have heard of him. But fans of Motown Records will certainly recognize his contributions to the sound that desegregated popular music during the 1960s. Challenge young history detectives...
Curated OER
Introduction to Adaptation
Tenth graders observe collections of specimens and discuss their answers to provided questions. They explore common ancestry, homology, analogy, adaptive radiation, and evolution, while formulating creative answers based on their...
Curated OER
Edible Mars Spacecraft
Fourth graders identify the Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Pathfinder and the rover, Sojourner.
Curated OER
Chocolate Chip Cookie Mining
To understand the impact coal mining has on the environment, pupils will extract chocolate chips from a cookie. Imagine the cookie is the environment and the chips are the coal. Instruct them to mine as many chips as they can, then have...
EduGAINs
Form and Function
Will that structure survive the force? The differentiated activity allows pairs to choose the structure they would like to construct and the building materials they wish to use. Individuals record their findings in the observation chart...
Curated OER
Understanding the Complexities of Setting with Where the Lilies Bloom
After reading Where the Lilies Bloom and researching the wildflowers and herbs mentioned in the novel, class members create a mural that reflects the setting of the novel. Groups design the background, the houses of the characters, the...
Curated OER
Introduction to the History of the Holocaust
The Holocaust is unbelievable! Examine this piece of history with your class. Using the Internet, research groups determine the relevance of information presented, compare how different sites present the same information, synthesize...
Curated OER
Measurement: Finding Areas of Rectangles
Gardening geometers construct the formula for the area of a rectangle by viewing a video revolving around two young people, their lawn mowing business, and their need to charge by the square meter. A relevant real-life application activity!
Curated OER
Will There Be Subsistence Farmers in the 21st Century?: Feeding the World
Students examine the topic of subsistence farming. They research the future of subsistence agriculture, identify the types and locations of subsistence agriculture, and write about subsistence farming in regards to developing nations and...
Curated OER
Build Your Dream Bedroom
Designers measure their own rooms and produce a scale drawing. They use the Internet to visit sites to find the costs of purchasing new carpet, paint, or anything else they would like to add to their room. Using a $1500 budget, they will...
Curated OER
Primary Sources and Protagonists: A Native American Literature Unit
Introduce your middle schoolers to the lives of past Native Americans. First, learners work together to put photographs in a sequence. Then, using their sequence, they create stories to share with the whole class. No matter how old your...
ReadWriteThink
Beyond the Story: A Dickens of a Party
It's time to party like it's 1899! Incorporate a research-based celebration of the Victorian Era into your unit on A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. After learners read the novella or view a production of the play, they craft a...
Curated OER
Conservation vs. Economic Growth
Investigate the choices people make between economic growth and personal growth and development using the ethical/decision making model. Small groups create and present a position paper describing their feeling for or against the...
Curated OER
Around the Clock
Middle schoolers discover the relationship between the circumference of a circle and its diameter. They find the length of an arc of a circle.Students use estimation strategies in real-world applications to predict results (i.e.,...
Curated OER
Publishing a Book Review
Pairs use desktop publishing software, as well as digital video and camera equipment, to craft a book review. These reviews are then shared with others in the school community through the class or school website.
Curated OER
Structured Academic Controversy (SAC) in the History Classroom
SAC is a specific approach to discussing history and controversial issues. Rather than adhering to an either/or debate-style paradigm, it fosters speaking and constructivist listening to enable learners to build consensus through...
National Security Agency
Ordering, Adding and Subtracting Integers
Prealgebrarians use colored chips, stickers, and pencils to explore the world of integers. They discover absolute value, compare positive and negative integers, and apply operations to them. A detailed procedure for the three-part...
Curated OER
Using Bar Graphs to Understand Voting Patterns
Bar graphs are used as a way to study voting patterns in the United States. A variety of statistical data is presented in the graphs, and pupils must interpret the data in order to make a report to the class. Three excellent graphs,...
Curated OER
Why a Mock Trial?
Students participate in a mock trial. They discover how U.S. courts resolve conflicts.
Curated OER
Appreciating The Scarlet Letter
Tenth graders read the first 10 chapters of, 'The Scarlet Letter.' They utilize an assignment imbedded in this plan to research the characters and define the role each plays in the novel.
