Curated OER
Observing and Recording Biological Data
Students create their own definition of life. They identify the eight characteristics of life in organisms. They compare and contrast the characteristics of living and nonliving things.
Curated OER
Observing Rocks
Fifth graders explore the various properties of earth and rocks. They play "Twenty Questions" with the teacher, and analyze a rock using a magnifying glass. They record their rock observations and list the differences between the wet...
Curated OER
Reflecting and Observing on the Field Trip to the Pond
Students create an informative caption for photographs taken on a field trip to a pond. For this pond ecosystem lesson, students take photographs and create captions for them. Students write a reflective essay on a...
Curated OER
Explore: 1st Grade Plant Observation
First graders grow seeds in a mini terrarium. They compare the root systems, stems, leaves, and flowers of the different plants. They categorize the plants and discuss the basic functions of plant parts.
Curated OER
The Odyssey and The Morte Darthur: Reading and Making Observations for Writing and Discussion
Young scholars read "The Odyssey" and "The Morte Darthur". In groups, they research the gods and goddesses of Greek mythology and the history of the places mentioned in the stories. Individually, they are to write a paper about a hero...
Curated OER
A to Z Observations
Eighth graders examine the cultural conflicts that occurred when Europeans moved into the land the Native Americans lived on that would become West Virginia. In this West Virginia history lesson, 8th graders visit the state history...
Curated OER
Looking at Teachers Among Us: A Workshop in Conceptions of Teaching
Students characterize various traditional conceptions of teaching and apply these to authentic teaching situations. Teaching art, math and grading systems are analyzed in this lesson.
Curated OER
Using a Graphic Organizer to Critically Observe Televised News Broadcasts
Students compare two television news broadcasts. They discuss how to organize information when comparing two objects and read and discuss two books to create a Venn diagram to compare both books. After creating the diagram, they view...
Curated OER
Stellar Observations
Ninth graders study the uses of spectroscopy and the operation of the Hubble space telescope. In this astronomy lesson students complete a lab activity that includes graphing star color and temperature.
Curated OER
Mystery Cemetary: Teachers
Students examine and analyze the skeletons of various bodies that could represent a cemetary. In groups, they identify a set of common characteristics in which the skeletons are grouped. To end the lesson, they answer questions related...
Curated OER
Moon Observations
Third graders create a model of the moon and use a flashlight to illustrate the various stages of the moon.
Curated OER
The Voyage of the Beagle and Darwin's Observations
Young scholars become familiar with the main events of Darwin's voyage. They comprehend the importance of geographic distribution and geographic isolation on the formation of a new species. Students analyze how living things can change...
Curated OER
A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust: Shemini Atzeret-Simhat Torah
Students explore Jewish traditions through Jewish art. In this interdisciplinary lesson, students research art by Moshe Rynecki, Chaim Goldberg and Emmanuel Levy. Students replicate the artistic styles in their own pieces.
Curated OER
I'm the Teacher
First graders simulate being the teacher and giving P.E. commands to the class. They each write a sentence and take turns reading their sentence to the class, and after each sentence has been read the class performs the activity...
Curated OER
Ocean Life
Mini-marine biologists use Scholastic Explorers website to learn about declining numbers of leatherback sea turtles and dusky dolphins. They fill out a K-W-L chart and observation journal worksheet, which are both provided in the lesson...
Curated OER
Graphing Equivalent Fractions
Young scholars graph families of equivalent fractions and compare them by observing the slope of the line formed by each fraction family. They place fractions in ascending order by comparing the slopes of each line after several families...
NASA
Discovering Some of Your “Yardsticks” Are Actually “Meter-sticks”
The Milky Way gets great reviews on Trip Advisor — 100 million stars. The activity allows scholars to rethink their assumptions and prior knowledge. Pupils observe a set of two lights at equal distance and brightness, but they believe...
Cornell University
Making a Battery
Don't be shocked when your class has a blast making their own batteries! Science scholars examine a dry cell battery, then design and construct a wet cell battery. The activity guides them through the parts of a battery, the variables...
Towson University
Case of the Crown Jewels
Can your biology class crack the Case of the Crown Jewels? Junior forensics experts try their hands at DNA restriction analysis in an exciting lab activity. The lesson introduces the concept of restriction analysis, teaches pipetting and...
EngageNY
Describing the Center of a Distribution Using the Median
Find the point that splits the data. The lesson presents to scholars the definition of the median through a teacher-led discussion. The pupils use data lists and dot plots to determine the median in sets with even and odd number of data...
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum
Picture It: JFK in High School
Elementary schoolers learn about young John F. Kennedy. After a teacher-led discussion about his high school years, pupils examine a photograph of Kennedy and four of his friends taken on the grounds of the Choate School in Connecticut....
Curated OER
Water Pressure Blaster
Third graders complete an experiment to introduce them to the concept of water pressure. In this water pressure lesson plan, 3rd graders create pressure in a water bottle and observe the force of water that is created.
Curated OER
Lesson 1 Activity 1: Tools of the Ancients
Students examine how Christopher Columbus determined his latitude.
Curated OER
How Volcanoes Grow
Students create models of the three major types of volcanoes and determine how a volcano's shape is related to the type of material erupted. They then observe a demonstration that simulates the nature of two volcanic materials: lava and...