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The Notorious Hope Diamond: What Makes an American Legend?
Learners view and discuss a video on the legend of the Hope Diamond then compare and contrast other tales such as Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill and Johnny Appleseed. They analyze basic characteristics of these legends then use descriptive...
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Water Quality Testing
Student explore factors affecting ecosystems. They test local water samples for pH level. After creating a methodology for data collection, they collect data, compare results, and draw conclusions based upon results.
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Burial "Rights"
Students, after viewing several segments of the video, "Stories Under the Stones," discuss the pros/cons of separate burial areas for different groups of people. They analyze a series of documents regarding the burial policy of one...
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Scene Writing
Eighth graders create an original scene or short one-act play within specified guidelines. Assessment is based upon the performance of student-created scenes during class time. Rubrics for assessment and connection to state standards...
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Grozny on Guard
Students react to copies of leaflets dropped into Chechnya by Russian forces. After reading an article, they examine the historical and present conflicts in the area and answer discussion questions. In small groups, they trace how the...
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How Much Land Does It Take To Produce Your Food?
Students calculate the amount of land required to produce the food eaten by an individual for one year. They compare the amount of land required to produce animal versus plant products. Students visualize the areas of land calculated.
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The Study of Urban and Suburban Environments within the Mystic River Watershed
High school students examine their own water-based environments, within the Mystic Watershed. As the learners engage in inquiry-based, hands-on projects, critical thinking skills and problem-solving, the project will lead them to cross...
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The Human Heart: An Introduction
Fifth graders view a transparency of the human heart and answer questions based on their observations. They read pages from their textbook and discuss the information presented. They visit a website to view the human heart and create a...
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Planting Parts
Each student plants two lima beans in a plastic cup with a paper towel so they can be observed growing. The beans are misted with a spray bottle, and placed in a warm sunny area. Students view the beans each day for the next two weeks,...
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"A MLA Style of Life"
Students effectively research using the internet, encylopedias, magazines and newspapers. They desegregate into needed and un-needed information based on their research findings. Pupils recognize and appropriately site sources using a...
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Trash! How Cities Work: Dealing with Garbage in the US and India
Students identify how different cultures deal with the challenge of trash. Read an excerpt from a chapter book based on real life written from the Southern Indian perspective. Describe the life of a street child in Southern India....
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Describe My City
Students explore the functions of cities by creating a visual image of their own neighborhood. Students diagram, list, and label the major businesses and cultural areas of the neighborhood where they grew up, then write a letter to a...
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Geoboard Squares
Students create squares of different sizes on a geoboard. They find and describe a pattern. Students use the pattern to determine the number of squares possible on a 10-by-10 geoboard. They create squares with a horizontal base (and...
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Quicksand Questions: Short In-class Activity
Students are prompted with questions during a lecture on quicksand. Student answers can be collected with classroom response systems. The responses (both individual and the class as a whole) are recorded on the instructor's computer....
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Animal Migratory patterns
Middle schoolers use field research and traditional research to identify migrating species of birds as well as their migratory patterns. Students generate a list of questions regarding migration and a plan to research the questions. A...
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Family Interviews: The Grandparent/Elder Project
Students explore key concepts/facts in 20th Century history, develop interview questions, and produce master list of questions that can be used in project. Students then interview grandparent, great-grandparent, or other elder about...
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Stories from Africa
Students discuss the size of adult African elephants after a demonstration on their height. They try to guess the animal of discussion based on clues given about their size and characteristics. As a class, they try to identify other...
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Pen Light Lab
Students study what makes Earth warm and explore how different locations on the planetreceive different amounts of solar energy based on the intensity of the sun's rays. They calculate light intensities and compare the
amounts of light...
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Social Studies: Public Service to a Better Image
Students, in a program entitled "Strategies for Success," examine ways to change public perception of their school. In this project-based lesson plan, they explore local social and environmental issues, develop a conflict resolution...
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Building A Portfolio
Students gather images that are part of portfolio to be shared throughout the course of one school year. They complete written reflections based upon the images that are attained. The primary sources for the images is using a digital...
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The Circle of Life
Fourth graders examine how the different organisms living in an ecosystem affect one another. In groups, they research a specific ecosystem and present their findings to the class based on the type of organisms found in it. To end the...
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Giving Students a Little Latitude
Students use a world outline map to locate places using coordinates of latitude and longitude. They answer questions about places based on their knowledge of the map and on their research and make up more questions of this sort for each...
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Egyptian Hireroglyphs
Fifth graders identify the aspects of Ancient Egyptians and Heiroglyphs. They compare and contrast Egyptian Hieroglyphs with the decimal number system. Students recognize the decimal number system and compares to bases other than ten.
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Chromatography of Foods
Students complete a counter top chemistry experiment on the chromatography of foods. The experiment is based upon the relative attraction of the components of the mixture for the mobile phase (water) and the stationery phase (paper).