Curated OER
Systems, UP, Up and Away!
Students discuss rockets and how they work. Students research basic information about the Space Shuttle. Students work in collaborative groups creating "rockets" with empty film canisters. Students launch their "rockets" and record...
Curated OER
A Fairy Tale: Italian Folklore
Students work in groups to write an original fairy tale in Italian. They research the components of a fairy tale, compare and contrast fairy tales with myths and follow an outline to write a complete, 15-20 page fairy tale.
Curated OER
Can You Help A Friend?
Students take on the role of a ten year old girl, "Jessica." Jessica's friend has moved away from the area and is texting people she doesn't know in chat rooms. Students work in groups to write a message for Jessica to send to her...
Curated OER
Understanding the Declaration of Independence
Students work in groups to do a document analyxix of several documents. Students view the Martin Luther King speech, "I Have a Dream." They discuss the Battle of Saratoge. Students give a personal view of the reason the Declaration of...
Curated OER
Commercial Surrogacy: Questions & Considerations of Parties with Vested Interests
Teenagers explore the topic of surrogate motherhood. They examine the technology involved, types of surrogacy, interested groups, and current laws. Each collaborative group is assigned an interest group. They work together to develop...
Curated OER
Volcanism (part 1 of 3)
Students explore the factors that control magma viscosity and study about the characteristics of volcanic eruptions. Lesson describes collaborative group exercises and guided inquiry methods.
Curated OER
Choose The Appropriate Graph
Fifth graders work in groups to investigate the proper use of a graph during a schoolyard ecology project. The challenge of the project is for students to choose the proper form of a graph. They gather data and conduct analysis with the...
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A Journey with a Scientist
Students work in groups as they read chapters of Charles Darwin's, Voyage of the Beagle. They take notes on the chapter and in their group make a timeline of the chapter. They tape the timelines together in order to depict the entire...
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"who Lives in Your House?"
Fourth graders collect data about the people and animals living in their homes, and the students' shoe sizes. They work in groups to enter the information into a database from which they create graphs. They analyze the data to find the...
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Creative Writing: Haiku
Haikus by Basho, Buson, Issa, and Shiki are used as models for a brief lecture on the importance of poetry in Japan's history and the structure of this poetic form. Students then go on a nature walk, record impressions, and return to the...
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Refining the Why? Turning Student Questions into Research
Middle schoolers have years of experience when it comes to how their bodies work. Surely they have some questions as well. Here is an opportunity for them to practice the scientific method in an attempt to answer some of those questions....
Curated OER
Peer Editing Checklist
A handout to guide peer editors, this checklist delineates common problems with paragraph structure and specific proofreading items to check. It also provides encouragement about the collaborative part of the writing process. Formats...
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Censorship In Fahrenheit 451
Tenth graders explore the concept of censorship through a reading of Fahrenheit 451. They discuss the issue and its relation to contemporary society. Students work in groups to debate the pros and cons of censorship in our society.
Curated OER
Permit Trading
Emerging environmentalists work in groups and pretend that each is a power company generating electricity for a community. They consider the costs of building a renewable electricity generator that will increasingly replace generating...
Curated OER
Geometry, Pi, and Ancient Civilizations
By working together, pairs of students will complete a Pi webquest. Using the internet, they examine the ways people in the Ancient Civilizations of Egypt, Babylonia and Greece used Pi. To end the lesson, they review the concepts of...
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Human Number Line
Fourth graders become aware and comprehend number relationships among those numbers most commonly found in geometric applications. They work in groups, 4th graders arrange themselves in order form the least to the greatest number in...
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Maximize It!
Learners design a rectangular box without a lid that has the largest possible volume using the supplied sheet of centimeter graph paper. They work in groups to construct different size boxes to determine the largest possible volume and...
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Beetle Collection and Release
Students investigate plants and compare them to the purple loose strife. As they observe the plants they predict possible impacts on plant populations based on their observations. They work in groups and present their findings to the class.
Michigan Sea Grant
What's in This Water?
Pupils investigate the biological and chemical characteristics of water to determine where purple loosestrife occurs. They create data sheets to record water quality tests in several locations and work in groups to conduct the water...
Curated OER
The "Me" Decade: 1970
Young scholars view the video on Mary Tyler Moore Show. They discuss what they notice about the treatment of Mary Tyler Moore's character in the show. Students listen to a lecture covering notes on web diagram, such as: Fads, fashion,...
Curated OER
To Dam or Not to Dam
Young ecologists explore the Aswan Dam in Egypt via the internet. Each collaborative group is assigned a specific article about the ecological impact of the dam. Then they prepare a presentation to share with the rest of the class. Some...
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How Insects Have Changed
Students work in groups to research the different geologic time periods and present their findings. They perform the insect collecting protocol, identify insects to the order level, and organize types of insects in order of appearance in...
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Acrostic Poem Pals
Students work in groups to determine a creative writing theme. They listen to each other to produce a group acrostic poem and then collaborate with their partners to recite their poetry. They then add drawings to add an artistic element...
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Creature Inventor Team
Students design their own pretend creatures and places to live by working together as a team. They connect their imaginary creatures and habitat to invent a story about how they live or an event that could happen to them.