After reading Elie Wiesel's Night, watching the movie Life is Beautiful, and researching World War II, class members write a comparison essay on the book and film. This includes a prior knowledge activity, discussion in whole and small...

Young scholars discuss, summarize, and express alternative positions regarding a study on adolescent sleep. They examine arguments for and against changing the school start time for high-school students, based upon the findings of a...

  Wake up, sleepy head! High schoolers craft a creative presentation that represents how they feel when they wake up on a school morning. After the presentations, a reading of Academic Sleep Times and Academic Performance launches a...

Young geometers investigate and apply properties of quadrilaterals.  After a review and discussion of key terms, learners use a computer applet to explore four-sided figures and classify them according to their attributes. The...

As part of their study of the history of the Channel Islands, class members craft an informational article to post on a bulletin board that features the Chumash ancestral tradition of tomol paddling.

Thor, Loki, Iron Man, and Captain America. As part of their study of Greek and Roman gods and heroes, middle schoolers compare the characters in The Avengers to Greek counterparts. Individuals then create their own superhero,...

While the lesson focuses on right triangles, this activity offers a great way to practice the area of all triangles through an interactive webpage. The activity begins with the class taking a square paper and cutting in in half; can they...

"Ye who believe...List to a Tale of Love in Acadie." Longfellow's epic poem, "Evangeline," launches a study of tragic heroines, epic poetry, the expulsion of the Acadians from Canada, and their subsequent migration to Louisiana. The...

Kids keep score as they take on the roles of buyers and sellers in an agribusiness introduction. They play the game for five rounds, each round is made different by having a new economic element added, a discussion follows. Everything...

Young consumers explore the concept of biotechnology as it pertains to the foods they eat, economics, and agriculture. They watch several videos, explore a website, complete worksheets, and engage in class discussion. Son they'll know...

Design a plan for finding the best health insurance for your money. Learners compare two health plans by writing and graphing piecewise functions representing the plan rules. Using Excel software, they create a technical report...

Here are a set of graphing lessons that have a real-world business focus.  Math skills include creating a scatter plot or line graph, fitting a line to a scatter plot, and making predictions. These lessons are aimed at an algebra 1...

How do you assess whether pupils have mastered certain concepts and skills? Designing a performance task that asks learners to demonstrate their skills and providing writers with a rubric that identifies these skills and provides...

How are chemical reactions affected by gravity? Learners explore the phenomenon of effervescence as part of the Christa's Lost Lessons series. They compare findings in an experiment on effervescence to a video of a similar experiment in...

Study biological diversity by analyzing given data, and make inferences about the possible effects of oil drilling operations on specific benthic communities. This instructional activity allows students to use their statistical analysis...

Students examine various careers in Ag Engineering both globally and locally. They analyze work sites, compare/contrast working conditions and define skills needed by employers. They prepare short speeches and present them, accurately...

The ability to analyze an argument is a skill emphasized by the Common Core standards. Offer your class an opportunity to develop and hone their skills by providing them the testimonies in an Oregon court case. After reading the facts of...

Math and science come alive in this career-related lesson on sanitation. Along the way, learners explore bacterial growth rates using exponential notation and graphs. A link to a very brief, but vivid video shows just how quickly these...

Study the symbolism and significance of Gargoyles throughout the Gothic era, and then make one. Kids visit three different websites to learn about these goolish protectors, then hone their sculpting skills while making one. They make...

Glide into the study of flight. An engaging lesson has scholars research information on the Wright brothers. They develop props and produce a recreation of the first flight at Kitty Hawk. They then report on the event as if they were...

High schoolers study the legal battles involving same-sex marriage. They examine primary sources and a video regarding the 14th amendment and its implications for gay marriage. They analyze a report of a California case that was sent to...

Students create a map of the school and surrounding neighborhood.  For this mapping lesson, students discover their school's location and learn about its past.  Students use math skills and the steps in the design process to...

Learning to cook and making good food choices are extremely important life skills. Seventh graders explore food science in relation to health and nutrition, by conducting several experiments on apples. Websites, movies, and instructional...

Suggested to accompany a class reading of The Great Gatsby, this plan begins with a discussion emphasizing the reputation of Vanderbilt University. Then, after the class has a working knowledge of the wealth associated with the school,...