Cornell University
The Physics of Bridges
Stability is key when building a bridge. Scholars explore the forces acting upon bridges through an analysis of Newton's Laws and Hooke's Law. The activity asks individuals to apply their learning by building a bridge of their own.
DLTK
Peeping Groundhog Puppet
Using paper and a pencil, produce a pop-up puppet of a groundhog that peers out and over it's burrow to tell us when Spring is coming.
Curated OER
Le School Sac
Students critique their own school bag by sketching and writing a detailed description of it. In this creative design lesson, students then design a more efficient carrier for their school supplies on paper. Students explain to their...
Curated OER
Design a Soda Bottle Label
Students make a mind web to describe their favorite soda. They then make thumbnail sketches of their labels. Tehy create a unique font with which to write the mane of their soda.
Broward County Schools
ABC’s of Bullying Prevention
What is the problem? Why should I care? What can I do about it? These three questions are at the heart of a program designed to lead young people to understand that the way to prevent bullying is for their Attitude and Behavior to Change...
Curated OER
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass
Imagine what it was like to be a slave in the United States in 1845. Eighth graders are given an opportunity to experience life from the point of view of Frederick Douglass as they read and discuss an annotated passage from Narrative of...
NBC
Nutrition, Hydration, and Health
NFL football in science class? Yes, please! In an engaging and motivating three-day lesson, kids take a look at their own nutritional habits and needs compared to those of an NFL player, then experiment with the effects of hydration on...
Captain Planet Foundation
Which Plant Is Which?
Learn about dichotomous keys, plant identification, and how to care for the planet with a lesson that includes several hands-on and innovative activities. Kids go on a plant scavenger hunt and classify the plants that they find...
Curated OER
Medical Explorer: The Big Idea
Read informational text which relays how medical care differs around the globe and throughout history. There are three separate lessons, each focused on a particular case study, regional medical availability, and cultural norms. Learners...
Curated OER
Hedgerows
Hedgerows prevent soil erosion, capture pollutants running off fields, store carbon to help combat climate change, and provide homes for predators of many pest species. The biodiversity lesson begins with an activity that discusses why...
Literacy Design Collaborative
A Pale Blue Dot: That's Here. That's Home. That's Us.
21st-century learners live in such a visual world that many are unused to letting their minds imagine the picture that words create. An excerpt from Carl Sagan's lecture, "The Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space,"...
Curated OER
A Day at the Beach: How to Keep Our Planet Clean
Students write a persuasive essay based on cleaning up the coast and other philanthropic values. In this writing lesson, students determine what is needed in order to keep the planet clean, and offer solutions to the International...
Curated OER
Pizza with the Principal & Kindness Cash
Young scholars understand how their words and acts affect others. For this acts of kindness lesson, students were rewarded for kind acts by getting to have pizza with the Principal. Young scholars also participated in a Principal's...
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
Charting the Progress of New Horizons
In 2006, New Horizons began its mission to fly to Pluto. As it continues its journey, scholars track its progress with the help of an informative website, all the while reinforcing measurement concepts with the construction of a scaled...
Aspen Institute
The Voice That Challenged a Nation
Included here are step-by-step instructions for conducting a close reading of The Voice That Challenged a Nation by Russell Freedman. After an individual and class reading, class members read carefully through the text excerpt,...
Curated OER
Geometry Vases: Ceramics Lesson
Geometric shapes are used in math and in art. Learners discuss the various names, dimensions, and attributes of geometric shapes, then apply that knowledge to design a vase. They use 3-D shapes to make a cubist-style vase out of clay.
PBS
Stories of Painkiller Addiction: Prescription Drug Abuse Awareness Campaign
The I-STOP law was designed to regulate the distribution and tracking of prescription drugs. After reading an article about its signing and implementation, middle and high schoolers work together to come up with their own ideas for an...
Teach Engineering
Backyard Weather Station
Challenge young meteorologists to apply their knowledge of weather to build their own weather stations. The resource provides the directions to build a weather station that contains a wind vane, barometer, thermometer, and rain gauge....
Curated OER
Dream Stream
Investigate the parts of a healthy stream to build content-specific vocabulary and ecological awareness. The class builds vocabulary and determines why clean water is important for trout. They design a shoe box to show what a clean...
Curated OER
Can You Bag It?
Put your class's observational skills to the test with a science experiment about paper and plastic bags. After reading some background knowledge about the materials in plastic grocery bags, third graders interpret a chart to answer a...
Stories on the Way
The Temptation of Jesus
Temptation is the focus of this lesson plan, which was designed for the first week of Lent as an introduction to the tradition of Lenten fast. It includes reading of biblical scripture, hands-on activities where learners design cards...
Curated OER
Rain Rain Go Away
Complete a variety of activities related to the long /a/ sound with a focus on words containing the ai and ay correspondence with your readers. As a class, they recite a tongue twister, then spell different words containing ay and ai...
Curated OER
Because of Winn-Dixie
Take an in-depth look at a passage from Kate DiCamillo's Because of Winn-Dixie. Included here is the reading passage as well as a step-by-step procedure for reading the text, a set of text-dependent questions, and a final writing...
Curated OER
Bacterial Transformation: Laboratory Experiment
Students participate in a group lab in which they complete the process of bacterial transformation. If lab procedures are followed correctly, Students see their results in a few days...bacteria glowing green.