They say you gotta pay to play, and postsecondary education is no exception! High schoolers learn how to research and analyze the cost of postsecondary education as well as the different ways to pay for schooling. Learners then work...

The higher the number of letters in the final word for the National Spelling Bee, the higher the number of people killed by venomous spiders. Obviously, those two facts correlate, but no causation exists. Scholars view data based on...

Scholars investigate the Antebellum period in the United States in an engaging lesson. Groups analyze technological, religious, economic, and social changes occurring during the time period prior to the Civil War. Using their new...

How do the laws of motion work in space? Learners explore Newton's laws of motion in different experiments as part of the Christa's Lost Lessons series. They rotate around the room in three stations to experience each law in action using...

Teach the class about the predecessor to Declaration of Independence—the Virginia Declaration of Rights. Using the foundational documents, scholars examine the two writings to consider how they are similar and how they are different. A...

The Milky Way gets great reviews on Trip Advisor — 100 million stars. The activity allows scholars to rethink their assumptions and prior knowledge. Pupils observe a set of two lights at equal distance and brightness, but they believe...

This four to five day mini dance unit has many components. Discussion on what makes a good dance partner, research on famous dancing pairs, as well as learning a choreographed piece in class. The class learns a short dance sequence and...

A hands-on simulation perfect for an economics lesson plan, young learners investigate the availability of different sources of natural energy (coal, natural gas, oil, solar, and nuclear) and how this availability affects their...

Kids compare and contrast music from the past to the present. They listen to and review the characteristics of Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and Pop music. Then, they discuss the differences in each and how musical icons from the past...

Six different lessons comprise this unit on marine debris. Science, language arts, social studies, and art projects make this an ideal interdisciplinary unit. The result will be well-informed future citizens who can help make a...

Here is an ambitious instructional activity which has learners take a look at which nations came up with the most important scientific inventions/advancements during the 20th century. Focusing on group work, cloning is explored. All of...

What is on your to-do list today? The second instructional activity of a three-part series on Lost Heroes of America investigates the laundry list of items in front of the second Continental Congress. Scholars research, analyze, and...

Upper elementary learners read about jobs on a cattle drive and the lives of cowboy during U.S. Westward Expansion. They create a "Help Wanted" poster for one of the jobs. After reading primary source accounts of cowboys, they write...

Students observe fault movements on model of the Earth's surface, find fault movements associated with different types of plate boundaries, research examples of non-plate boundary faults, and research and report on the types of faults...

Earth science explorers design an experiment to demonstrate that the albedo of a surface affects its temperature. They test to find out if moisture on the surface affects temperature. They discover whether or not concrete or asphalt heat...

This hands-on lesson takes young geometers on a tour of 2D polygons and 3D polyhedrons. After exploring different web resources and discussing geometric shapes, small groups construct models of polyhedrons using bendable straws. Note:...

Your biology class plays the role of epidemiologist when a mysterious illness breaks out in Kildare, USA. Using interviews with doctors, patients, and local citizens, maps, the results from different materials sampling, they work to...

Students examine potential contamination on the environment due to products and by-products of a new industrial process. Students conduct a lab that explores the economic differences between choices of pollution cleanup and prevention.

Can history be rewritten? Or, more precisely, is history documented accurately? High school juniors and seniors compare primary source material with secondary sources. For example, they compare President Roosevelt's December 29, 1940...

Students engage in a lesson that is concerned with the assembly of origami folding paper projects. They practice creating different shapes or creatures with the folding of paper. Students are led through a guided practice before...

Differentiate between the various genres in the visual arts world, particularly in Western painting. Your class can view and discuss, in small groups, paintings published on the National Galleries website. Then each student individually...

Here's a fresh approach that combines research, business and personal letter writing, and creative story telling. Student groups research different decades in the life of a famous Japanese astronomer. They then craft a decade fact sheet,...

Learners read a case study of one campaign to discover how political campaigns addresses the needs of the voters. In groups, they answer questions related to the case and discuss how the commercials affect society as a whole. They use...

Compare and contrast the distinctive characteristics of art forms from various cultural, historical, and social contexts, and describe how the same subject matter is represented differently in works of art across cultures and time...