PBS
Stop and Animate
Get animated about animations. Future engineers learn about stop-motion animation using an app. Working in groups, they make their own animations where they have figurines move to music.
Sargent Art
Kandinsky - Inspired by Music
Who is Wassily Kandinsky? Introduce your young artists to the wonders of abstract nonobjective art through music. They'll listen to music as they cut, paste, and paint emotional works of art. The activity suggests the use of soothing...
Curriculum Corner
“I Can” Common Core! 3rd Grade Math
Help third graders make sense of the Common Core math standards with this simple checklist. By rewording each standard as an I can statement, children are provided with clear goals to focus on as they participate in math lessons.
DiscoverE
Make Your Own Glue
You won't regret being stuck with this activity. By mixing a variety of household items, pupils create their own glue. They test the tensile strength of their glue and compare it to that of other adhesives.
PEGAMES.org
What Am I?
Looking for a fun transition activity or game to play at the end of the day? Try a game that is very similar to charades but instead, every class member can play at once as performers! The activity also involves movement as a whole group...
Curated OER
Pi Day: The Other Math Holiday!
Happy Pi Day! This collection of games, experiments, and activities leads participants through an exploration of the many aspects and attributes of that mysterious quantity, pi. Activities range from using statistical experimentation to...
Inside Mathematics
Swimming Pool
Swimming is more fun with quantities. The short assessment task encompasses finding the volume of a trapezoidal prism using an understanding of quantities. Individuals make a connection to the rate of which the pool is filled with a...
Curated OER
Dream Bed
Pupils view and discuss two beds in the Getty collection and design and write descriptions of imaginary beds. In this imagery beds lesson plan students have to describe and compare/contrast works of art, orally and in writing. They also...
Curated OER
Springtime Flower Fun
Students study directional skills and participate in a scavenger hunt to find flowers. They compare, group and classify the flowers by their similarities and differences.
Curated OER
Why Do Certain Things Float, While Some Sink?
First graders conduct an experiment. In this density lesson, 1st graders work in groups to test 10 different objects to see which ones sink and float. Students discuss why certain objects float and others do not.
Curated OER
Magnetism
First graders investigate magnetism. In this magnetism lesson, 1st graders classify objects as being magnetic or nonmagnetic. Students receive a pile of objects to test. Students test the items and give a rationale of why they think the...
Curated OER
Creating an Enzyme-Substrate Model
Students explore the reaction rates of an enzyme-mediated reaction through experimentation. In small groups, they use everyday objects to demonstrate the effects of environmental variables on enzyme function.
Students graph and...
Odyssey of the Mind
Odyssey of the Mind Curriculum Activity: Digging for Clues
Make critical and creative thinkers out of your class, with an archeology-based project they'll love. They start the activity by first researching what archeologists do, then they generate a list of the qualities archeologists need to be...
Curated OER
Water Displacement to Determine Volume
Sixth graders explore the water displacement method to determine the volume of solid objects such as rocks, nails, and marbles.
Curated OER
Lucky Guess (Group Tricks)
Students work in groups to complete movement activities. In this movement and cooperation lesson plan, students get into groups and complete movement band skill cards with varying levels of difficulty.
Curated OER
Using a Graphic Organizer to Critically Observe Televised News Broadcasts
Students compare two television news broadcasts. They discuss how to organize information when comparing two objects and read and discuss two books to create a Venn diagram to compare both books. After creating the diagram, they view...
Curated OER
Activity #4 The Density of Irregularly Shaped Solids
Students comrehend that water displacement is a simple way to measure the volume of a solid object. They pour water into a graduated cylinder or measuring cup and its volume is read and recorded. Pupils the volume of an object by...
Curated OER
Ping!
Using "mystery bathymetry" shoeboxes, young explorers simulate sonar action to map out the topography of an un-viewable landscape. This classic activity helps physical oceanography learners understand how sonar works. It would be...
Ocean Explorer
Easy as Pi
Seamounts are large, extinct volcanoes that rise up from the bottom of the ocean floor. They are a relatively new landform in the scientific community, and this activity invites students to learn about the amazing diversity of life found...
Curated OER
Electromagnetic Energy and Its Spectrum
Your older elementary students investigate electromagnetic energy and the electromagnetic spectrum. They will observe 7 items represented in the electromagnetic spectrum and make a poster of all the things the items have in common. After...
Odyssey of the Mind
Odyssey of the Mind Curriculum Activity: Extend-sive Thinking
Can knowing about things of the past help predict the types of things seen in the future? Advanced learners consider the idea that things extend. In other words, concrete things like bridges and intangible things like ideas extend from...
Curated OER
The Number Partner
First graders study number pairs and identify number pairs that sum to numbers from 10 to 30. They use number pairs to solve addition and subtraction problems. They make sensible estimates and check the reasonableness of answers.
Inside Mathematics
Party
Thirty at the party won't cost any more than twenty-five. The assessment task provides a scenario for the cost of a party where the initial fee covers a given number of guests. The class determines the cost for specific numbers of guests...
Center for Math and Science Education
Pocket Solar System
How in the world can something as big as the solar system possibly fit in your pocket? Complete this simple modeling activity and find out, as young scientists gain an appreciation for the incredible scale of outer space.