Curated OER
Introduction to Modernist Poetry
Young scholars examine the concept of modernism. They analyze different modern poetists writings and identify the context in which the poems were written. They write poems of their own to complete the lesson.
Curated OER
Writing: Laying and Covering the Foundation
Your middle schoolers can become stronger writers with a lesson covering the basics. They compose effective thesis statements and introductions, discuss different ways to capture a reader's attention, and compare a poorly written...
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Behind Closed Doors
Students explore different types of doors from an artistic point of view. In this creative thinking lesson, students look at different types of architectural doors and doorways and analyze them. They create a project of a door as a...
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Lights, Sounds, Fabrics and Designs: Careers in the World of Design
Students investigate the broad range of jobs that can be found in the world of design. Students explore sound design, language architecture, etc. Students design a resource book and post it on a website for others to share.
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Back to Basics
Students examine the unique and diverse historical artifacts that people have designed to fulfill their everyday needs in extraordinary ways. They identify ways humans have used design throughout history to enhance the ways they meet...
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Treasure Hunters
High schoolers design an on campus treasure hunt to find various architectural vocabulary words which they then create definitions for on the blog page on the Environmental Design website.
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Introduction to Modernist Poetry
Students analyze modernist poetry in depth and detail. The several historical, social, and cultural forces that prompted the modernist movement and its effects are examined in this lesson.
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Introduction to The Stone Cutter
Students write journals in response to the beginning of The Stone Cutter. In this The Stone Cutter lesson, students discuss the opening of the book and the main character. Students look for connections with architecture in the first...
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Marshmallow Towers
Students explore geometry by completing a marshmallow activity in class. In this architecture instructional activity, students identify the jobs of civil engineers and architects while identifying different geometric shapes as well....
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Building a Bridge
Third graders discover architecture and functionality by constructing a bridge. In this bridge engineering lesson, 3rd graders utilize cardboard, straws, towel tubes and plastic bottles to create a model bridge similar to ones seen in...
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Fly, Fly Away
High schoolers use materials from their own environment to design a kite. In this kite design lesson, students research the history of kites and obtain a formal mathematical definition of a kite. High schoolers sketch kite designs after...
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The Voice of Voting: How do We Judge Design
Students examine various methods of judging popular culture and compare them to the judging of the People's Design Award. In this popular culture and design instructional activity, students research different ways of voting in popular...
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Child Survival Stories: Hope To Cope
Students brainstorm a list of the various scenerios going on their family life at home. In groups, they read about different perspectives on survival and identify ones they could use in their own lives. They share their own experiences...
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Writing the Essay
Relate the structure of the essay to the structure of a building. The class compares an essay to a building, with the writer being the architect, the introduction being the foundation, and so on. They use the visual representation of a...
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Classification of Cerealites
Students create a dichotomous key. In this categorizing lesson plan, students create a dichotomous key for different types of cereal. Students classify the cereal into groups such as flakes and cereal with holes. Students discuss their...
Smithsonian Institution
Barn Again! Celebrating an American Icon
How do barns serve as a window to a community's past? Here are a series of lessons on the symbolism and historical context of barns throughout American history. Topics include community-building, in-depth primary and secondary source...
Curated OER
Lesson: Urs Fischer: Reviving the Past Art Movements
Seven major abstract art movements are analyzed by learners in groups. Each group analyzes various works by determining which work belongs to which movement. They then read Flatland, engage in an art and literary analysis discussion,...
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Making a Treasure Your Own: Lesson Two
Pupils write an essay describing the Curtis Center and what they learned there. In this descriptive writing essay, students discuss the five paragraph essay and review sensory discoveries from their trip. Pupils draft an outline and work...
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Victorian Homes Lesson
Students investigate British Society in the 19th century by examining Victorian style homes. In this world history lesson, students observe photographs of both rich and poor Victorian homes and discuss the main differences between the...
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What's Shaking? Three-Lesson Unit
Your young architects use the Internet to research tall structures or sky scrapers to help in the design of their scale drawings. This is instructional activity one of three in which learners design, build, and test model skyscrapers for...
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Regional Landforms and Native People
Third graders study the Native American tribes of Maidu and Miwok by studying Internet artifacts, culture, language, music, storytelling, architecture, food, clothing, crafts and geology.
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Breaking the Codex
Students work with an online multimedia show to study the life of Leonardo da Vinci in Renaissance Italy. They explore different writing systems and create an advertisement for one of Leonardo da Vinci's inventions.
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Design for Social Justice
Students create a solution to a social justice problem within their community. In this urban planning lesson, students read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines. Students then complete a research...
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Communities for All
Students explore potential community "barriers" that might prevent equal access for all people. In this disability awareness lesson plan, students identify potential barriers in their community that prevent people with disabilities from...