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Tree Cookies
Students identify heartwood, sapwood, and a tree's annual rings, infer from a tree's rings what damage or stress might have occurred in its life, and make a time-line of human history that coincides with a tree's rings.
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Migration Activation
Students play the role of migrating birds. As a class, they simulate a migration of birds to one place and back again. They relate their habitat size and changes to their current population numbers. They discover the many dangers of...
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What Makes the Wind Blow?
Student study the properties of wind. They make a miniature hot-air balloon and compose diamond-shaped poems about the wind. They explain that as the sun warms air around the earth, the air rises. Colder air then moves in to fill the...
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The Wheat Plant
Students sequence stages in the life of a wheat plant. They identify the six main parts of the wheat plant. They plant some kernels of wheat in the classroom so students can watch the growth and development. They record the plant's...
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Whales and Sea Ice: Investigating Insulation
Students investigate the properties of insulation as it relates to whales and sea ice. They research whales and examine the atmospheric changes that occur when there are changes in sea ice.
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At Home On The Range
Students explore the history and domestication of the Bovidae family and their importance to our prairie ecosystem. Using a map of the United States, students located the American Great Plains. They complete worksheets and discuss...
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Wheat: From Field to Oven
How does wheat go from the seed to the table? While focusing on main ideas and supporting statements, class members read an excerpt about wheat production and complete a worksheet. The end goal is a display that shows the different...
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Social Studies: Underground Railroad
Students role-play as escaped slaves making their way from North Carolina to Canada, stopping in Indiana. They track their journeys on maps and include a stop at Harriet Tubman's. Students write three paragraphs about how Tubman aids...
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Arctic Microclimates
Students identify, measure, and average micro-climatic temperatures in a particular region. They draw a small-scale map of an area to be sampled (classroom, playground, park, backyard) and identify potential locations for...
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The Great American Desert
In this American deserts activity, students study the images and read the passages to learn about the 6 divisions in the American landscape: the Eastern lowlands, the Flood Plain, the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains, and the Pacific...
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Celebrating Groundhog Day with your Students
Celebrating Groundhog Day in your classroom is a fun-filled way to explore science, art, and literature.
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Teaching Life Skills to Students with Special Needs
Ideas for instilling essential life skills in learners with special needs.
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Climate Change And Disease
Learners consider the role of climate change in the occurrence of vector born diseases such as malaria. In small groups, they research a specific vector to complete an information chart on climate changes in the region where the vector...
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Altering Climate in the Classroom
Students experiment with moderating temperature extremes in the classroom. They experiment with ways to vent and block air.
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Am I Hot or Am I Cold?
Students practice using a thermometer to determine how the air around the earth gets heated and cooled by the sun. Students chart the daily inside and outside temperature for two weeks.
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At Your Fingertips
First graders observe a variety of different foods including kiwi, banbnas, coffee, chocolate and discuss where they come from. They discuss the terms import and export then identify the locations where the items came from and their...
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Biodiversity in Our Watershed
Eighth graders create a database of animals and birds in the area in which they live. They use molded prints to make a cast of an imprint from a specific animal. They identify and research animals and prepare an outline for an oral...
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Using News Broadcasts in Japan and the U.S as Cultural Lenses
Students view archives of news broadcasts in order to create a context of cultural understanding. They compare and contrast the news broadcasts in Japan and the United States.
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Mapping a Stream
Pupils map an actual local waterway. They create full color scale drawings that include windfalls, plant cover, streambed composition, and landmarks such as trees, boulders, and slumps. This is a long-term project that involves...
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Bovine Oversteps Boundaries
Students listen to story of Grady, the Silo Cow, review vocabulary in story, look at newspaper headlines and discuss purpose of headlines, determine what makes a good headline, create three headlines of their own for story of Grady, and...
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October Writing Journal
For this October writing journal worksheet, students are given a list of October daily writing prompts to choose from, and a fall-framed writing page on which to write.
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A "How To" Project in the Science Fiction Genre
You can have students use science fiction elements to create a "How To" brochure that can stir the imagination.
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Jane Goodall
Students identify Jane Goodall as a scientist who studies the behavior of chimpanzees. They listen to a biography of Jane Goodall and review the location of Africa. Then students participate in an animal observation activity.
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Geography and Social Sciences
Students identify and explain how geography is connected to other academic areas and historical events.