Curated OER
Mystery Lessons
Learn about mysteries with your readers. They will investigate plot, basic elements of mystery, famous characters, and become familiar with genre vocabulary. Bring in props and mystery books to begin and then have learners create story...
Curated OER
THE IDITAROD RACE STATIONS
Students are introduced to the Alaskan Iditarod Race and then they visit ten stations/checkpoints in the gym where they perform various physical activities based on the race.
Curated OER
Math for the Frontier
Make history come to life by using the Frontier House series to engage students in the past. Your class will "prepare" for a trip to 1833 Montana. They will learn about homesteading, frontier life, inflation, and cost of living. Using...
Carolina K-12
Active Citizenship in After School
Active citizenship is the bedrock of any great democracy. Continue the trend by teaching the next generation about voting rights and the functions of elections in society. The variety of activities in the resource includes a human...
Smithsonian Institution
Trait Tracker
Help mice beat the odds with an exciting activity about traits. Biologists discover the role of diet and other factors on animal traits by participating in a simulation activity. Teams collect and evaluate data to understand how certain...
US Department of Commerce
Apportionment: Grades 3-4
Apportionment is a big word for young pupils. Use a helpful cartoon video and worksheet with data set to help them understand how the census fuels representative democracy. After examining how the census determines the number of seats a...
National Wildlife Federation
Pollinator's Journey: Grades K-4
What's it like to migrate as a pollinator? Teachers provide direct instruction about the roles of pollinators such as butterflies on plants along with the threats they encounter. The class then acts out a story of the migration of bats...
National Wildlife Federation
Habitat for Sale
Where would this animal like to live? Pupils choose an animal and write an ad to advertise that animal's habitat or home. For a little fun, learners create the newspaper ads to provide enough detail for classmates to guess what animal...
California Academy of Science
Moons in Comparison
Just how big is Earth's moon? With a hands-on simulation, scholars use Play-Doh to model the sizes of the planets Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and their moons. They make predictions as a class, work together to make their models, and discuss...
Space Awareness
What is a Constellation
Why do some stars in a constellation appear brighter than others? Using a get-up-and-move astronomy activity, scholars explore perspective and the appearance of constellations in the sky while developing an understanding of the...
Bringing History Home
Ellis Island Simulation
Young historians step into the shoes of immigrants coming to Ellis Island. A simulation creates an experience in which participants visit several rooms, go through an interview process, and receive a stamp in their passport—either making...
West Corporation
Making Inferences – Use Your Mind to Read!
How can you tell if someone is happy? The lesson works with elementary and middle school scholars to activate their schema and pay attention to details to make inferences in their daily lives, poetry, and other literature. Cleverly...
NASA
Eclipse Activity Guide
Ever made solar s'mores? Or recreated the solar system using peanuts? Astronomers young and old investigate all things solar using a variety of activities. Explore how the sun works, types of light it emits, and methods of charting the...
Rainforest Alliance
How Do Jaguars and Howler Monkeys in Belize Depend on Us?
How does weather play a role in the lives of land and sea creatures? Find out with a lesson focused on habitats and the ways animals from different homes are connected. Here, learners explore how the life of a jaguar and howler monkey...
NASA
Project X-51
In a nose-cone to nose-cone competition, which rocket will prevail? Teams form rocket companies to design and build a rocket while competing against other teams in an economic challenge. The team that comes up with the best benefit/cost...
Curated OER
Hazards: Second Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Equip learners with safety knowledge in the case of an earthquake. After coloring the places to go to get help after a quake, and label places that wouldn't be safe to go after a quake, young geologists simulate three levels of...
Curated OER
Volcanoes: Second Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Young geologists explore volcanoes with a series of engaging geology activities. First, they learn the difference between magma and lava before coloring and labeling the parts of a volcano. During the lab, individuals watch a...
Curated OER
Plate Tectonics: Third Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Third graders examine plate movements and boundaries with a lab that demonstrates how volcanoes and earthquakes are formed. It presents different types of stresses an object can withstand through a hands-on experiment with clay to...
NASA
The Case of the Wacky Water Cycle
Join the tree house detectives in learning about the processes of the water cycle, water conservation, water treatment, and water as a limited resource.
Curated OER
Moon Mining
Go on a moon mining expedition from the safety of your classroom with this space exploration simulation. Using simple models of the moon's surface prepared ahead of time by the teacher, young scientists are challenged with locating and...
Curated OER
Those Who Have Come Before Me
Class members are transformed into explorers as they work in groups to locate hidden items and map their journey along the way. They then leave clues for other groups of students to follow, and ultimately discover how past explorations...
National Constitution Center
Fourth of July (Grades 3-5)
Bring history to life for your young scholars with a Fourth of July lesson series. After a class reading of the Declaration of Independence, students translate this pivotal document into layman's terms before working in small groups to...
NOAA
Sustaining Our Ocean Resources
Lead young scientists on an investigation of fishery practices with the final installment of this four-part unit. Using a PowerPoint presentation and hands-on simulation, this instructional activity engages children in learning how fish...
NOAA
Seafood and Human Health
Whether your young biologists realize it or not, humans play a significant role in marine ecosystems. To help them understand this fact children first create graphical representations that show homo sapiens' place in marine food chains,...