Curated OER
Electricity
Students explore where electricity comes from and how it is used in their everyday lives. Through discussion and hands-on activities, they define electricity and explain how it travels to our homes. Students make informed choices based...
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Footprints: Take a Step into Estimation
Compare sizes of student footprints with those of elephants and sauropod dinosaurs! Upper graders make estimations of the areas of irregular shapes; students use grids to make and explain estimates within low and high ranges.
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The Progressive Era
Eighth graders utilize the SOAP method to analyze a work of art and relate it to what they know about the Progressive Era and the reasons why cities changed and the ways in which cities changed during the end of the 19th century. They...
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Journey to America
Fifth graders carefully analyze the artwork, Les Emigrants, and explore the reasons that people emigrated to the United States, and what life was like for new arrivals. They discuss what things immigrants were able to bring with them and...
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Chicago Questionnaire
Students critically investigate the issues surrounding the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan. They conclude if dropping the bombs was a correct decision or not and support their conclusions with documentation. Students tie in atomic...
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On the Surface
Students draw and label the 15 major rivers in Texas. They then draw and label another map with the major lakes and reservioirs of Texas. Students use the maps and locate and label the location of the following major Texas cities:...
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Climate Change Challenge
Students explore the issue of climate change through participation in an interactive game show. They explore climate change issues in the news. Students write and discuss their own questions about climate change.
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Honey, I Shrunk the Lids!
Students, in groups, explore how manufacturers use the concept of lightweighting.
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Trees For Trout!
Fourth graders determine the impact of native forests, local clearcuts and local clearcuts and local reforestation projects on the survivablity of Rainbow Trout in their area. They record and document the stages of the trout throughout...
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Photo Synthesis and Transpiration
Students germinate pea seeds and plant the seeds. They experiment with different amounts of light and darkness on the plant growth.
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Not Just a Corny Idea
Students explore ways in which ethanol can be created using alternate energy sources.
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How Much Water?
Students investigate amount of water available in different countries around the world, compare it to their daily water use, and explore how unequal distribution of water can cause challenges to survival. Students then discuss need to...
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Designing Future Houses
Students discuss the changes we face and what kind of future house designs students can imagine. They create a floor plan, make an architectural drawing, and write a short description about their future house.
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Cherishing the Water of Life
Students work in small groups to brainstorm a list of all creatures, plants, natural, and artificial processes that use or depend on fresh water. The class views an aquarium filled with water representing all the water in the world. The...
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The Water Cycle--Using Inspiration Software
Third graders describe and label the water cycle, and list how water changes from one form to another; students use Inspiration Software to label a blank water cycle diagram.
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Windmill of Your Mind - Distributed Energy Goes to School
Students research the possibility and feasibility of installing a wind-turbine distributed energy system for their school. They conduct research, watch an online video, analyze the cost of the project and examine the benefits, and write...
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Siting Wind Power
Students analyze a variety of curves that describe the power extracted from the wind by a variety of commercially produced wind turbines. They utilize site specific topographic maps and political boundary data to evaluate and make...
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"Hard Luck" La Salle
Fourth graders examine life of French explorer, La Salle, and how he impacted settlement of Texas and the establishment of Catholic missions in Texas; students write letters from the perspective of an explorer.
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Debate in the Classroom: The Pebble Mine Pundits
Learners research and debate the pros and cons of the Pebble Mine in Alaska from a variety of perspectives. They also write a position paper that either supports or opposed Pebble Mine develpoment.
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Waterworks In Braintree
Students examine how water affects the community of Braintree. Using a map, they locate main resevoirs and rivers in the area and research the history of one of the resevoirs. They use charts and graphs to show how land use has changed...
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Difficult Decisions: The Sakinaw Sockeye Case Study
Eighth graders examine Sakinaw Sockeye as species at risk, participate in role playing exercise to consider different perspectives of various interest groups, and try to come to consensus on how to deal with dwindling Sakinaw sockeye...
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A Toast to Our Community
Students bake bread with a dual purpose: to explore, through the metaphor of baking bread, the potential dynamics and purposes of a classroom, and to begin investigating the idea that everyday things are connected to the local/global...
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World Geography: Climate Change Round Table
Students are able to explain the suspected causes of relatively recent climate changes, specifically the observed global warming. They discuss how unusual or extreme global warming disrupts the balance of the earth's geo-spheres.