Curated OER
Saving Hawaii
Students engage in a lesson plan about the a proposal for a sanctuary in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. They write a letter to the President of The United States in opposition to the proposal based upon classroom activities and...
Curated OER
Polar Food Web Comparison
Seventh graders practice the evaluation component of the scientific method while comparing and contrasting the similarities and differences of the food chains and webs of polar animal life. They study about classification and ecology...
Curated OER
The Water Cycle
Fifth graders review and discuss, "The Water Cycle" and its key elements of evaporation, condensation and precipitation. They create a terrarium in groups to connect concepts of The Water Cycle and to view precipitation, condensation,...
Curated OER
We're On A Mission!
Young scholars examine the Mars Exploration Rover mission. In groups, they design their own mission while participating in a webquest. They write an essay using the information they gathered to propose their mission to the President. ...
Curated OER
Cajun Critters Lesson Plan
Students identify animals of Louisiana. They compare and contrast animals. Students work in groups. They write descriptive paragraphs using proper grammatical structure. Students pick an animal within their groups, they research...
Curated OER
Mystery Polymers
Pupils examine how some natural substances are polymers. In this polymer lesson students complete a lab and give examples of a physical change.
Curated OER
Electronic Circuit Design
Students design circuits to power 3-9 volt devices such as CD players or flashlights. After measuring the voltage and current requirements for the item, they design a loaded voltage-divided circuit to power it. Students work in teams to...
National Security Agency
A Balancing Act: Solving Multi-Step Equations
Wow! Put on that thinking cap and solve multi-step equations. To solve equations, learners review the use of the distributive property and combining like terms. This three-day lesson comes with about 20 pages of worksheets, warm-ups,...
Curated OER
China's Giant Panda
Third graders read an article called "All About Pandas." In this Panda lesson, students become familiar with the connection of the Panda to Chinese culture. Students recognize that Pandas are endangered. Students complete a...
Curated OER
Exploration of "Pillbugs"
Fifth graders define vocabulary terms, identify the characteristics of a pillbug, and create a dichotomous key. Then they examine the pillbugs and make observations and record these observations. Finally, 5th graders observe specific...
Teach Engineering
Keepers of the Gate Journal and Brainstorm
The second segment of a seven-part series reviews the challenge of determining whether gargling with salt water helps a sore throat. Individuals journal what they know about the challenge and what they are trying to figure out to...
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
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 lesson...
Ohio Department of Education
Multiplying and Dividing in Scientific Notation - Grade 8
Here is really nice set of resources on scientific notation. Eighth and ninth graders explore the concept of multiplying and dividing in scientific notation. In this multiplying and dividing numbers in scientific notation...
Scholastic
Hill of Fire Teaching Plan
Some books are perfect for drawing connections between multiple subjects. The book Hill of Fire becomes the hub for three very different, yet related activity ideas. First the class hones their oral language skills by creating an...
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
Persuasive Writing: Fact or Opinion
What is the difference between a fact and an opinion? Middle schoolers categorize statements as either facts or opinions before writing a persuasive essay to support a thesis statement they create. This is a great introduction to...
Curated OER
Punch Patterns
Fifth graders duplicate patterns, guess pattern results and identify the symmetries created. They are given an instructional handout, 5th graders replicate the patterns demonstrated by folding the paper and punching the appropriate...
Curated OER
Fill and Wrap It Up
Young scholars find the surface area and volume of the solid figures by measuring the length and the height of each face and base. They use concrete models to derive formulas for finding perimeter, circumference, area, surface area, and...
Curated OER
Maximize It!
Students design a rectangular box without a lid that has the largest possible volume using the supplied sheet of centimeter graph paper. They work in groups to construct different size boxes to determine the largest possible volume and...
Curated OER
Cap-It to the Max
Eighth graders compare the volume of three cylinders constructed from the same size sheet of paper. They use concrete and graphical models to derive formulas for finding perimeter, circumference, area, and volume of two and three...
Curated OER
Triangle Inequality
Students discover that the sum of the lengths of any two sides of a triangle must be greater than the third side. They are shown how a triangle is formed using three strips such as that the triangle is seen inside the strips.
Curated OER
Shadow Casting
Eighth graders use a meter stick that is placed on a horizontal surface and an object is moved along it so that the shadow length can be measured at different distances from the light source. They solve real-world problems involving...
Curated OER
Probability
Here is a classic activity used to introduce your class to the concept of probability and data collection. They will roll one die 30 times, then record and discuss the results. Great introduction, but too shallow to be considered a...