National First Ladies' Library
Leeches and Spiders and Toads, Oh, My! The Emergence of Modern Medicine
Students explore the basic ideas and beliefs about medicine in the 18th and 19th centuries. They write a news account to be published in a "medical journal" developed by the class. Each "article" in the journal should be dated...
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Galapagos Islands
Middle schoolers study the science and geography related to the Galapagos Islands. In this ecosystem instructional activity, students locate the Galapagos Islands on a world map and discuss its significance in history. Middle schoolers...
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Exploring the Smithsonian
Students explore the Smithsonian Institute. In this technology and history lesson, students work in pairs to complete a worksheet by researching questions using the Smithsonian Institute website.
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How Much is that Doggy in the Window?
Learners use Internet resources to explore information associated with owning a dog. They participate in an on-line scavenger hunt to expand their knowledge of pet ownership.
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Simple Cycles
Young scholars use Inspiration to map cyclical events. They recognize links between separate events and structural patterns. They explore the Internet Connection section to browse additional resources on teaching about cycles used in...
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Kitty Tunes
Students compare cat calls. In this wildlife lesson, students listen to cat calls and compose their own raps that feature the calls of Florida panthers.
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What Is Engineering Design
Students investigate the concepts related to the practice of designing and building large scale buildings. They conduct research using the internet and other resources in order to apply mathematics and architectural design principals in...
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Creating Animal Prints
Students investigate the habits of animals by studying their prints. In this animal life lesson, students investigate the different types of tracks left from animals by researching the Internet. Students utilize clay or...
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A Cat's Life
Students construct a timeline of a panther's life. Students decorate their timeline with illustrations and words, or they can choose to have it orally read to the class. Students use the computer to construct their time-lines. Students...
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Become an Expert
Students practice their researching techniques by preparing a presentation with little notice. In this information research lesson, students utilize the Internet to research one of several subtopics concerning panthers....
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It's Written in the Stars!
Children create narrative accounts about their character traits, illustrate the constellation of each sign of the Zodiac, and write and illustrate their own creative myths about an original "Zodiac Sign". They use the computer as a...
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Species Diversity and Phylogeny
Students explore the classification system of organisms: taxonomy. They examine prepared slides of Protozoans and record information on a Taxonomy Recording Sheet. Two additional classifying activities are also included in this...
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Clay Sculpture: Relationships
Students explore art history by conducting an in-class activity. In this sculpting lesson plan, students examine previously created art sculptures in a textbook. Students utilize clay, sculpting tools and grey paper to create their own...
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Matter: Atoms and Molecules
Students investigate how information about the atom has been determined. In this atomic structure instructional activity, students draw what they think an atom looks like. They conduct Internet research about the types of atomic models...
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Space Travel Timeline
Students use the Internet to find events in space history to include in a timeline. They recognize the cause and effect relationships between events that happened in the exploration of space. They see how to use the TimeLiner software.
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Eyewitnesses to Change
Students explore recent changes in the Artic's climate that have been observed by Artic residents. They watch videos, take notes and create a concept map. They also look at historical weather data from a specific Artic community. The...
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Developing Soundproofing Materials
Eighth graders investigate the acoustic properties of materials in order to develop soundproofing products. In this soundproofing instructional activity students research different resources, design and perform experiments and...
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Writing about the climate
Students research the contributing factors to the Earth's paleoclimate. They determine the relevant climate data and use it to construct a science argument. In the process, they access data, capture images of the data plots, and...
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Investigating the Earth-Moon-Sun System
Eighth graders research Native American legends involving the sun, moon, and stars and compare them to the origin of present day knowledge. They create a written report and make an oral presentation of their findings to the class.
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Radical Raptors
Students are introduced to raptors and their role in the environment. They identify three characteristics of raptors and list several types of raptors found in nature. They discuss their positive and negative experiences with raptors and...
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Exploring the Night Sky: Fall/Winter
Students explain how moon phases occur. They explain three ways that the night sky has been used through history. Students locate some of the constellations in the night sky. They discuss stories and myths surrounding stars.
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Strong Chemistry
Students research and create a poster about a gemstone. In this mineral properties lesson, students view a video about diamonds. They discuss the properties of minerals and choose a gemstone to research and create a poster.
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Graph a Panther's Diet
Students examine the diet of panthers. In this interpreting data lesson, students collect data on the panther's diet and chart the data in bar and pie graphs.
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A Burning Desire to Move?
Students consider the dangers of living around active volcanoes. They develop media campaigns to encourage different groups of residents around Mount Vesuvius to consider moving.