Curated OER
A Zoo Book for All
A visit to the local zoo launches an integrated life science/ language arts research project into the habitat, feeding habits, offspring, lifespan, and other interesting facts about animals. Each group selects two animals to photograph...
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Along the Birdhouse Trail
Students set up and maintain birdhouses on the school grounds in an effort to witness and capture (through video and photos) the major stages in the life cycle of cavity-nesting birds.
Curated OER
Lesson: Nikhil Chopra: Performing Memory
Film imitates life; that's what they say. Using performance theory to tie the lesson together, learners attempt to understand memory and daily rituals as seen in art, film, and life. They read two chapters from the book, watch the...
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Up Close and Personal
Students investigate life up close by using macro photography. In this photography lesson, students examine minor details in objects around their campus using their artistic integrity and a camera. Students create a display...
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African Animals in Habitats
Students investigate animal habitats in zoos. In this animal habitat instructional activity, students fill in a KWLH chart about zoos before looking at pictures of African animals in zoo habitats. They discuss what they see and take a...
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A Lens into the Past
Explore the history of immigration through photographs. Scholars will view and discuss photographs depicting the culture and lifestyle of late 19th and early 20th century immigrants. They take pictures of current examples of culture in...
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Survivor Stories
Trace a survivor's story using a timeline, map skills, poetry and/or prose and photography, and make a visual representation of a survivor's journey through his or her life as a culminating activity for the class and the survivor....
Chicago Botanic Garden
Preparing for Project BudBurst
Male deer growing antlers to begin the breeding season is an example of a phenological event. First in a four-part series is an activity requiring individuals to collect phenological data on their campus. Classes discuss phenology, the...
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What's in the Time Capsule? A Technology-Connected Lesson Plan
Twelfth graders use computers and the Internet to research a specified area, word processors to prepare an essay, a digital camera, a video camera gather visuals, and a scanner to add visuals to a PowerPoint presentation as they discover...
Curated OER
Light Stick Chemistry
In groups of three with the lights off and the shades drawn, investigators place inactivated light sticks, in three beakers: one filled with ice water, another with lukewarm water, and the other with room temperature water. They wait...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Preparing for Project BudBurst
Plants take cues from the environment—change in daylight hours and temperature—to complete their seasonal life cycles. Lesson four in the series of six has classes collect phenology data on plants. After taking initial observations,...
Curated OER
Click it! See it! Say it!
Scholars take digital photographs of a phonic cluster. Each child will use their digital pictures in a PowerPoint slide with text showing the sound and the word that contains that sound. Then they will take a picture of the object they...
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Breaking the Chains, Rising Out of Circumstances
Discuss the history of slavery by analyzing historic photography depicting slavery. Learners write fictional stories based on these photographs. This is a creative and motivating way to launch a discussion of these topics.
Curated OER
Creative Writing - Research and Letters
Here's a fresh approach that combines research, business and personal letter writing, and creative story telling. Student groups research different decades in the life of a famous Japanese astronomer. They then craft a decade fact sheet,...
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Colonial Trades and Apprenticeships
Students examine and analyze culturally significant objects from colonial Boston. They construct a story around the life and work of Nathaniel Hurd from a list of keywords excerpted from a passage about Nathaniel Hurd. In addition, they...
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That's The Way the Cookie Crumbles
Third graders work with money values and making purchases. In this money lesson, 3rd graders listen to Donna Guthrie's book, Real World Math: Money and Other Numbers In Your Life. They make money cookies either with a recipe or with...
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Podcasting Parabolas
Learners explore parabolas. In this algebra and technology instructional activity, students construct the equation of a specific parabola, then take digital photos of real-life representations of these parabolas. Learners...
Tennessee State Library & Archives
Vietnam War
A picture can speak 1000 words. Scholars research the Vietnam War through the lens of a camera. Examining photos from the collection of Christopher D. Ammons allows open interpretation of life during one of America's darkest conflicts....
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Wise Spenders and Savvy Savers
Second graders investigate the business community in their own town. They design interview questions before interviewing business people. They look at what type of good and services are offered in their area. They design a multimedia...
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Walking in Their Shoes
Students explore the challenges of those who have "learning disabilities." They develop a storyboard and create a video which depicts learning disabled students coping with life. Special effects are added to the video scenes, as well as...
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The Greatest Generation: Capturing Their Stories with Digital Images
Students interview a family member of a different generation. After brainstorming story topic ideas, they choose a topic about which to write focused interview questions. Using their notes from the interviews, students write and essay...
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The Photographs of Dorothea Lange
Students research social-documentary photography using Dorothea Lange’s documentary projects. In this photography analysis lesson, students analyze examples of photographs by Dorothea Lange and research one or more of Dorothea...
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In the Field with Salamanders
Students observe salamanders, take pictures of them, and classify them into an online format. In this animal classification lesson plan, students use collection materials and digital camera to photograph and observe salamanders. Students...
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Rise of the Modern City
Pupils explore industrial design and photography with an emphasis on the history of Paris. In this modern art instructional activity, students analyze and discuss the images of modern city life in Paris and the Eiffel Tower. Pupils...