The third in a series of 10 STEM project-based lessons focuses on cells types, functions, and physiology. Through research, discussions, writings, and presentations, groups learn about the difference between plant and animal cells, the...

Design an efficient cereal box. Scholars use set volume criteria to design a cereal box by applying their knowledge of surface area to determine the cost to create the box. They then determine whether their designs will fit on...

Let knowledge grow bountifully like plants in a garden. Given a diagram of a rectangular garden split into plots, scholars determine the area of the entire garden and the areas of the individual plots. As a culminating activity, they...

What percent of the mixture is juice? Pairs use their knowledge of proportions to determine what percent a mixture is juice given the percent of juice in the components. Pupils use the procedure learned with the juice mixture problem to...

Extend percent understandings to include percents less than one and greater than 100. A great lesson has pupils build upon their knowledge of percents from sixth grade. They convert between fractions, decimals, and percents that are less...

Which graph belongs to which summary statistics? Class members build upon their knowledge of data displays and numerical summaries to connect the two. Pupils make connections between different graphical displays of the same data in...

It's time to demonstrate knowledge. With the instructive resource, pupils complete the second part of the end of unit assessment. They develop sections two and three of their storyboards about an invention, add visual elements, and then...

Fifth graders apply the concepts they know regarding mass, volume and density in the previous activities to design a boat. Student teams must make a boat which can travel the waters of the Amazon Rainforest. Each group makes a...

Using chapter 1 of Jerry Spinelli's Milkweed, middle schoolers write a personal memoir based on Spinelli's style and a Six Trait writing activity. The lesson suggests several ways to activate prior knowledge, including a picture book and...

Building fluency in reading informational text is part of the common core. Get learners reading information about past and current issues related to the country of Afghanistan. They read the seven paragraph passage, then answer four...

Looking for an estimation activity a bit more involved than the typical "guess the number of jellybeans in the jar" game? Here, learners use a picture to estimate the number of people at a large event, look for potential problems with...

After reading Elie Wiesel's Night, watching the movie Life is Beautiful, and researching World War II, class members write a comparison essay on the book and film. This includes a prior knowledge activity, discussion in whole and small...

Take a step into the virtual farm world and explore the impact farming has on our everyday eating habits. Future farmers discover the meaning of agriculture and the hard work that goes into providing food for us to enjoy. A computer...

Geometers prove that triangle PQR is congruent to triangle ABC by describing any combination of rotations, reflections, and translations that would prove it so. There is only this single task on the handout, but a detailed explanation of...

Stress the importance of the different types of pressure our mind and body experience in a lesson about how certain types of stress are actually necessary and good for our bodies. As astronauts and people with injuries can attest, not...

Use a set of math vocabulary cards to enrich your second graders' knowledge. Whether you bring the cards to a math center or put them on a word wall, this resource will help even your struggling math learners with basic definitions and...

Logical thinking is at the forefront of this jam-packed lesson, with young mathematicians not only investigating geometric concepts but also how they "know what they know". Through each activity and worksheet, learners wrestle with...

"Eneke the bird says since men have learnt to shoot without missing, he has learnt to fly without perching." As part of their study of Things Fall Apart, class members read Paul Hernadi and Francis Steen's essay, "The Tropical Landscapes...

Teach class members to work with rational expressions using their knowledge of fractions. The lesson plan starts with a warm-up of rational expressions at four different levels of complexity. The different levels continue throughout...

Build upon linear functions to learn about quadratics. The lesson introduces the concept of zeros for quadratic functions and makes the connection to the linear factors of the function. It presents quadratics in both graphical and...

Invisible Man is a core text in high school literature classes and one of the most cited works on the AP Literature and Composition exam. Instructors new to using Ralph Ellison's novel and those who have long included it as part of...

Instructors who want to use A Streetcar Named Desire as a core text need not rely of the kindness of other teachers to find engaging activities to support a study of Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize winning drama.

Analyzing and interpreting satellite data takes knowledge and patience. Through a detailed lab investigation, young scholars learn the process of analyzing this data. They use technology to create color images and maps from real...

What does your class know about GMOs? Are they savvy to selective breeding? Challenge young minds to engineer the greatest crop of all time using a hands-on genetics unit. Learners discover the good and bad details of selective breeding,...