Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Diseases
During a cholera outbreak, scientists presented two theories; one theory was based on miasma and the other on germs and contaminated water. The lesson looks at the scientific process for finding the real culprit.
Science Friday
Ugh, a Bug!
Young entomologists familiarize themselves with the physical characteristics of insects. Composed of two activities, each lesson involves your scientists tapping into their prior knowledge of bugs and making observations of real live...
Curated OER
Cooperative Games - Instant Activities
Get your class up and moving! Instant activities are a great way to keep the whole class active with little teacher involvement. While this is not a lesson for an entire class period, these activities sound like fun. Try a few of these...
Practical Action
Climate Change - Who's In Control?
How can both individuals and governments respond to climate change and take responsibility to reduce its effects on our environment? Here you will find three lessons filled with discussion, debate, and role-playing...
ESL Kid Stuff
Directions: Left / Right / Forward / Back
Move to the left! Move to the right! Kids will definitely get moving with a lesson plan on directions. They review left, right, forward, and back before playing Pin the Tail on the Donkey and singing some songs about movement.
NOAA
Ocean Exploration
Where am I? The second installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program starts with pupils guessing the years in which major ocean exploration events took place. The lesson then focuses on how...
NASA
Here Comes the Light!
Look beyond the light! An engaging activity introduces young scholars to the application of a spectroscope. The lesson is the fifth in a series of six and focuses on the analysis of the elements of the sun.
Kenan Fellows
Reading Airline Maintenance Graphs
Airline mechanics must be precise, or the consequences could be deadly. Their target ranges alter with changes in temperature and pressure. When preparing an airplane for flight, you must read a maintenance graph. The second lesson of...
Teach Engineering
What Floats Your Boat?
Clay's as good a material as any to build a boat, right? An introductory lesson plan sets the stage for two activities associated with buoyancy. The first involves building boats out of clay, while the second uses these boats to measure...
Civil War Trust
The Gathering Storm: The Coming of the Civil War
Take a longer look at a formative time in history with a lesson that explores the causes of the American Civil War. After viewing a series of images and explanations for various forces at play, middle schoolers choose the images that...
Rainforest Alliance
How Far Away Is a Tropical Rainforest?
If driving to school only takes 10 minutes, then how long does it take to drive to a tropical rainforest in Colombia? Explore the focus question in a lesson plan that uses measurement tools and formulas to figure out the time...
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction
What Is A Bank?
You're never too young to learn about banking and personal finance. Use a set of seven banking lessons to teach middle schoolers about checking and savings accounts, interest rates, loans and credit cards, and safety deposit boxes.
Teach Engineering
Density and Miscibility
The liquids did not mix — so what do density columns have to do with it? The seventh part in a series of nine provides the theoretical explanation of why density columns do not mix. The lesson covers the topics related to...
Curated OER
Kind Kids
Students decide what it means to be kind to others and draw pictures of ways they have been kind. They place kind kids pictures in a book for the classroom library. Students receive certificates for post lesson kind acts.
Curated OER
What I need for School
You can use this lesson with English language learners, a young language arts class, or speakers of a foreign language. The phrases learned are I need and I don't need. The teacher collects several items around the room, and learners...
Mr Gym
Square Dance
Great lesson on teaching some of the basics of square dancing. Ten basic moves are listed and described. The descriptions of these square dance moves are clearly explained. There are several pictures to show what a few of these moves...
Curated OER
Water in Earth's Hydrosphere
Environmentalists test stream water for temperature, pH, and turbidity. Each group shares their information and then the class makes an overall evaluation of the water quality. A slide show sets the backdrop for the teaching portion and...
Rainforest Alliance
The Long Road to Coffee
During the fourth lesson of a series on Colombia, pupils discover the process to which the coffee plant becomes the coffee we drink. Pupils compare how locally grown foods get into homes to how coffee from Colombia gets into their mug.
University of Colorado
Using Spectral Data to Explore Saturn and Titan
Saturn's rings are made of dust, ice, and solid chunks of material. Individuals use spectrographs in this final installment of 22 lessons to determine the atmospheric elements. They analyze spectrums from Titan's atmosphere and...
Curated OER
The Water Cycle
Your class sets up a mini water cycle model to examine the process. Then they watch an animation, following a water molecule through the cycle. A well-developed lab sheet guides learners through the lesson and a PowerPoint presentation...
Curated OER
Bridge to the Future: Enlarging the European Union
The political, social, and economic challenges the European Union faces as it enlarges is the focus of a six-lesson unit. Class members investigate and craft a presentation about a member country, the treaties member states must...
Denver Public Schools
Kung-hsi Fa-ts' ai! – A Chinese New Year Celebration
Looking for ideas for your Lunar New Year celebration? Check out an interdisciplinary unit of study that includes lessons in counting, calligraphy, culture, geography, literature, art, and music. Kung-hsi Fa-ts' ai! (May you...
Facebook
Reputation
What's the key to maintaining a good reputation? Keep your friends close—and your secrets even closer! Social scholars score a deeper understanding of sharing during a lesson from a privacy and reputation module. Participants consider...
Curated OER
Go for the Gold!
Young athletes practice various locomotor movements. They use locomotor skills as directed by the teacher to move between "Olympic rings" (hula hoops). Students participate in a discussion about Olympic events prior to playing the game.