Inside Mathematics
Winning Spinners
Winning a spin game is random chance, right? Pupils create a table to determine the sample space of spinning two spinners. Individuals determine the probability of winning a game and then modify the spinners to increase the probability...
University of Colorado
The Moons of Jupiter
Middle schoolers analyze given data on density and diameter of objects in space by graphing the data and then discussing their findings. This ninth installment of a 22-part series emphasizes the Galilean moons as compared to other...
University of Colorado
Happy Landings: A Splash or a Splat?
Huygens spacecraft landed on Saturn's moon Titan in 2005, making it the farthest landing from Earth ever made by a spacecraft. In this hands-on activity, the 12th installment of 22, groups explore how density affects speed. To do this,...
EngageNY
Putting the Law of Cosines and the Law of Sines to Use
Use the Law of Cosines and the Law of Sines to solve problems using the sums of vectors. Pupils work on several different types of real-world problems that can be modeled using triangles with three known measurements. In the process,...
University of Colorado
The Moons of Jupiter
Can you name the three planets with rings in our solar system? Everyone knows Saturn, many know Uranus, but most people are surprised to learn that Jupiter also has a ring. The third in a series of six teaches pupils what is around...
Energy for Keeps
Renewable Energy Action Project: What's in Your Energy Portfolio?
Uncover the renewable energy potential in your region. The activity outlines an approach to research current practices and trends. Learners conduct surveys to assess the attitudes of the local population and prepare a paper summarizing...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Recognizing Change (Observation vs. Inference)
What is the difference between making inferences and making observations? Young climatologists refer to a PowerPoint to make observations on each slide. They record their observations in a provided worksheet before drawing a...
National Constitution Center
Creating Your Own Town Hall Poster
Middle and high schoolers are walking into a world rife with strong political viewpoints and vocal opinions. Help to prepare them for controversial discussions with a lesson in which they choose, research, and learn more about a...
J. Paul Getty Trust
Tag: Whose Values
Get young people thinking about their lives and current topics of social justice, advocacy, gender, race, and identity. After examining several works by Barbara Kruger, participants select a tag with one of the questions printed on it,...
Do2Learn
Social Skills Card Game
Encourage social skills including listening, speaking, and taking turns with a card game that challenges scholars to discuss topics and summarize in groups of four.
PBL Pathways
Biscuits
Calculate the nutrients in different types of dog biscuits. Pupils create a technical report outlining the amount of calcium, protein, and carbohydrates in three types of dog biscuits. The project-based learning activity requires...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Are All Plants Created Equal?
Photosynthesis requires energy and produces food, and cellular respiration produces energy and requires food. An interesting lesson plan analyzes the factors that affect the rates of photosynthesis and respiration. Classes spend one day...
Teach Engineering
Bridging to Polymers: Thermoset Lab
Investigate thermoset polymers through experimentation. In an effort to determine the strongest, most flexible mixture, groups conduct an experiment on different-ratio epoxy-amine polymers to finish the set of two lessons.
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Educating About Immigration The DREAM Act
Group members role play state legislators, supporters of and opponents to the The DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors). After listening to the arguments put forth for and against the immigration...
EngageNY
Developing a Statistical Project
The 17th lesson in a unit of 22 presents asks the class to conduct a statistics project. Pupils review the first two steps of the process of asking a question and collecting data. They then begin the process by developing a...
California Education Partners
Photos
Why do all sizes of pictures not show the same thing? Class members analyze aspect ratios of various sizes of photos. They determine which sizes have equivalent ratios and figure out why some pictures need to be cropped to fit...
EngageNY
Posing Statistical Questions
Is this a statistical question? The opening lesson in a series of 22 introduces the concept of statistical questions. Class members discuss different questions and determine whether they are statistical or not, then they sort the data...
Florida International University
Design Your Own
Apply scientific principles to designing an experiment to study organisms living on the coral reef in our oceans. Through reading, individuals learn about the coral reef ecosystem and important factors that affect its function....
Big Kid Science
Exploring Shadows
What's that lurking in the shadows? An activity that demonstrates how eclipses happen. Science scholars investigate how light and distance interact to form shadows. The experiment uses simple materials to generate data and observations...
PBS
Stories of Painkiller Addiction: Prescription Drug Abuse Awareness Campaign
The I-STOP law was designed to regulate the distribution and tracking of prescription drugs. After reading an article about its signing and implementation, middle and high schoolers work together to come up with their own ideas for an...
National Library of Medicine
Your Environment, Your Health: The Great Debate—Bottled Water vs. Tap Water in Our School
Should bottled water be sold in schools, or should they only provide tap water? The summative unit in the six-part series encourages scholars debating this topic. The lessons teach how to build an argument, how to gain background...
NASA
Model Development Assessment Activity
Time to show off what they've learned! The final lesson in the series of six asks young scholars to process their learning from the previous lessons. They identify possible elements of the sun as well as a possible origin.
PBS
Lessons in Leadership, Roosevelt Style
It's easy to criticize those in power until you're sitting at their desk, faced with the same decisions. A history lesson prompts secondary learners to research the Roosevelt presidencies through the lens of leadership and...
Albert Shanker Institute
Dream Under Development
As part of their study of the 1963 March on Washington, class members do a side-by-side comparison of the original text of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream Speech" with a transcript of the speech he delivered. The take away from the...