Joris Debeij's film, Making It in America, takes a look at Alma Velasco, a Salvadoran immigrant who was granted political asylum in the United States. The lesson gives a face to immigrants and their struggles to embrace the...

Students solve the mystery of the kidnapped teacher by analyzing a ransom note using paper chromatography. They carefully prepare ink samples from the note to known ink samples to determine the kidnapper.

Have your beginning Spanish language learners practice conjugating with verbs that are irregular in the preterite form. Three exercises are provided here. The first requires language learners to rewrite a series of sentences in the...

The differences between tropical and temperate rainforests range from animals and flowers to climate and landscapes. Kindergarteners compare and contrast characteristics of their local forest to a tropical rainforest.

Looking for ideas for your Lunar New Year celebration? Check out an interdisciplinary unit of study that includes lessons in counting, calligraphy, culture, geography, literature, art, and music. Kung-hsi Fa-ts' ai! (May you...

What's the best way to record temperature over a long period of time? Scholars learn about collection of weather and temperature data by building thermistors in the fourth installment of the 10-part Discover Your Changing World series....

Students consider social practices common to their target language. They work in pairs to research social practices common to the target language society that differ from those in the United States. They prepare a three-minute...

Study the short and long sounds of the letter e. Learners will practice words and tongue twisters using both the short and long vowel /e/. They use letter boxes and letter tiles to spell words containing the target sound. To close the...

Students brainstorm any words they associate with traffic and safety. In groups, they work together to complete a worksheet identifying images. They also discuss what they would tell someone who was acting unsafely.

Learners describe and compare a kitchen utensil that they are familiar with and a target culture kitchen tool that they may have never seen. They will gain cultural insight by writing a short paragraph comparing them and describing what...

Students discover facts about the Mexican holiday, Day of the Dead. In this compare and contrast lesson plan, students explore Halloween and the Day of the Dead. Students create an alter to memorialize a family member or friend that has...

Learners learn to sing a song in another language.  In this music lesson, students learn a song about rain in English and Spanish.  Learners listen to the song Que Llueva in Spanish and It's Raining, It's Pouring in English,...

Students research the natural features and wildlife of Arizona and Utah. They draw a map of the region that includes rivers, towns, mountains and roads. They work together to create a travel brochure of the area.

Students describe the American Indian nations in their local region long ago and in recent past. They research religious beliefs, customs, and various folklore traditions.

Third graders study American national holidays, symbols, songs and landmarks. They appreciate the meaning and significance of our nation's ideals of liberty, justice and equality.

Students play CD-ROM game My Amazing Human Body, and participate in relay game in Phys. Ed. where they put together skeleton on which body parts are labeled.

Learners design a plan for a housing development in their city. In this house development lesson plan, students observe pictures of land use, research lawmaking, and develop a plan for an environmentally friendly housing development in...

High schoolers explore the concept of drought and its significance as a natural hazard. In this drought lesson plan, students complete 13 questions on an "Introduction to Drought as an Ecosystem Stressor" worksheet and discuss the...

Students investigate the laws of using land.  In this California Government lesson, students examine the many uses of land in California and find an environmental issue they care about.  Students write a letter to a politician...

Students examine what goes into hero worship and establishing unlikely friendships. They probe the deeper meanings in "'Magic' Pablo" through small group dialog and use a variety of ways to process the story's meaning. They see the...

Students identify locations of coral reefs, both in the water and around the globe, identify relative depth of corals in the ocean by observing behavior of cold and warm saltwater, and create models of coral reefs.

Students identify how archaeologists use typology to interpret artifacts. They interpret sample artifacts as if they discovered them.

Students construct a model of the ear to learn the parts of the ear. In this ear lesson plan, students build a model and use a poster to determine the structures and functions of each structure in the ear.

Young scholars demonstrate the decision-making process for marine reserves designations. In this role-playing instructional activity students analyze maps and data relating to a proposed reserve. They formulate the best decisions based...