Classics for Kids
"Mars" from The Planets
Gustav Holst's The Planets provide young musicians an opportunity to examine how composers can create a suite: a collection of smaller pieces grouped to explore a single topic. After listening to "Jupiter," they examine "Mars" in detail,...
Nuffield Foundation
Investigating the Effects of Biochar on Soil Fertility
Breathe some new life into charcoal. Scholars use biochar to improve soil fertility. They test the effectiveness of this addition by conducting an experiment with soil having 0%, 2%, and 4% biochar.
Concordia College Archives
Introduction and Student Inquiry
Introduce young musicians to the history of and different styles of music with an inquiry-based learning activity that asks them to play detectives to determine the similarities and differences among the sheet music found at a series of...
University of North Carolina
Reading to Write
Silly journal and essay prompts may be fun to write, but they don't model the kind of writing needed for college papers and standardized tests. The 15th part in a series of 24 covers the concept of reading to write—during and after...
West Virginia Department of Education
The Debate - John Brown: Martyr or Madman?
Did he die for a cause, or was he crazy? Although the resource discusses John Brown and West Virginia history, many historical figures have the same reputation. Teach learners about different perspectives and highlight the importance of...
Montgomery Public Schools
Romeo and Juliet Study Packet
William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, a play about star-crossed lovers, resonates deeply with teenagers. The study packet contains study questions for each act of the play. Learners use a graphic organizer to analyze whether characters...
Country Music Hall of Fame
Ray Charles and Country Music
Ray Charles used the pain and adversity from his life to influence an entire genre of American music. Learn about the musician's daily life, struggles and success, and powerful musical style with a thorough resource.
Teaching Tolerance
Film Festival
Everybody's a critic—even your pupils! Using the included resources as a guide, screen films related to social justice and ask film enthusiasts to critique them. Publish the reviews for your school community or develop a film festival...
American Institute of Physics
African American Inventors in History
A two-part lesson introduces young historians to the work of famous African American inventors. Groups first research and develop a presentation of an inventor that includes biographical information and information about one of their...
Anti-Defamation League
Student Dress Codes: What's Fair?
The controversy over school dress codes continues. The debate involves questions like, why is there a policy? Who sets the policy? Who enforces the policy? What is a fair policy? Tweens and teens have an opportunity to engage in the...
NASA
NASA
Everything you have ever wanted to know about our solar system, space exploration, and more can be found here. Be prepared to clear your schedule; you will be sucked into the app like a star into a black hole.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Survival of the Fittest - Variations in the Clam Species Clamys sweetus
It's not often that you come across a clever laboratory activity that is both imaginative and comprehensive! Using M&M's and Reese's peanut butter candies to represent two different clam species, young biologists test for "relative...
Personal Genetics Education Project
Genetics and Reproduction
Disease prevention or designer babies? Use a set of slides to introduce the growing practice of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, or PGD. Teens read related articles and then break into groups to address different scenarios. Afterward,...
ReadWriteThink
A High-Interest Novel Helps Struggling Readers Confront Bullying in Schools
Paul Langan's novel The Bully is the core text in a six-session unit plan that engages high schoolers in an in-depth examination of bullying and its effects on bullies, victims, and bystanders. The richly textured and carefully...
Curated OER
Personal Travel Guide to a Chinese City
Scholars become travel guides in this group research project to investigate a Chinese city or region for a presentation. Heavily based on Internet research, the activity requires participants to jigsaw the final project, so each team...
Curated OER
The age of majority: How old is old enough?
Young scholars research on the Web and in books the "age of majority" in general and how it applies in their particular states. Explore, too, "emancipation" and whether this is another way for teens to earn additional rights. Students...
Curated OER
Scaffolded Reading of "Drawing of an African Burial Ground Grave in Situ"
The class reads the description of the "Drawing of an African Burial Ground Grave In Situ" then completes a work sheet. They act like archaeologists and answer a series of critical thinking questions to better understand the historical...
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: All Eyes on the Iowa Caucus
Explore the primary elections through political cartoons. Three talking points guide deeper thinking as pupils analyze a cartoon, which depicts the 2008 campaigning in Iowa. Analysts identify caricatures, research why winning Iowa is...
Curated OER
??Data Gathering in the Field??
Students demonstrate that they understand basic operations and concpets, students further use technology to enhance learning, increase productivity and and promote their creativity. Students gain an understanding of the world through...
Curated OER
What's Down There?
High schoolers analyze data on coral reefs and use this to help characterize reefs. In this mapping coral reefs lesson students identify and explain the major threats to coral reefs.
Curated OER
Balsa Wood Airplane Flight and Speed Correlation
Ninth graders calculate the average speed of their balsa wood airplane. In this physics lesson, 9th graders build their own airplane and make necessary modifications to to make it fly straight. They interpret distance and time graph...
Curated OER
Mapping Deep-Sea Habitat
Students create a two-dimensional topographic map and a 3-D model of landforms. In this creative lesson students create 2 and 3-D objects and learn how to interpret the data from these things.
Curated OER
Living in Extreme Environments
High schoolers examine the characteristics of the ocean floor and the importance of of extreme environments. For this investigative lesson students use four methods to sample populations, gather, record and analyze data from a...
Curated OER
Mystery of the Alaskan Seamounts
Students study seamounts and the processes that form them. In this Gulf of Alaska lesson students interpret data and investigate a hypothesis.