Curated OER
My Antonia: Prereading Guided Imagery
What makes a place safe? What makes a setting effective? Explore the safe spaces and descriptive language with a prereading activity for Willa Cather's My Antonia. The teacher describes his or her own safe space and then prompts pupils...
NASA
Foam Rocket
When going for distance, does it make a difference at what angle you launch the rocket? Teams of three launch foam rockets, varying the launch angle and determining how far they flew. After conducting the series of flights three times,...
Global Oneness Project
The Nature of Happiness
The U.S. Constitution states that the pursuit of happiness is an inalienable right. The United Nations' Global Happiness Index ranks countries according to the happiness of its citizens. As part of a discussion of the nature of...
Mrs. Robbins' Social Studies Site
The Berlin Blockade
The Berlin Blockade may not take up as much space in the history books as other events of the Cold War, but for the citizens of west Berlin in 1948—and the events to follow between the Soviet Union and the United Stattes—those 318 days...
NOAA
The Great, Glowing Orb What You Will Do: Make a Solar Heat Engine
How is solar energy able to move wind and water to control the climate? Scholars explore the concept of solar energy in the first of 10 activities in the Discover Your Changing World series. They follow instructions to build homemade...
PBS
Reading Adventure Pack: Archaeology
Readings of fiction and nonfiction texts followed by a series of activities put scholars in an archaeologist's shoes. Learners read two texts, Archaeologists Dig for Clues by Kate Duke and The Shipwrecked Sailor: An Egyptian Tale with...
Curated OER
Reclamation
Students recognize the importance of reclaiming the land after mining. They observe the experiment demonstrating the process of erosion and record their results of the effects of rain upon the land.
Curated OER
Oceans
First graders examine how the earth is covered with more water than land. They toss an inflatable globe around the classroom, and each time a student catches the ball with two fingers, they tally whether the fingers land on water or...
Curated OER
The Secret Garden
Students research the culture and geography of India and England while reading "The Secret Garden". Using this information, they write at least three predictions about what they believe might happen in the story. Using the Internet,...
Curated OER
What Are Maps For?
Middle schoolers create a story about a problem someone could have which could be solved by the use of a map. They complete a worksheet that guides them through the features of a map of Chicago. Then they calculate story problems using...
Curated OER
Landslides!
Students discover soil and Earth movement by experimenting in class. In this Earth Science lesson, students utilize a stream table, soil, graduated cylinder and water to create a re-enactment of a landslide. Students simulate different...
Curated OER
Unity Versus Diversity
Young scholars explore the 50 State Quarters program and how it represents diversity and unity of the United States. In pairs, they examine quarter designs to gain information about the culture of each state. Students create charts to...
Curated OER
Home, Home on the River
Students examine the complex issues that result from human use of ecologically sensitive areas. They investigate these issues from the point of view of their major/career path.
Curated OER
INDUSTRY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Seventh graders create a final project called Industry X (which was previously researched in the unit) has plans to build in town. There is a special town meeting scheduled to discuss this matter and allow everyone to express their...
Curated OER
Ecology and Ecosystem
Students are introduced to the concepts of ecology and ecosystems. In groups, they use the Internet to research one of six topics. They present their information to the class sharing the most interesting information they found. They...
Curated OER
Growth of a City
Students discuss the needs of any city. They view and analyze a 1923 aerial picture of Beverly Hills and discuss possible needs for the city. They draw in facilities to meet the needs they have listed and then compare these needs to a...
Curated OER
Western Expansion or Eastern Invasion?
Fifth graders read from their textbook a story about the pioneer settlement of the Western Frontier. They review the pioneer standpoint, but also discuss how the Homestead Act of 1862 affected Native Americans. They write another story...
Curated OER
Trail of Tears
Students discover that the Indian Territory was comprised of many Indian tribes originating from many different locations. They distinguish between the Indian tribes in the Indian Territory.
Curated OER
Understanding Treaties: Students Explore the Lives of Yakama People Before and After Treaties
Students analyze treaties made between the US government and Native American tribes. For this government lesson, students evaluate bias emotionally connect with what was gained and lost during the late 1700's. This is a 3 part lesson...
Curated OER
"Conducting a Watershed Snapshot of Blockhouse Creek"
Learners examine specific skills in assessing water quality from a holistic approach. They assess the health of a local watershed and identify problems in the local watershed and suggest remediation.
Curated OER
Technology Integration Lesson Plan: Civil War Spreadsheet
Eighth graders discuss and analyze Civil War data, manually graph data on handout, work with partners to enter data into spreadsheets, and create charts on spreadsheet for each data set.
Curated OER
Instructors Lesson Plan for Impressionist Palette
Students examine the goal of the Impressionist Landscape quilter to interpret nature with fabric rather than paint. Students discover how to blend hundreds of small squares in a luminous "fabric painting." There is no appliqué, no fabric...
Curated OER
Candy Land Math
Students order numbers and sets of objects from 0 through 10 and organize and interpret information collected from the immediate environment. They read and interpret graphs usin real objects and the computer. Finally, students sort a...
Curated OER
Government Lesson Plan: Lesson Plan 6
Students examine legislation on immigration policies. They discuss current immigration laws, read a handout, complete a chart, and answer discussion questions.