The November 14, 2011 edition of the New York Times included an article about debt and the European economy. Critical readers use the article to answer 13 who, what, when, where, and why questions. 

A complete instructional activity on dividing whole numbers by other whole numbers and getting a fraction result. Groups of learners use fractions bars, and strips of paper that are cut to specific lengths. The hands-on activities in the...

Legos in science class? Watch your pupils fall in love with this activity. After learning to measure potential and kinetic energy, young scientists create their own ramps using Lego Mindstorm sensors and software.

Enhance your states of matter lessons with a hands-on science investigation that compares six different balls' color, texture, size, weight, ability to bounce, and buoyancy. 

The electromagnetic spectrum includes everything from very powerful gamma rays (which are used to treat cancer) to much weaker radio waves (which include microwaves). Through a hands-on activity, scholars explore the temperature...

Healthy invertebrates mean healthy ponds. An outdoor activity has scholars collect samples of invertebrates from local lakes or ponds. They identify and count different species and use the information to estimate the level of pollution...

Hiding in the filth of a sewer, as a child, to avoid capture by Nazi soldiers—sounds scary! Scholars investigate the youngest victims of the Holocaust, the children. They research video clips and written sources from the Holocaust...

Students study the basics of mapmaking, then make a tally walker, (geographic location device used in secret).

Young ornithologists watch an informative video and use the Internet to gather data about the life, size, habitat, and migration of hummingbirds. The interdisciplinary lesson includes activities that target art, science, math, and...

Third graders practice making predictions about weather from conditions they observe on weather instruments and weather reports. Learners are introduced to the most basic weather reporting instruments: the thermometer, the wind vane, the...

Clay's as good a material as any to build a boat, right? An introductory lesson plan sets the stage for two activities associated with buoyancy. The first involves building boats out of clay, while the second uses these boats to measure...

Whatever floats your boat. Young engineers learn about density by measuring the masses and volumes of boxes filled with different materials. Using their knowledge of densities, they hypothesize whether objects with given densities will...

Investigate what is pushing on us. An intriguing lesson has pupils calculate the amount of force on various squares due to air pressure. Using the data, individuals create a graph in the third lesson of the Up, Up and Away unit...

Students examine Library organization. In this logic lesson, students watch a Between the Lions episode and consider how the library has been organized. Students each list their 3 favorite book titles and how they would classify them....

  Students create their own butterfly garden and follow a participation plan to ensure that everyone will have a hand in the garden.  In this gardening lesson, 5th graders log their progress with their garden by taking photos,...

If you have a rotating office chair in your classroom, you can have physics pupils participate in this simple, yet effective demonstration of angular momentum. One partner sits in the chair, arms outstretched, holding heavy weights. The...

Sixth graders investigate the various types of pollutants found in water and ways to help prevent water pollution. Through a hands-on experiment, students create samples of polluted water by mixing water with vegetable oil, dirt,...

In 1980, in the tropical rainforests of Panama, scientists discovered 1,200 species of beetles living in and around just 19 trees, with most of the species new to science—that's biodiversity! In the activity, learners work in teams to...

Concentrate to determine the best reflector design. Pairs use the engineering design process to build a reflector to increase the current output of a photovotaic panel. Teams arrive at a final design and present it to the class along...

Students enjoy making 3-D figures while learning about rectangular prisms, pyramids, vertices, edges, and faces. After a lecture/demo, students use marshmallows, toothpicks and a worksheet imbedded in this instructional activity to...

Life science learners measure and record traits of seeds, leaves, and their own hands and then graph the data to find a continous distribution curve. They compare and color diagrams of seven different animals' forelimbs (not included),...

Young scholars explore the states of water. For this science lesson, students use observation, measurement, and communication skills to describe water as it changes from a solid to a liquid.

High school physical scientists collide with motion. They work in pairs to design a paper car that will protect a raw egg during a head-on collision. Measurements of distance traveled, time of run, vehicle specs, and photo gate flags are...