National Wildlife Federation
Get Your Techno On
Desert regions are hotter for multiple reasons; the lack of vegetation causes the sun's heat to go straight into the surface and the lack of moisture means none of the heat is being transferred into evaporation. This concept, and other...
Curated OER
Bats: Need Nectar, Will Travel
Beginning wildlife biologists become adult bats, baby bats, snakes, owls, bobcats, or land-clearing developers in a grand role-playing activity. In a large open space, they play a game in which they move to designated areas based on what...
PBS
Exploring Earthquakes: Earth Foldable
Geology junkies will make a foldable that covers a lot of ground regarding Earth's internal structure, its position in the solar system, and an explanation for its seasons. Templates and a printable page of instructions are included....
Curated OER
Catching Some Rays
Sixth graders explore the tilt of Earth's axis. In this Earth lesson, 6th graders read a Greek mythology story explaining why there are seasons. Students build a sun-ray gathering tool from styrofoam, glue, thermometers, skewers, and...
Curated OER
Cloud Reading
Students identify the biomes of the Earth and their characteristics. They discuss their favorite seasons and the weather. They share their favorites with the class.
Curated OER
The Pumpkin: An Outstanding Teaching Tool
Capitalize on the availability of this seasonal squash by designing a lesson for a variety of disciplines.
Curated OER
Signs of Change: Tree Rings
Students identify and experiment with dendrochronology (the study of tree rings to answer ecological questions about the recent past) and come up with conclusions as to what possible climatic conditions might affect tree growth in their...
Illustrative Mathematics
Ice Cream Van
In an open-ended problem, learners calculate costs involved in driving an ice cream van. Is it better to park in one place or drive through different neighborhoods? Learners look at these and other factors and must make reasonable...
Curated OER
Christmas Candy
Here is a tasty topic for a lesson: Christmas candy! Third and fourth graders research classic Christmas candies, then create their very own! They write a descriptive paragraph about their candy, then use KidPix to create an illustration...
Balanced Assessment
Fermi Estimates I
Enrico Fermi, the physicist responsible for the first nuclear detonation, was known for his ability to estimate with little or no data. Use this task to have your classes practice their Fermi skills. They estimate the magnitude of three...
Beyond Benign
Daphnia Bioassay LD50
De-icing materials may have a harmful effect on our environment; have your class perform an experiment to test the nature of these effects. Scholars monitor the survival rate of a sample of daphnia as the concentration of a de-icing...
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
How Do We Know about Colonial Life?
Young history sleuths examine an inventory of the belongings of a Virginia colonist and use deductive reasoning to determine what the document reveals about colonial life. They then use a Venn diagram to compare the inventory with a...
C-SPAN
Evaluating Historical Presidential Campaign Ads
Political ads flood the airwaves each election cycle. An activity including more than a dozen political ads from iconic presidential campaigns helps learners unpack how the sausage gets made during election "silly season." Using the...
Curated OER
Analyzing Journey North Maps
Students analyze what's happening and interpret why it's happening as the season progresses.
Curated OER
Reasons for Seasons
Young scholars model the tilt of the Earth as it orbits the Sun. They explain the meaning and characteristics of solstices and equinoxes. They explain that sunlight hits the Earth at different angles at different locations over the...
Curated OER
American Robin: A Robin's Menu Through the Seasons
Students read the article, A Robin's Menu Through the Seasons, taking notes and underlining key words and phrases. They create a math grid from the reading, research the animals in the article, and develop various writing assignments.
Curated OER
Louisiana Crafts and Domestic Arts
Discuss with the class the reasons for identifying and defining the term material culture as refering to a vast array of objects and activities that people make and do traditionally. Your class can identify diverse crafts and decorative...
PBS
Crack the Case: History's Toughest Mysteries
Young sleuths don their trench coats, tip their fedoras, and grab their notepads to investigate one of four famous unsolved mysteries. After examining multiple primary and secondary sources related to their cold case, they propose a...
Curated OER
Birds and Coffee
Fifth graders identify the changing seasons with how they affect animal and human behavior. They explain what migration is and why many birds migrate south for the winter. They then trace the coffee sold in their neighborhood and in...
Edgate
Why Map a Map?
After brainstorming reasons why Native Americans mapped their lands, your young critical thinkers will work together to review their ideas and determine the definition of a map. With today's extensive use of mapping technology and GPS...
Utah Education Network (UEN)
Pattern Search
Pupils identify and define various mathematical properties, such as the commutative properties of addition and multiplication, and the associative property of addition. They also reason and communicate mathematically by making...
Curated OER
Picture Collage Book Report: Voltaire's Candide
Here's an alternative to a traditional book report for your class to demonstrate that they understand and can articulate the main character's evolution and the social themes presented in Voltaire's satirical novel Candide. Your young...
Curated OER
Tissue Paper Dye Painting
Use tissue paper squares to create collage art. Young artists discuss colors as they place and glue each piece of tissue on the paper. Tip: Cut out large basic shapes instead. Have the class create images using the tissue shapes (robots...
Curated OER
Day And Night: Interdisciplinary Study of Cyclic Change
Eighth graders conduct a "Length of Day Symposium." They complete a variety of activities and explorations regarding the earth's rotation, its revolution around the sun and the cyclic changes in climate and energy distribution on the...