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Unit Plan
National Library of Medicine

Your Environment, Your Health: The Great Debate—Bottled Water vs. Tap Water in Our School

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Should bottled water be sold in schools, or should they only provide tap water? The summative unit in the six-part series encourages scholars debating this topic. The lessons teach how to build an argument, how to gain background...
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Unit Plan
Columbus City Schools

Planet X

For Students 8th Standards
How did the earth become the mass that it is now? Your young scientists explore this question through the concept of density. Their inquiries consider the impact of gravity on the formation of planets. The culminating activity of the...
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Unit Plan
Columbus City Schools

It’s All Relative

For Teachers 8th Standards
Are the people on the other side of the world standing upside down? Pupils discuss the relationship between movement and position words. The unit explores the concept of reference points through animation, modeling, photography, and more. 
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Unit Plan
Curated OER

Educating Children about Autism in an Inclusive Classroom

For Teachers K - 12th Standards
How do we meet the needs of learners with autism? Find out with an in-depth study that offers a thorough explanation of autism—what it is and how unique every individual's case may be, nine lesson plans spanning from kindergarten to 12th...
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Lesson Plan
Tech Museum of Innovation

Seed Dispersal

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Engineering challenges are not just man-made ... nature has its own set of them. A hands-on STEM activity has groups designing a seed dispersal system. Each group can only use one sheet of paper — a tough task!
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Unit Plan
Tech Museum of Innovation

Human Body Exhibit

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Explore human anatomy and physiology using models. Scholars study systems of the human body and design a display for a museum exhibit. To complete the activity, individuals create analogous models of their chosen human body systems.
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Unit Plan
Tech Museum of Innovation

Analogous Models

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
What goes into a museum display? A secondary-level STEM project prompts groups to design a museum display for the Tech Museum of Innovation. They create an analogous, interactive model illustrating a science concept to complete the lesson.
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Lesson Plan
Tech Museum of Innovation

Tree House Escape

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Use simple machines to escape from a tree house. Pupils learn about simple machines and how they are useful in everyday life in a STEM lesson plan. Groups then design a device to rescue a friend stuck in a tree house.
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Lesson Plan
Tech Museum of Innovation

Balloon Astronaut

For Teachers 2nd - 8th Standards
Design protection from high-speed particles. The STEM lesson plan highlights why astronauts need protection from space debris. Pupils use the design process to design, build, and test a spacesuit that will protect a balloon from a...
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Lesson Plan
Facing History and Ourselves

Fishbowl Discussion

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Filter young teenagers' opinions and perspectives with a classic fishbowl discussion. Given any topic relevant to your curriculum, a group of class members engage in discussion for their peers to observe.
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Workbook
Simcoe County District School Board

Literature Circles

For Students 4th - 8th Standards
Get learners excited about reading with literature circles! Small groups discuss the day's reading in various roles, including Discussion Director, Summarizer, Word Wizard, Literary Luminary, Travel Tracer, Connector, and Fact Finder,...
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Lesson Plan
Generation Nation

Propaganda

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
How does propaganda influence our vote? Through grand conversation, scholars gain information about what is and how to identify the different ways propaganda is used in a presidential election. Using their new-found knowledge, citizens...
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Unit Plan
Curated OER

Teaching Debate to ESL Students

For Teachers 7th - 10th Standards
Language learners use the debate format to practice formulating, expressing, and defending their ideas. Working in teams, class members develop resolutions, use opinion indicators to express their opinions and reasons, and prepare...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Lightning Thief: During Reading Strategy

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
After reading up to page 371 of Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, get insight into how Percy felt making a major decision through active discussion strategies that enable both academic and thoughtful...
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Lesson Plan
Inter-Lakes School District

4 Corner Debate

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Strongly agree? Agree? Disagree? Or strongly disagree? Here's a 4 Corner Debate format that requires class members to collaborate and build an argument to support their stance on a controversial issue.
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Printables
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Curriculum Corner

8th Grade ELA "I Can" Statement Posters

For Teachers 8th Standards
Eighth grades can master the ELA Common Core standards! Show your learners the connection between classroom activities and assignments and the standards with this set of "I Can" statement posters. Each standard has been rewritten as an...
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Printables
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Curriculum Corner

8th Grade ELA Common Core Checklists

For Teachers 8th Standards
How close are your eighth graders to mastering the ELA Common Core standards? Keep an eye on progress with these charts, which include every eighth grade identifier and full standard text. As you move through the year and teach, reteach,...
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Activity
Curated OER

Create Your Own Country Project

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
Young scholars demonstrate their knowledge of geography with this fun, collaborative social studies project. Working in small groups, students develop their very own countries, writing descriptions of their physical location, social...
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Lesson Plan4:55
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Curated OER

Our Classroom Constitution

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Develop a system of classroom rules created by the kids, for the kids with this three-part lesson series on the US Constitution. After learning about the structure of the Constitution and the government it established, young scholars...
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Printables
Ed Galaxy

Think Before You Speak Poster

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
"Think before you speak." Make this direction more meaningful for your young learners by using think as a guide for respectful speech. This is a great poster to reference during class discussions, conflict resolutions, or whenever anyone...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Selecting the Tap: Water Safety

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Examine water as a scarce natural resource instead of taking it for granted. Middle schoolers identify the traits of potable water, and research local water sources to determine if they are impaired or not.
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Oral Presentation

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Practice public speaking in this oral presentation lesson plan. Middle schoolers list the characteristics of a powerful speaker. They watch a video of two speakers, compare them and discuss the qualities of a good speech. Afterwards,...
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Lesson Plan
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Common Sense Media

Cyberbullying: Be Upstanding

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Peers discuss cyberbullying and how they can defend their friends that may be bullied online and offline. They discover the value in showing empathy for those who have been cyberbullied. Class members then generate multiple solutions for...
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Lesson Plan
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Common Sense Media

Identifying High-Quality Sites

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Use a Huffington Post article focused on false pictures of Hurricane Sandy to launch a discussion about the reliability of online information. Groups compare and contrast how print and broadcast media regulate data gathering with the...