Island of the Blue Dolphins, Scott O'Dell's classic tale of Karana, a young girl stranded on an island off the California coast, is the focus of a 16-slide presentation that includes a list of vocabulary words, guided reading questions,...

Take a quick tour through the history of Blues. Elementary learners will find this presentation easy to understand and full of interesting information. There are web links that direct viewers to additional information but none that...

A 12-piece primary source packet sets the tone for a study of the role women played in the origins, development, and impact of blues music. Legends like Bessie Smith, Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Mamie Smith, and Ida Cox are featured, as are...

Pair a novel study of Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell with a presentation on dolphins. The 37-slide PowerPoint shows different types of dolphins all around the world, includes a brief description of each, and provides a photo...

Class members use an applet on the Internet to simulate the spread of a disease. The simulation allows individuals to determine two nodes to vaccinate to limit the number of nodes infected. By running several simulations, scholars...

While it may not be possible to take an entire class to Egypt and explore the ancient wonders, it is possible to engage your young historians in activities that ask them to research these and other antiquities and place them on their...

This literature study PowerPoint summarizes the main story elements of the book, Island of the Blue Dolphins. Students read about the the theme, setting and events. There are also a few slides where students complete various interactive...

In 2003, there was an unprecedented decline in the population of Blue Mud Shrimp up in Oregon. This presentation gives many of the facts, and theories that were developed as to why the population took such a dive. Excellent photographs...

After months of hard work it's time to relax and have some fun with this end-of-the-year activity. Provided with a series of eight color-coded clue cards, students must search the classroom for different colored objects as...

Explore the powers of ten while examining a Blue Morpho butterfly wing. Learners discover there is a lot more than meets the eye when one looks close enough.

If friendship were a soup, what ingredients would be in it? As part of a study of Marcus Pfister's Rainbow Fish and the Big Blue Whale, kids engage in a series of friendship-themed activities using materials contained in this richly...

Budding poets choose a topic for a sensory-filled poem. Authors describe that topic using detailed language based on the five senses. Then, switch the senses to create a fanciful poem intended to add a touch of fun to the objective. 

Scholars stretch their writing muscles with an exercise that asks them to describe the sky using similes and metaphors. 

How does the color of the sky change from blue to reds and oranges to black? An illuminating lesson explains how light travels through different mediums using the sun's light as an example. By examining diagrams and illustrations, pupils...

Keep within a water budget. Learners find out that less than 2.5% of Earth's water is available to drink—and that there is a fixed amount of water. Scholars read an interesting article comparing the available water to a game of Monopoly...

Geometry meets earth science as high schoolers investigate the cause and features of the four seasons. The effects of Earth's axis tilt features prominently, along with both the rotation of the earth about the axis and its orbit...

Sleeping, dozing, snoozing. Five different ways to say sleeping are introduced in this presentation designed to preparing kids for a reading of The Napping House.

The dog is big. The mouse is little. Using vocabulary words introduced in the previous lesson, kids read, or are read, sentences and examine images that contrast big and little.

I bet I can cross the room without having the lights come on. Class members set up an experiment in which they try to determine what materials will mask motion detected by a sensor. Groups predict how materials will interact with...

Class members are challenged to design a device that will move a circus elephant into a train car. Groups brainstorm ideas that use simple machines to load the elephant. They then choose one of their ideas, sketch a plan, and present it...

Introduce your class to storage tank failures caused by major storms with an activity that looks at how the concepts of Archimedes' Principle and Pascal's Law affect the storage tanks along the Houston Ship Channel. The background...

Let your class bounce to examine the concept elastic potential energy. Individuals bounce on a pogo stick in order to calculate its elastic potential energy. Groups then compare the elastic potential energy to the gravitational...

Have your class follow the step-by-step directions in this resource to dissect a sheep heart and gain a better understanding of this amazing organ. Working in small groups, pupils look for specific parts of the heart during their...

To get the word out that the Great Pacific garbage patch (GPGP) contains millions of pounds of non-biodegrading plastics, individuals research the GPGP and write an article for a newsletter. Researchers present their facts in a...