Curated OER
Not Just the Facts
Encourage your learners to explore the differences between hard news and news analysis. They outline a complex news analysis about the upcoming presidential election, then endeavor to write an analysis of the same topic, using local...
Curated OER
The Geometry of Space
A fun activity to demonstrate the very complicated and intangible concept of a curved universe. The instructions for creating a Mobius Strip, and therefore, curved space is given. The six questions ask for conclusions about this movement...
Population Connection
The Human-Made Landscape
Agriculture, deforestation, and urbanization. How have human's changed the planet and how might we mitigate the effects of human activity on the planet? To answer these questions class members research the changes in human land use from...
Discovery Education
Cool It!
Adjust the melting time of ice without varying the temperature! Learners experiment with different materials to decide how the materials affect the rate an ice cube melts. They then connect their findings to the conductivity of each...
Discovery Education
Weathering Cubes
Weathering is not necessarily a result of the weather. Scholars conduct an experiment to explore the effect of surface area and volume on the weathering process. They create their own sugar cube rocks using the same number of cubes—but...
Take the challenge
Connecting with Natural/Open Spaces
Get your class outside, away from the television, and maybe even learning something about nature while they're at it. Individuals will chose an open, natural space to spend time in for several days. Each day they will complete a page in...
Annenberg Foundation
A Growing Global Power
How does a nation turn into a global superpower? The 16th installment of the 22-part series on American history investigates the rise of the United States to global importance in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Groups...
Improving Measurement and Geometry in Elementary Schools
Rep Tiles
In addition to the catchy title, this lesson plan provides upper graders an opportunity to more closely scrutinize the attributes of plane figures. In particular, they focus on the similarity of different shapes. Both whole-class and...
Curated OER
Friar Margil & The Spanish Missions
Students explore the life of Friar Margil de Jesus as well as other Spanish friars. They research Friar Margil and write a paragraph explaining why Spanish friars came to Texas. In groups, students create a PowerPoint presentation...
Curated OER
How Does Your Garden Grow? Discovering How Weather Patterns Affect Natural Cycles
For the warm-up in this cool climate lesson, you will need to click on "Mapping" and then "US Mapping" once you arrive at NOAA's "US Climate at a Glance" page. Earth science explorers realize that 2012 was a warm winter for us. They read...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.1
You want your class to meet all of the Common Core standards, and here is one way to tackle the first speaking and listening standard. Given a theme to focus on from "How Much Land Does a Man Need?" by Leo Tolstoy, small groups come up...
Code.org
Packets and Making a Reliable Internet
That's not what I said! My message did not arrive in the correct order! Introduce the concept of packets and the transmission control protocol used to send and receive information over the Internet. The class participates in an...
NOAA
Deep-Sea Ecosystems – A Tale of Deep Corals
Many have debated which came first, the chicken or the egg, but this lesson debates which came first, the hydrocarbons or the carbonate reef. After a discussion on deep-sea corals, scholars receive a set of questions to research and...
Roald Dahl
The Twits - The Twits Get the Shrinks
Turn readers into investigative journalists. The 11th and final lesson that accompanies The Twits by Roald Dahl asks the question "What happened to Mr. and Mrs. Twit?" The lesson uses mind maps and group discussion to help answer...
Curated OER
"how To Think Like an Archaeologist" Suggested Pre-visit Activity for Historic Jamestowne
Students study grocery receipts to simulate the archaeological activity of classifying items. They discuss the receipts as if they were find lists.
Curated OER
Discovering Prehistoric Trails
Eighth graders examine prehistoric terrain. In this geography lesson plan, 8th graders discover necessary resources for settlers. Students work in small groups to create a trail crossing the state of Kansas.
Curated OER
TE Activity: Build a Charge Detector
Students examine how electrical force takes place between two objects by building an electroscope. They apply the electroscope to determine an objects' charge intensity and to see what factors influence electric force.
Curated OER
Sustainable Southern Belize: Coral Health Lesson Plan
Fifth graders investigate coral reefs and the dangers they face by labeling and drawing. In this oceanography lesson, 5th graders view a PowerPoint presentation of photographs of coral reefs in Belize. Students investigate...
Curated OER
Rooster's Night Out
Mitch Weiss and Martha Hamilton's Rooster's Night Out, a retelling of a classic Cuba folktale, launches a cross-curricular study of Cuban cultural traditions. Class members draw the characters from the book, participate in math and...
Curated OER
First You Take an Ecumene
Although this was written regarding Canadian agriculture, it can be used in any agriculture or environmental science class. Learners evaluate agricultural and economic activity maps and consider land use competition. Activities that get...
Curated OER
Homemade Barometer
To reinforce the action of air pressure, have your meteorology pupils construct a barometer. They place the barometer into a closed system, a miniature atmosphere if you will, and notice the movement of the needle on the homemade...
Curated OER
A Special Relationship
Students discover the relationships of the lengths of the sides of right triangles and right triangles using a series of drawings on dot paper. They investigate and solve problems of standard (customary and metric units) and non-standard...
Curated OER
Rent To Own
Reading can be a good way to learn about many different things, like rent-to-own housing programs. Learners read informational resources about rent-to-own programs and how they work. They complete graphic organizers using the facts they...
Curated OER
How to Think Like a Scientist
Fifth graders study the scientific method and understand how to apply it. In this "thinking like a scientist" lesson students complete several activities.