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Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Excuse Me, Is This the Way to the Drainpipe?

For Teachers K - 6th
Elementary kids read and color the story of Willy Wetsworth, a drop of water, as he describes the journey that he and his friends take to provide fresh water to houses. He tells his story to Martha Merriweather, a little girl, and...
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Lesson Plan
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NASA

Heavy Lifting

For Teachers K - 8th
Accept NASA's challenge to design heavy lifting vehicles. Groups of three design balloon-powered rockets to carry as much payload to the ceiling as possible. The teams are encouraged to launch several times while making improvements to...
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Lesson Plan
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NASA

3...2...1...Puff!

For Teachers K - 8th Standards
Which will make it fly better? Individuals build paper rockets with fins that are launched using straws. After determining an average flight distance, they make adjustments, such as size and location of fins, and try again. A second...
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NASA

Rocket Races

For Teachers K - 12th
And they are off! Using Styrofoam meat trays and balloons, individuals build racers that demonstrate Newton's Third Law of Motion. Pupils run their racers three times and make improvements between each trial. To conclude the activity,...
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Lesson Plan
NASA

Water Rocket Construction

For Teachers K - 12th
What are the basics for building a rocket out of a two-liter bottle? The procedures outline the basics to create an air- and water-powered bottle rocket. Prior to launching the rockets, teams perform safety checks to ensure their designs...
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Lesson Plan
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Memorial Hall Museum

Dedham Deed

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Class members examine primary source documents that expose the contrasting views of land ownership between the Pocumtuck and English settlers.
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Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

The Suffragist: Educator's Guide for Classroom Video

For Teachers 5th - 12th Standards
Class members take on the role of historical investigators to determine why it took 40 years for women in the United States to get the right to vote. Sleuths view videos and analyze primary sources and images to gather evidence to answer...
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Lesson Plan
Anti-Defamation League

Who is Malala Yousafzai?

For Teachers 4th - 7th Standards
Malala Yousafzai may be young, but she's mighty! Young scholars listen to a short lecture about Malala's background, read an article about her winning the Novel Peace Prize, and meet in groups to discuss statements she has made. Class...
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "A New National Anthem" by Ada Limón

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
Ada Limon's poem, "A New National Anthem," offers young scholars an opportunity to reflect on the significance of the US national anthem and the extent to which Key's vision applies to all Americans. After watching a video of Whitney...
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: “Making History” by Marilyn Nelson

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
What makes an event newsworthy, worth a reference in a news magazine or textbook? Who decides? These are questions Marilyn Nelson asks readers of her poem "Making History" to consider. To begin, class members list details they notice in...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Civil War: Encoding the News

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Young journalists learn to appreciate the advantages of how modern media technology enables rapid news delivery as they compare today's media revolution to how the telegraph and Morse Code revolutionized news coverage during the Civil...
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Lesson Plan
NASA

Cloudy vs. Clear - Maps

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Find out the science of how clouds keep Earth cooler on hot days. Using guided discussions, investigators analyze and interpret maps of how much solar energy Earth receives at different times of the year. Participants draw conclusions...
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Lesson Plan
NASA

Cloudy vs. Clear - Graphs

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Explore the link between solar energy and cloud cover using real data from NASA from China! Future climatologists analyze and interpret graphs of solar energy on clear and cloudy days using a literacy cube. Investigators draw conclusions...
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Lesson Plan
American Statistical Association

Who Has the Longest First Name?

For Teachers 3rd - 6th Standards
Name that statistic! Classmates each write their name and the number of letters in it on a sticky note to place on the board. As a class, they determine the median, mode, and range of the name lengths, and create a dot plot of the data....
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Lesson Plan
American Statistical Association

The Gumball Machine

For Teachers 3rd - 6th Standards
Chew on an activity for probability. Given information on the number of gumballs in a gumball machine, scholars consider how likely it is to randomly draw a blue gumball and how many of each color they would draw in 10 trials if the...
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Lesson Plan
American Statistical Association

The Mean and Variability from the Mean

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Discover the mean from fair share to the balance point. The lesson takes small groups of pupils through two different interpretations of the mean, the fair share understanding of the mean, and the balance point. Scholars use the...