US National Library of Medicine
Science and Society: Preventing the Spread of Disease
Looking for a valuable resource on the spread of infectious diseases? Here is a lesson in which pupils simulate the spread of diseases and learn about how to prevent them from spreading. Class members read case studies about diseases,...
NASA
Tools of the Trade
Did you know every state in the U.S. has at least one observatory? During the activity, scholars research the cost of building and maintaining an observatory. They must present their information in a proposal to build a new observatory,...
Virginia Department of Education
Current Applications in Science
High schoolers may claim to have no interest in scientific revelations and discoveries, but watch how quickly they download a new app onto their state-of-the-art smartphones. Scholars discuss the scientific or technological...
Institute for Applied Ecology
From Salmonberry to Sagebrush - Exploring Oregon’s Native Plants
Take a deep dive into Oregon's ecosystems, plants, and changes from the past to the future. Many hands-on activities in an environmental science unit delight scholars, including creating a field guide for a local park. The in-depth study...
Dawn N . Ericson
California Kelp Forest Restoration
This unit is so cool, you won't be able to "kelp" yourself! Intended for all grades, this science and activity guide for teachers offers a unique opportunity to understand kelp's role as a valuable ecological resource. Teachers and...
Association of American Geographers
Project GeoSTART
Investigate the fascinating, yet terrifying phenomenon of hurricanes from the safety of your classroom using this earth science unit. Focusing on developing young scientists' spacial thinking skills, these lessons engage...
Polar Trec
What Is My Footprint?
How do one's habits and lifestyle choices affect the environment? Through a short online survey, learners will calculate their own carbon footprints then determine how to reduce their impact on the environment through simple steps, such...
Curated OER
Hess's Law
Pupils solve chemical equations. In this chemistry lesson, they balance chemical equations after completing a lab. They can use a TI for this assignment.
Curated OER
Energy Content of Foods
Learners collect data, organize and analyze the data and compare it to real life scenarios. This assignment requires two class periods.
Curated OER
Introduction to Electric Circuits
High schoolers explore using a circuit board in this physics lesson. They will analyze current and battery set up on a circuit board. Teachers check the board before the students experiment.
Curated OER
Keep it Bottled Up: Linear Rates of Pressure Increase
Pupils explore linear functions in this lesson when they collect and analyze data as a chemical reaction proceeds. Learners record pressure versus time data and model the data as a linear function. They also examine the concept of slope...
Curated OER
Falling Objects
High schoolers examine the velocities of two different falling objects. They produce distance vs. time and velocity vs. time graphs using a Motion Detector and a CBL 2 to collect experimental data. Learners analyze and interpret the...
Curated OER
When the Snow is as High as an Elephant
High schoolers study the concept of mean values using a data plot. Learners enter the given data in the activity to create their data table. They use the data table to calculate the mean of the snowfall percentage provided in the...
Curated OER
Corn-Crop is a Bin-Buster
Learners calculate percent change and create lists of data. They enter the corresponding bushels of corn measured in billions to their list and display, then convert the acres into scientific notation and use the value on the home screen...
Curated OER
Angling for Distance
Explore the concept of projectile distance through determining the angle that will provide the maximum distance of a launched projectile. Students launch baseballs on a football field and video tape the path of the ball.
Virtual Salt
Virtual Salt: Introduction to Critical Thinking
An introduction to the concept of Critical Thinking examines the true definition and gives examples where it can be used as a constructive force.
Google
Google for Education: Finding Patterns in Spelling Errors and History
In this lesson plan, students analyze spelling errors and large sets of data to find patterns, develop abstractions, and discover how large amounts of data can tell us much about our society.
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Evaluating Digital Information: Tutorial
In this slideshow tutorial, students will review how to evaluate digital sources. During the digital evaluation process, students are directed to analyze the following: authority, accuracy, objectivity, and currency. After the tutorial,...
Other
The Critical Thinking Community: Tactical and Structural Recommendations
16 brilliant suggestions for creating critical thought in the classroom.
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Think Clearly: Analyze Support a Position[pdf]
This Center for Urban Education resource provides a downloadable worksheet. Students will read a nonfiction article and then write about scaffolded prompts that will help them determine the strength of evidence presented in the argument.
Online Writing Lab at Purdue University
Purdue University Owl: Analyzing Your Primary Data
This entry focuses on analyzing primary data including interviews, surveys, and observations. It also warns against over-generalization and explains the advantages of the triangulation of data.
Stanford University
Stanford U.: Evaluating Information: The Cornerstone of Civic Online Reasoning
This report from the Stanford History Education Group describes the conclusions of their work in field testing a set of assessments of civic online reasoning by young people from the middle school to the college level. Middle school...
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Analysis of Relative Values of Specific Data, Facts, and Ideas
[Accessible by TX Educators. Free Registration/Login Required] In this lesson, students can practice finding specific types of sources and learn the questions to ask when evaluating information for a persuasive essay.
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Differentiate Among Empirical, Anecdotal, and Logical Evidence
[Accessible by TX Educators. Free Registration/Login Required] In this lesson, students will learn about three types of evidence that writers often rely on: logical, empirical, and anecdotal. It will also help you distinguish among these...