Chicago Botanic Garden
Causes and Effects of Climate Change
It's time for your class to literally show what they know! Pupils illustrate what they learned about the causes and effects of climate change by filling out a graphic organizer to complete the 5-part series of lessons. They discuss them...
Statistics Education Web
Sampling in Archaeology
Compare different random sampling types using an archaeological setting. Scholars collect data from an archaeological plot using simple random samples, stratified random samples, systematic random samples, and cluster random samples....
Statistics Education Web
Using Dice to Introduce Sampling Distributions
Investigate the meaning of a sample proportion using this hands-on activity. Scholars collect data and realize that the larger the sample size the more closely the data resembles a normal distribution. They compare the sample proportion...
Curated OER
A Goldfish is the Best Pet
Provide your class with a list of possible topics (three are included here, but they're not exactly gripping), and polish their persuasive writing skills. This plan really emphasizes the prewriting process, and several graphic organizers...
Curated OER
Using Graphic Organizers to Generate Genre Definitions
Students listen to or read a variety of stories and then work individually or in groups to complete graphic organizers that will help them focus on elements within different types of stories. They write definitions for a variety of story...
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
A Student Exploration of the Global Impacts of Climate Change on Human HealthVector-Borne Diseases
Develop an understanding of how climate change affects humans' health. The class lists what they know about climate change and its connection to disease and then read sections of an article providing specific details on how climate...
Ontario
Reading Graphic Text
Do learners really need to be taught how to read cartoons, comic books, and comic strips? Yes. Just as they need to learn how to read other forms of graphic text such as diagrams, photos, timetables, maps, charts, and tables. Young...
LABScI
Taxonomy: Who is in My family?
Find similarities in seemingly unlike organisms. The second instructional activity in a series of 12 builds the concept of a taxonomy and explores the use of a dichotomous key. Learners begin in part one by attempting to group a set of...
Curated OER
Sample Lesson 1: Is This Source Credible? Useful? Why and Why Not?
Build background knowledge for The Book Thief by Markus Zusak while teaching your pupils how to determine the credibility of online sources. The plan is designed to take place over the course of two days. On the first day, model how to...
Curated OER
Shizuko's Daughter: Concept of Definition Word Map
Help your class use critical thinking when it comes to unfamiliar words. With vocabulary from Kyoko Mori's Shizuko's Daughter, kids write the word in the center of a graphic organizer, and find its category, comparisons, examples, and...
Curated OER
Venn Diagram for Compare/Contrast
Use this lesson to focus on a compare and contrast writing structure in your middle school language arts class. Here, young writers compare and contrast two texts using graphic organizers. They use a double bubble format for their...
EngageNY
Margin of Error When Estimating a Population Mean (part 1)
We know that sample data varies — it's time to quantify that variability! After calculating a sample mean, pupils calculate the margin of error. They repeat the process with a greater number of sample means and compare the results.
NASA
Analyzing Tiny Samples Using a Search for the Beginning Mass Spectrometry
Teach the basics of mass spectrometry with a hands-on lesson. The fourth in a series of six lessons explores how mass spectrometry measures the ionic composition of an element. Learners then compare and contrast relative abundance and...
Curated OER
Graphic Writing Web
High schoolers discuss and develop graphic writing webs, writing supporting ideas for a given topic.
Curated OER
Analyzing Nonfiction Text Elements - Editorials
Examine the text features of non-fiction. Start the lesson by reading editorial samples provided by their instructor and analyze the texts for word choice, details, and organization. An editorial example and graphic organizer are...
iCivics
No Rambling Allowed
What makes for a strong persuasive argument? Organization! After deconstructing a sample argument and then following the guidelines of an included worksheet, your class members will learn how evidence can be organized in order to produce...
Curated OER
Primary and Secondary Sources - 7th
A link to a beautiful Animoto presentation is included, giving examples of primary sources that a student might want to contact when doing research. Using the Topaz Internment Camp in Utah as a sample topic, middle schoolers view a slide...
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
Lab On A Slab
Capillary action is the frugal chemist's dream ... the less liquid used, the more tests they can run! Learners experiment with the best design to maximize the benefits of capillary action. Using a liquid sample, they design a capillary...
Curated OER
Lights Out on Broadway
How do you write arguments that articulate the views of opposing sides? Through concentrated research, investigation, and critical analysis, leaners become more knowledgable on the opposing argument. The class fills in a KWL graphic...
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
Synthesis and Characterization of CdSe Quantum Dots
Does the size of a sample change the physical properties of that substance? It turns out it can! Young scientists combine physics and chemistry to synthesize CdSe quantum dots and record their color properties. Learners should notice a...
EngageNY
Types of Statistical Studies
All data is not created equal. Scholars examine the different types of studies and learn about the importance of randomization. They explore the meaning of causation and when it can be applied to data.
Civil War
Civil War Medicine: Fact or Fiction
Young historians compare the presentation of medical care during the Civil War in passages from fictional and nonfictional texts. They examine passages from Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell and Soldier's Heart by Gary Paulsen, and...
Curated OER
Persuasive Essay Writing: The Real Story
How can you get others to agree with your point of view? This packet focuses on employing persuasive strategies and how to write descriptively. There's a writing sample provided, and a great graphic organizer. Use these tools to help...
Curated OER
Responses to Literature
Middle and high schoolers hone their writing skills by reading Rikki-Tikki-Tavi and the poem Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out. They fill out a graphic organizer (included here), and use the organizer to write an...