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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Tale of Peter Rabbit

For Teachers K - 1st
Wow! Here is a most-impressive series of lessons and activities that revolve around the classic story, The Tale of Peter Rabbit. The purpose of the lessons are to provide an agricultural theme in the reading, writing, and science...
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Lesson Plan
Desert Discoveries

Invent - A - Saurus

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders get to invent their own dinosaur! This is done by using a very clever worksheet embedded in the plan. The worksheet leads them through naming their dinosaur by having explanations of the Latin terminology that is used with...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Playing Hot and Cold

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students read about homeothermy. Through research and poster projects, they gain insight into the diversity among mammals and the ways specific mammals survive in their native climates.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Giant Smelly Plant Attracts Thousands

For Teachers 2nd - 12th
Read and discuss a news article about a rare corpse plant that bloomed in Washington D.C. Because this native Indonesian plant blooms so rarely, people flock to see it. After reading the article, your class answers comprehension...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Independent Plant Growth Experiment

For Teachers 6th - 8th
This is an awesome lesson filled with tons of engaging learning activities. Over a period of weeks learners will make observations, collect plant and analyze plant data, read and review agricultural articles, design and conduct an...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Ocean Careers Exploration

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Learners will work together in groups to gather information about careers in oceanography. They discover the need to have a diverse group of people on a team and then share their information with the class. Web links and materials are...
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Lesson Plan
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Baylor College

People and Climate

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
Model how the sun's energy strikes the planet and help your class relate it to a climate map. Assign small groups an individual climate zone to discuss. They reflect on and research how humans survive in the assigned climate and write a...
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Lesson Plan
ReadWriteThink

Decoding the Dystopian Characteristics of Macintosh’s “1984” Commercial

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Known as one of the most iconic advertisements of the 20th century, Macintosh's "1984" commercial has become more of a social statement. Present the ad to a new audience of viewers with a lesson focused on identifying dystopian...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Colossal Squid Caught in Antarctic

For Teachers 2nd - 6th
Young scholars define the word colossal, then read a news article about an enormous squid caught off Antarctica. In this animal studies and current events lesson, the teacher introduces the article with dictionary and vocabulary...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Creature Seekers

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Does it actually exist? Consider the sighting of a giant squid, much like the one that appears in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Middle and high schoolers read the article One Legend Found, Many Still to Go, and research other mysterious...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

It's Getting Hot in Here

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Discover the environmental and economic impact of global warming. After reading an article, emerging environmentalists identify how different countries are responding to the Kyoto Protocol. They research emission laws and write a news...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Archeologists For a Day

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Students listen to a reading about fossils and go on a hunt for items with fossil characteristics.  For this cross curricular fossil lesson, students will examine their fossil finds and create a graphic organizer.  Students listen to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Turning the Tide on Trash: Marine Debris Curriculum

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Seven pages of fascinating reading on marine debris preface the activities in this lesson plan. Four different activities are employed to simulate how the debris is distributed in the ocean and along beaches. Early ecology learners...
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Lesson Plan
Melissa Institute for Violence Prevention and Treatment

Concept Muraling

For Teachers 2nd - 6th
Concept muraling helps learners improve their comprehension of a text by giving them a way to organize their understanding of the key concepts in that text. Introduce readers to this process with a carefully scaffolded lesson that models...
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Lesson Plan
Illinois Department of Natural Resources

Section Three: What's the Status of Biodiversity?

For Students 3rd - 5th Standards
Biodiversity is essential for every habitat, but many species are at risk due to pollution and other factors. Explore several different species native to Illinois in a gallery walk with posters that learners have created after research...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Greenhouse Effect

For Teachers 6th - 9th
In this Earth Science worksheet, students read about the Greenhouse Effect and the difference between natural and amplified warming. Following, they answer ten short answer questions related to what they read about global climate issues.
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Lesson Plan
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PBS

Stories of Painkiller Addiction: Prescription Drug Abuse Awareness Campaign

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
The I-STOP law was designed to regulate the distribution and tracking of prescription drugs. After reading an article about its signing and implementation, middle and high schoolers work together to come up with their own ideas for an...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tallying Local Species to Learn About Diversity

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Using this thoroughly-written plan, you can have your junior ecologists exploring local biodiversity. They take a journal outdoors to tally the species that they see. An article is included along with comprehension questions. The author...
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "In the Next Galaxy" by Ruth Stone

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Imagine what life might be like in a different galaxy. That's the challenge young scientists take on in a warm-up activity designed to prepare them for a close reading of Ruth Stone's poem "In the Next Galaxy." After class members share...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

The Giver: Lesson 1

For Teachers 6th - 9th Standards
Do “memories need to be shared?" Are “memories…forever?" Would you give up memory to live in a perfect world? Introduce a unit centered on Lois Lowry’s utopian/dystopian novel The Giver with a series of activities that has groups...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What's the Earth Worth?

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students are able to identify natural resources from a shared reading by highlighting, scoring at least a 3 on a 4 point rubic. They describe in journal entries, after reading the book Amelia Bedelia Goes Camping or Curious Geogre Goes...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sources of Potential Groundwater Contamination

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students construct models that demonstrate potential sources of contamination. Students select one type of contamination model (septic system, sinkhole, landfill, disposal lagoon, leaky barrels, oil spill, agricultural contamination) to...
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Lesson Plan
Science Matters

Finding the Epicenter

For Teachers 6th Standards
The epicenter is the point on the ground above the initial point of rupture. The 10th lesson in a series of 20 encourages scholars to learn to triangulate the epicenter of an earthquake based on the arrival times of p waves and s waves....
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Lesson Plan
National Security Agency

Classifying Triangles

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Building on young mathematicians' prior knowledge of three-sided shapes, this activity series explores the defining characteristics of different types of triangles. Starting with a shared reading of the children's book The Greedy...