Polar Trec
Can Carbon Dioxide Act Like a Greenhouse Gas?
Ninety-seven percent of scientists who study climate agree that human activity is warming the planet. Learners explore carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas, a gas causing this warming, through a hands-on experiment. Once complete, they...
Virginia Department of Education
Functions 1
Scholars learn what it means for a relation to be a function and see various representations of functions. After learning the definition, they participate in a card sorting activity classifying relations as functions or not.
Cornell University
Bridge Building
Bridge the gaps in your knowledge of bridges. Individuals learn about bridge types by building models. The activity introduces beam bridges, arch bridges, truss bridges, and suspension bridges.
Council for Economic Education
Preparing a 1040EZ Income Tax Form
Some of us never feel like we know how to do our taxes! Help scholars understand the process early by using an informative resource. They fill out their own tax forms in a simulation activity and view multiple resources to learn even...
Curated OER
Educating Myself Benefits Others
Most upper graders don't realize that when they choose to attend college, they're benefiting the whole community. Invite them to explore how they, as educated individuals, can contribute to their family, community, and global society....
ESL Library
Beginner Level Thanksgiving ESL Lesson Plan
Thanksgiving is a cherished tradition in the United States and Canada. Introduce the beginnings of the Thanksgiving celebration with a resource that features reading comprehension activities, vocabulary exercises, and a short...
EduGAINs
Chemical Properties Investigation
This lesson demonstrates differentiated instruction at its best. Over the course of 2-3 class periods, young chemists have the opportunity to gain a thorough understanding of metals and their chemical properties from a variety of...
Heritage Foundation
Crime and Punishment
You wouldn't give someone a 10-day timeout for eating a piece of candy. The US government, too, does not believe in unreasonable punishment. A variety of exercises exploring the clauses of the US Constitution prompts class members to...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Personal Choices and the Planet
The last activity in the series of four has individuals determine steps they can take to reduce their carbon footprints and then analyze their schools' recycling programs. Through a sustainability audit, they identify how and where their...
Scholastic
Voyage on the Mayflower for Grades 6–8
Imagine living in the hold of a sailing ship for 63 days, enduring rough seas and autumn storms. As part of a study of the voyage of the Mayflower, class members examine an online resource that details life about the ship, watch a slide...
Achieve The Core
Linda R. Monk, Words We Live By: Your Annotated Guide to the Constitution - Grade 8
“We the people . . .” Thus begins the Preamble to the Constitution. Using a close reading approach, class members examine an excerpt from Linda Monk’s article that traces how the interpretation of these words has evolved. Some of your...
American Press Institute
In the Newsroom: The Fairness Formula
Reporting the news is easy, right? Think again! Show young scholars the difficult choices journalists make every day through a lesson plan that includes reading, writing, and discussion elements. Individuals compare the language and...
Curated OER
The Little Prince: Socratic Questioning Strategy
Challenge readers to read closer in an activity based on the Socratic questioning strategy. As kids read Antoine de Saint Éxupery's The Little Prince, they use sentence starters to ask deeper questions about the text, and...
Library Sparks
Bridge to Terabithia: Library Lessons
Foreshadowing, flashbacks, and imaginary places are the three topics of focus in this two-lesson packet written especially for the book, Bridge to Terabithia. Each lesson also comes with worksheets and activities to support student...
Scholastic
What Happened Next? (Grades K-4)
Explore the structure of narrative writing with this fun, collaborative lesson. Start by reading aloud a short story, asking small groups of learners to fill in key events on a large story board prepared on the class whiteboard....
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Pendulum Time
Take your time with this lesson. Junior engineers read about different types of clocks and then work together to build a pendulum time-keeper. There are no hints as to how they might go about accomplishing this complex task, so you may...
Write Away!
Voices In the Park
Explore the impact a narrator's point of view has on a story with a reading of the children's book, Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne. Written in four different voices, the story is told and retold from different perspectives to...
EngageNY
Modeling with Polynomials—An Introduction (part 1)
Maximizing resources is essential to productivity. Class members complete an activity to show how math can help in the process. Using a piece of construction paper, learners construct a box with the maximum volume. Ultimately, they...
Illustrative Mathematics
Counting Squares
Challenge young mathematicians' understanding of squares with this geometry puzzle. The task is simple, identify as many squares as possible in a 3x3 array. Allow learners to work independently or in pairs as they search for squares,...
Virginia Department of Education
The Colligative Properties of Solutions
How can you relate colligative properties of solutions to everyday situations? Pupils first discuss the concepts of density, boiling and freezing points, then demonstrate how to accurately determine the boiling and freezing point of...
Science Matters
Lotusland
It's time for a field trip! Scholars take their new-found knowledge of adaptations and seed dispersal on a field trip to a local botanical garden. They gain an up-close look at how ecological interdependence works in a distinct...
Curated OER
The Little Prince: Problematic Situation
Your plane has crashed in the Sahara desert. What do you do? Explore the possibilities with a role-playing activity based on Antoine de Saint Éxupery's The Little Prince. In groups, kids decide whether they would walk to find help...
Curated OER
Deciphering Propaganda Posters of World War I
What strategies are employed when creating propaganda? Your young historians will learn about six different techniques utilized in the construction of political propaganda, particularly in the advertisements of World War I. The...
The New York Times
Kiev in Chaos: Teaching About the Crisis in Ukraine
Provide a historical context for the political unrest between Russia and Ukraine that began in late 2013. Learners review their prior knowledge and chronicle new understandings with a KWL chart, watch a video explaining the Ukrainian...