Curated OER
Graphing on a Coordinate Grid
Students work in groups to create a graph on a coordinate grid. In this graphing lesson plan, students analyze data and put it into their graph by plotting points.
Curated OER
What Makes the Writer Write
Your 11th and 12th graders are ready to critique society! Channel that inclination by studying a novel that offers social criticism of other eras (book recommendations included). This resource presents a well-thought-out overview of such...
Curated OER
The Final Analysis: Cause and Effect, Fact and Opinion
Middle schoolers read and review informational texts, analyze cause and effect, and distinguish fact from opinion. They assess a "one-minute mystery" you read aloud for cause and effect relationships. Resource includes complete set of...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Sky High
How are skyscrapers built? What does it take to make a structurally sound building? How can one work within a budget to complete a building project? These guiding questions will be investigated and answered within a hands-on lesson....
Curated OER
Endangered Marine Turtles
Students work in groups and experience what it is like to be a hatchling marine turtle by playing a board game. In this endangered marine turtles lesson, students research the threats to marine turtle hatchlings. Students then create a...
Curated OER
Laughing Matters
Is laughter really the best medicine? Middle and high schoolers discuss the truth behind this adage by reading and discussing a New York Times article about Dr. Patch Adams. They participate in a round-table debate in response to...
California Academy of Science
How Big is Big?
In a math or life science class, "mini-me" models are created with cardstock to reflect a 1:10 scale of young scholars' bodies. Learners measure each others' heights with meter sticks, and then reduce the size by 10. After this exercise,...
Curated OER
The First (and Last) Words
What does "freedom of speech" mean to your class, especially in the context of Internet communications? In round-table discussion format, middle and high schoolers address the issues discussed in "State Legislatures Across U.S. Plan to...
Curated OER
Anonymous Sources in the Media
When do people ask for anonymity? Why? After reading the New York Times article "For a Reporter and a Source, Echoes of Broken Promise," young readers participate in a roundtable discussion focusing on freedom of the press and the use of...
Curated OER
Rockefeller's Revenge: Exxon and Mobil Unite
Study the impact and possible outcomes of the Exxon-Mobil merger in your language arts, social studies, or economics class. Secondary learners evaluate a series of graphs, write a paragraph interpreting the data, and engage in class...
Curated OER
Writing Classroom Agreements using Inspiration & Word to Go
How can you foster a thoughtful learning community for your class? First, the class brainstorms a list of behaviors that will help make the classroom a great place to learn. Then learners group similar ideas together and come up with...
Street Law
The Challenge of Selecting an Ideal Supreme Court Nominee
Nearly every president has had the opportunity to name a nominee to the United States Supreme Court. But what makes someone an ideal candidate to become a Supreme Court justice? High schoolers test their prior knowledge about the Supreme...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Rotational Equilibrium
Physics stars design mobiles that demonstrate rotational equilibrium. They take measurements and solve related equations for force by graphing, substitution, or determinants. This is a well-developed lesson plan, complete with student...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Classroom Paper Recycling
After reading about the history and recycling of paper, creative crafters collaborate to think of a new process for making recycled paper. A complete teacher's guide and student worksheets are included. There is no written procedure for...
Curated OER
The Square Counting Shortcut
An excellent lesson plan that encourages students to discover how complex figures can be broken into simpler shapes when measuring area. Working with block letters, learners are given the freedom to develop their own strategies for...
Curated OER
Halves, Thirds, and Sixths
An excellent activity that effectively pulls together the concepts of area, fractions, and equivalent fractions! Using 3x2 rectangular arrays, 3rd graders are introduced to the concept of area in terms of square units. Building on this...
Illustrative Mathematics
What is a Trapezoid? (Part 1)
Challenge your class to construct a definition for trapezoids. Looking at four examples and four non-examples, students individually create definitions and use them to classify an unknown shape. Allow for small group and whole-class...
Curated OER
A Sum of Functions
Collaborative learners will see the geometric addition of functions by graphing the sum of two graphed curves on the same coordinate plane. This task then naturally flows into giving learners the algebraic representation of the curves...
Dick Blick Art Materials
“Decalcomania” Glue Paint Symmetry Prints
Who knew you could paint with glue? After first adding liquid water color paints to bottles of white Elmer's glue and applying them to paper, young scholars of all ages are then challenged to use their imagination and creativity to draw...
US Institute of Peace
Identifying Conflict Styles
Are you a peace-keeper or a problem-solver? Explore conflict management styles through a instructional activity, fourth in a 15-part series, that combines individual assessment and collaborative work. Groups learn the basic tendencies of...
Curated OER
My Hero Learning Circle
Learners participate in a collaboration activity. In this My Hero Project lesson, students discover what a hero is to someone halfway around the world and themselves. Over the 16-week session, circles, made up of between 6-9 classes from...
Curated OER
Plagued by Warfare
Students define "biological weapon" and explore why these types of weapons are so dangerous. They also explore the covert shift of American grant research money to an organization that once directed the Soviet Union's germ warfare...
Curated OER
Mystery Boxes: Uncertainty and Collaboration
Students manipulate boxes with unknown internal structure and contents to become familiar with the concept of uncertainty in science.
Curated OER
The Shadow Knows: Student Worksheet
In this math worksheet, students will work in small groups to measure the height of objects, such as trees, using their shadows. Students will be able to determine heights of objects that cannot be directly measured.