Teach Engineering
Protecting Our City with Levees
Teams use the design process to design, build, and test a model levee to protect the town from a wall of water. A handout provides a price list for the materials learners can use to build their levee within a budget.
Moanalua Gardens Foundation
The Mystery of Rapa Nui
What caused the collapse of the environment on Rapa Nui (Easter Island)? Who constructed the Moai? What was their purpose? Class members assume the role of investigators and use evidence drawn from field studies, ships' logs, and...
Population Connection
The Human-Made Landscape
Agriculture, deforestation, and urbanization. How have human's changed the planet and how might we mitigate the effects of human activity on the planet? To answer these questions class members research the changes in human land use from...
Orange County Water Atlas
Location, Location, Location…
Young geographers discover not only how to read and recognize coordinates on a map, but also gain a deeper understanding of latitude and longitude and how climate changes can vary significantly across latitudes.
Channel Islands Film
Arlington Springs Man: Lesson Plan 4
West of the West's documentary Arlington Springs Man introduces viewers to the remarkable finds on Santa Rosa Island. Archaeologist have discovered on this small island that is part of the Channel island chain, human and pygmy mammoth...
Pyro Innovations
Get into Shape
Shapes are so fun! Little ones explore, identify, and create shapes using tangrams or pattern blocks. The activity is intended to stimulate critical thinking while engaging learners through play and shape identification. Each child will...
Curated OER
Perceptions of War
Tenth graders share perspectives on war with Iraq with students from various countries, and write position papers expressing specific stance on issues.
Population Connection
The Carbon Crunch
Carbon is in the air; should we care? Teach the class why it is important to pay attention to carbon levels and how the world population and various countries across the globe affect the carbon levels in the atmosphere. High schoolers...
Curated OER
Once in a Blue Moon
Third graders identify the phases of the moon. They use technology to access websites on the Internet dealing with the moon.
Curated OER
Cultural Comparison
Students choose from a group of entries about the culture of Peru. In this Peruvian culture lesson plan, students understand the definition of culture. Students describe the culture of Peru researched in the entry and complete a worksheet.
Curated OER
Which Side to Choose? An Exercise in Choices and Ethics
Students evaluate their reaction to a series of statements to investigate that personal choices are based on personal goals, peer and social pressures, ethic and religious beliefs, and the knowledge of biological consequences. This is...
Curated OER
Marble Mania
Learners explore the concept of probability. In this probability lesson, students develop an understanding of probability by pulling marbles out of a bag and recording the data. Learners use the recording sheet to discuss the results of...
Curated OER
Salt: White Gold
Students examine the importance of salt for trade routes and the economy of a community.
Curated OER
Ecology Explorers: Historical Air Photo Interpretation
Students identify and analyze land use changes over time with historic aerial photographs, and classify different land use into categories.
Brain Targeted Teaching
Tuck Everlasting Novel Study
The broad ideas included here provide clear ideas on how to use brain-targeted learning, what activities work best with Tuck Everlasting, how to apply the knowledge gained from their reading, and ideas for evaluation. Not teaching Tuck...
Curated OER
U.S. and Canada: How are We the Same? How are We Different?
Get high school geographers to compare and contrast Canada and the United States. They begin by drawing a freehand map of North America, then complete readings to gain insight into Canada. The text is not provided; however, another text...
Curated OER
Milestones of Flight
Students identify significant milestones in the history of flight. In this aviation history instructional activity, students study various resource materials and construct timelines of significant achievements.
Curated OER
Your identity, your heritage
Students list memorable moments fro childhood. They complete the worksheet "Your identity, your heritage." Students look a sites regarding genealogy and discuss information about their families' genealogy or heritage. Students visit the...
Curated OER
Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky
In this online interactive reading comprehension activity, students respond to 15 multiple choice questions about Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground. Students may submit their answers to be scored.
Curated OER
Building a Car: Mechanical Engineering
Students use common materials to build a car. In this car building mechanical engineering lesson, students build a car using a milk cartoon and plastic wheels. They discuss what mechanical engineers do and what makes a car run.
Curated OER
What in the World Is a Watershed?
Students discover the role of a watershed. In this geography instructional activity, students are shown a diagram of a watershed and discuss the definition of a watershed. Students demonstrate the role of a watershed by using an umbrella...
Curated OER
Letters from the Japanese American Internment
Students examine letters of Japanese-American children during internment in World War II. They discover what it was like in the camps and how they were treated once they were released. They also view photographs of the camps.
Curated OER
Fifth Grade Photoshop: Change That Background
Students explore the Photoshop program. In this technology lesson plan, students use cropping tools to crop photos out of the background on a Photoshop file. Students edit and paste a picture onto a new background.
Curated OER
Chemical Changes by Gems
Seventh graders observe that heat is produced when two substances are combined. They brainstorm how, and then experiment to find out which of two chemicals created the heat.