Chicago Botanic Garden
Reflecting on What I Learned About Climate Change
After three eye-opening lessons about our environment, scholars revisit a 10-question survey, reflect on their new-found knowledge, and take action by writing to a representative or creating a public service announcement about climate...
Cornell University
Sometimes You Behave Like a WAVE, Sometimes You Don't!
Electromagnetic radiation behaves like both a wave and a particle. Help classes explore this concept through a lab investigation. Young scientists create optical interference patterns on a glass slide using a carbon layer. They analyze...
Science 4 Inquiry
Battle of the Waves
Which travels faster, light or sound? Scholars work in groups to simulate the ability for waves to travel through solids, liquids, gases, and through a vacuum. Then, they learn about the properties of a mystery wave and must determine...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Modeling Food Webs in Darién, Panama
It's a jungle out there! Young biologists journey to Darien, Panama to examine the intricate relationships between the organisms that inhabit the jungle. Groups begin by demonstrating an understanding of energy flow in ecosystems, then...
University of Oklahoma
Developing My Resources
Learners with special needs create Summary of Performance (SOP), a written document which describes their disability, its impact on their daily life, ways they have learned to compensate, their personal strengths, and their goals. The...
Curated OER
Coast-to-Coast Book Design -Part 2: What is Design?
Students explore the concept of design, and identify items in their lives that have been designed. They explore the concept of book design and create and arrange their own page layout.
Curated OER
Arsenic and Lead Scavenger Hunt
Health wizards read and discuss an article about lead contamination then come up with a plan to help solve the problem. They get into groups to develop a community solution within the parameters of a budget, feasibility, and the source...
Curated OER
Express Yourself Lesson Seed 17: Obituary
The Cay has been criticized by groups such as the Council on Interracial Books for Children because of the way race is portrayed. Explore the argument against the book while taking the author's perspective into account. Class members...
National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science
Life on Mars
Through reading and discussion, aspiring astronomers consider the question of whether or not there was ever life on the planet Mars. Throughout the process, they review how scientific investigations are carried out, examine the...
Curated OER
“Pardon This Interruption-Columbus Has Landed!!!”
Pupils research, design, rehearse, record, and present a 60 second Public Service Announcement, based on Columbus' arrival in the America. The students, working in groups, utilize the design process in creating their PSA. This lesson can...
Curated OER
60-30-10
Middle schoolers use ratios and proportions to represent quantitative relationships as they investigate the concept of how percentages are used by designers. Students decorate the same room using three different percentages of colors.
Curated OER
William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: Fate Versus Free Will
Students relate legends of lucky objects such as a rabbit's foot and principles of Feng Shui to fate and free will concepts that are expressed in Shakespeare's play, "Julius Casear". In small groups, they redesign the palace of Casear to...
Curated OER
Cell Game
Make a prototype of a game based on cell biology. Researching game design and working in groups to create a game will activate knowledge of cell biology. The review task will help students learning as they test out the games and their...
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
Focus: Writing a Brief Research Paper
If you are planning on working on a research paper in your class, take a look at this resource first. Starting off with information about plagiarism, the series of activities briefly described here should give your pupils a general idea...
Curated OER
In My Other Life
Students explore various cultural identities. They conduct Internet research, develop a questionnaire that profiles information from their selected culture, and write a letter to a pen pal in the U.S. explaining what life in their...
Curated OER
Hair a disruption or personal expression?
When does hair (or clothing) disrupt the school process? This question is the topic of the argumentative paper your class with write. They read and react to an article about a boy who was expelled from school for sporting a Mohawk, then...
Curated OER
Julius Caesar: Fate Versus Free Will
Tenth graders engage in a study that is about Julius Caesar while reading a play. The role of the main character is examined while looking for motive and tension presented by Shakespeare. They write a summary and critique of the play.
Curated OER
Fighting The Horse Race: Creating Ads Which Explore 2008 Presidential Candidates & Issues
What is advertising? What role does it plan in an election? Middle and high schoolers discuss advertising and its purpose by sifting through different magazines and discussing the products they find. Then they relate advertisements to...
Curated OER
Protective Design
Over 3 or 4 class periods your young designers will create a wearable garment that provides some sort of protection from a danger in everyday life. In this fashion design lesson, students investigate fear in our society and brainstorm...
Curated OER
Designing "Green" to Save Our Green Planet
Learners design an environmentally friendly home. In this middle school math/science lesson, students watch videos on creating green design. Learners work in collaborative groups to determine what makes a house green and to design a...
Curated OER
United States Entry into World War I: A Documentary Chronology of World War I
Eleventh graders reconsider the events leading to U.S. entry into World War I through the lens of archival documents.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Slavery and the American Founding: The "Inconsistency Not to Be Excused"
High schoolers examine slavery in the revolutionary and colonial eras of the United States. In this slavery lesson, students investigate the presence of slavery in early America, the language of the Constitution, and the intent of the...
Curated OER
(Clues to) Copying the Codes: Examining the Evidence
Students view animations of DNA replication and transcription and complete a worksheet. In this genetics lesson plan, after watching on-line video clips to gather information about DNA replication and transcription, student teams...
Curated OER
To Kill a Mockingbird Debate
Eighth graders debate issues in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. In this debate lesson, 8th graders break into three groups and given a view to research and debate. Students must find text to support their ideas and others' ideas.