Virginia Department of Education
Weather Patterns and Seasonal Changes
Get your class outside to observe their surroundings with a activity highlighting weather patterns and seasonal changes. First, learners take a weather walk to survey how the weather affects animals, people, plants, and trees during...
Willow Tree
Line Plots
You can't see patterns in a jumble of numbers ... so organize them! Learners take a set of data and use a line plot to organize the numbers. From the line plot, they find minimum, maximum, mean, and make other conclusions about the...
Channel Islands Film
Magic Isle: Lesson Plan 1
What are the factors that limit growth and expansion? As part of their study of Catalina Island, class members view the West of the West's documentary Magic Isle and research William Wrigley and the Santa Catalina Island Company. After...
Channel Islands Film
Arlington Springs Man: Lesson Plan 1
Learning to craft quality questions is a skill that can be taught. Class members use the Question Formulation Technique to learn how to create and refine both closed-ended and open-ended questions. They then view West of the West's...
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...
Scholastic
Women's Suffrage for Grades 1–2
Scholars take part in a grand conversation after they examine facts and stories about the Women's Suffrage Movement. Eight discussion questions bring light to influential women, the importance of voting, citizenship, and voting rights.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Using Historic Digital Newspapers for National History Day
Your learners will take a trip through history as they peruse through historic digitalized newspapers, reading real articles from such historical periods in the United States as the Temperance movement...
Science Matters
Ring of Fire
Over a period of 35 years, earthquakes and volcanoes combined only accounted for 1.5 percent of the deaths from natural disasters in the United States. The 15th lesson in a 20-part series connects the locations of earthquakes and...
Virginia Department of Education
Modeling the Big Bang Theory
Young astronomers learn about the Big Bang Theory and redshift through a hands-on activity in the last installment of a three-part series. Participants draw dots on balloons and then inflate them to model how galaxies moved farther apart...
Sea World
Whales
A whale of a lesson is sure to intrigue your elementary oceanographers! Learn about the mammals of the sea with a series of activities about whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Kids complete worksheets about the anatomy of a whale, create a...
Curated OER
Models of Chemical Families
A simple activity for introductory chemistry classes is thoroughly explained in this lesson plan. Each individual receives a sealed box containing an unknown object. Inquisitors use indirect evidence to draw conclusions. This activity is...
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
Cooperative Jigsaw Expert Report of Fables
Young scholars research literary elements of fables. In this literature lesson plan, students analyze literary elements of fables. Young scholars work collaboratively using a jigsaw strategy to analyze literary elements.
Curated OER
Globe Skills Lesson 8 Dust Bowl Travelers
Students develop their globe and map skills, In this geography lesson, students examine the Dust Bowl as they complete an activity that requires them to plot latitude and longitude.
Curated OER
Lesson Plan for Waiting to Waltz: A Childhood by Cynthia Rylant
Sixth graders examine the elements of writing poetry. In this creative writing lesson, 6th graders discuss a book of poetry in the setting of Appalachia. Students incorporate childhood experiences into the development of visual and...
Curated OER
West Virginia State Museum Lesson Plan: West Virginia Music
Students compare and contrast music about West Virginia. In this West Virginia history lesson, students analyze popular music so that they may gain an understanding of the relationships between songs and history. Students then create...
Curated OER
Globe Skills Lesson 10 Apollo 11
Middle schoolers develop their globe skills. In this geography skills lesson plan, students use a globe and a softball to replicate distance between the earth and its moon.
Science 4 Inquiry
Trick or Science: Catching the Light
Your class might be surprised to learn that mirrors have been around since the first century AD! Young scientists explore reflection and refraction of light through a series of challenges. They use this knowledge to design their own...
Science 4 Inquiry
Deforestation
Young scientists observe deforestation from satellite photos and discuss the importance of forests to the global environment. They then simulate a plot of forest when farmers move into the area over the course of seven years. Finally,...
Curated OER
Mysterious Footprints
Learners, after observing and responding to two pictures, consider the interaction of two unknown animals by examining the pattern of their footprints. They make observations, draw conclusions and propose possible explanations for the...
Curated OER
EARLY CIVILIZATIONS
Middle schoolers compare and contrast the monuments of four ancient cultures and draw conclusions about the origins, construction, and purposes of these structures.
Curated OER
Jamestown's Economy
Students identify items made in Jamestown and draw conclusions about their economy. In this Jamestown economy lesson, students use the internet to complete a worksheet which required them to look at photographs of goods made in and...
Curated OER
My Daily Life in Kansas
Second graders use 'Read Kansas' cards to learn about the daily life activities of an Osage boy and a pioneer girl. In this similarities and differences instructional activity, 2nd graders write a paragraph and draw a...
Curated OER
Making and Breaking the Grid
Students examine the grid in terms of a method of organization in our society as well as graphic design. In this "Making and Breaking the Grid" lesson, students design solutions to common problems and draw conclusions about patterns and...