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Recreate the Race
Students research and find the route of the Alaskan dog sled race.In this Iditarod race lesson students find the checkpoints for the Iditarod on a map. Students research information in pairs about each one of the checkpoints. Students...
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Green Classroom Audit
Students audit their classroom for environmentally friendly practices. In this "green" activity, students take an inventory of the classroom and identify ways to improve practices. Students complete a worksheet, brainstorm new ideas for...
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Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass
Imagine what it was like to be a slave in the United States in 1845. Eighth graders are given an opportunity to experience life from the point of view of Frederick Douglass as they read and discuss an annotated passage from Narrative of...
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Tracking Temperature
Students explore how to read a thermometer and what the instrument does. They practice measuring hot and cold objects and discuss changes in the weather based on temperature.
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Fitness Walking Class
The Fitness Walking Class unit is well-organized, and you could use the skeleton of this unit to organize your own Fitness Walking Class. Use pedometers to keep track of steps, write in journals, and get other people to walk with you....
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Get it, Use it, Love it! Library Card Sign-Up Month
Library cards are promoted during the month of September. Show your students how to get one, the great ways to use one, and the joy of having one!
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Strategies for Successful Grade Level Cross-Content Collaboration
Strategies, ideas, and suggestions to create an effective teacher collaboration, which will enrich student learning.
National Wildlife Federation
Green Green Revolution
School budgets don't have a lot of extra money, so when young scholars propose saving the district money, everyone jumps on board. The first lesson in the series of 21 introduces the concept of an energy audit. Scholars form an...
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Comparing Theories: Lamarck and Darwin
Students compare the evolution theories of Lamarck and Darwin. They use self-assessment and a video to increase their knowledge of evolution theories. They research questions and present them to the class.
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Harnessing Solar Energy
Young scholars discover the properties of light (radiant) energy from the sun by experimenting with solar collectors, cookers, and calculators. After a lecture/demo, students create their own solar collectors and test their efficiency.
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Vegetable Print Patterns
Create a unique print using vegetable stencils and tempera paints applied to grid like pattern formed from cut pieces of paper. Your students will choose either a warm or a cool color scheme.
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Sedimentary Rocks
Sedimentary rocks are the building blocks of this geology lesson. In it, learners discover what sedimentary rocks are and how they form. They understand the differences between the major sedimentary rock varieties and learn what types of...
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Exploring Countries and Cultures
Fifth graders choose a country associated with a family member and research its location, government, language, economy, history, holidays, foods, sports, and famous people. They write to inform using this data and draw a map identifying...
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Globalization Comes to the Table
Students, in groups, research the issues surrounding one of several controversies involving food and globalization. Then they debate their position and show a PowerPoint presentation at a mock summit meeting.
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Let Freedom Ring: The Life & Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Students use text and photos to visualize the delivery of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s historic "I Have A Dream" speech. They analyze Dr. King's speech for examples of imagery and allusion and create original poetry and illustrations...
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American Jews and Civil Rights
Tenth graders examine the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's and how American Jews were involved. They discuss the responsibilities of any minority or ethnic group. They consider the process of change in politics as well.
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How to Clean Up an Oil Slick
Students explore how an oil spill is contained and cleaned up. They investigate an oil absorbing polymer that is hydrophobic, absorbs up to 19 times its own weight in nonpolar liquids, floats on water, and can be reused or disposed of by...
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Characterization of the Bioluminescence (Lux+) Gene E. coli
Students grow E. coli strain HB101, which contains the plasmid pUCD607 with the bioluminescence (Lux+) gene. The plasmid containing the Lux+ gene is isolated from the E. coli, then characterized by restriction analysis.
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Determining Cutting Site Locations
Students explore DNA restriction mapping. They cut pieces of paper into lengths representing those produced when specific enzymes are used to cut a strand of DNA.
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The Great Cafeteria Caper
Students extract DNA from their own hair roots. They run an electrophoresis gel to examine patterns of their DNA along with standard DNA. The experiment is based on a crime scene scenario.
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Hand Lotion Analysis
Students prepare a sample of a commercial hand lotion for analysis by HPLC to determine the percent composition of two common cosmetic preservatives, methylparaben and propylparaben. They perform the analysis and the data is evaluated to...
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Domestic Violence and Teen Dating
It is important for students to have a safe place to discuss domestic violence, dating, and abuse. This discussion-based instructional activity provides upper graders with a list of warning signs for abuse, community resources, and ways...
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Life of a Civil War Soldier
Eighth graders write about the physical hardships endured by soldiers of the Civil War. They compare the losses between two communities during the Civil War. They analyze personal letters to understand what a battle was like. They...
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Dashboard of the Future
Students design dashboards for vehicles in 2020. After researching past and current trends in vehicle design, they sketch alternatives and select one to draw with computer-assisted design software (CAD), labeling all the components. With...