American Institute of Architects
Architecture: It's Elementary!—First Grade
Build an interest and appreciation for architecture in your young learners with this fun 10-lesson art unit. Engaging children in using their five senses, the class first observes the environment around them, paying special attention to...
Education World
Thinking About Thanksgiving: Lessons Across the Curriculum
Bring two integrated curriculum resources about Thanksgiving to an elementary social studies unit. The first activity focuses on Squanto's contributions to the early Pilgrims' survival with a gardening activity in which learners add fish...
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
What’s the Smallest Thing You Know?
Elementary learners listen to a story, then sort objects from largest to smallest at six different stations around the classroom. Adaptable for a large range of age and ability groups.
Michigan State University
Gases Matter
Young scientists learn that seeing isn't necessarily believing when it comes to the states of matter. After performing a fun class demonstration that models the difference between solids, liquids, and gases, children complete a series of...
Curated OER
Butterfly Lesson 2 - Monarch Caterpillar
Students study the Monarch Butterfly life cycle. For this Monarch Butterfly lesson, students examine what happens prior to a caterpillar hatching, how often it sheds its skin, and what the caterpillar goes through when it is preparing to...
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
Shrink Me!
The incredibly shrinking meter—decimeters to centimeters, to millimeters, and now to nanometers! Learners may have a difficult time visualizing particles on a nanoscale. Help them see a little clearer using a well-designed lesson that...
Curated OER
Cross (Curricular) Fit
Get up and move with a set of cross-curricular activities designed for math, social studies, or science classes. Each physical education exercise is paired with a concept from a different discipline, including the geography of the Mali...
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
Scale Models
With instructions to adapt the activities for any grade K-12, any teacher can incorporate the concept of scale into the classroom with a simple, yet effective lesson.
National Security Agency
Expanding Place Value
Learners explore place value. This incredibly thorough and valuable mathematics instructional activity, has students make a number wheel to assist in the completion of a Place Value worksheet. Students use manipulatives and a place value...
Curated OER
Race the Track! Design Challenge
Learners use the design process to investigate physical science. In this force and motion activity, design a track to achieve a specified outcome. Students complete additional experiments with speed and distance. Learners recognize the...
Curated OER
Shape Lessons That Connect
Shape lessons provide a way for students to learn about art, science, and math.
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
What’s In Your Neighborhood?
Chart your way to an understanding of nanoscale. Using a Google map, learners estimate a radius around their location of 1,000 and 1,000,000 meters. Predicting what 1,000,000,000 meters would look like takes them off the charts!...
Curated OER
Introducing Models to Elementary School Students
Young scholars explore the concept of models. In this model lesson, students examine 3-dimensional models of various objects and body parts to better understand the natural world.
Education World
Predicting Pumpkins
If you want more pumpkin seeds, you should get a bigger pumpkin—right? Young harvesters use estimation skills to make a hypothesis about how many seeds they will find in a pumpkin before examining the real number inside.
Curated OER
Sorting
A lesson on classification and sorting is here for you. Elementary schoolers participate in an interactive computer game in which they sort books by theme. They take a trip to the library to observe and discuss how books are sorted, and...
Curated OER
Valentine Candy Count
Here is an imaginative take on a classic lesson! Young scholars discover what color Valentine Candy is found more often than any other in a standard bag of Valentine Conversation Hearts. They observe, predict, sort, and classify the data...
Curated OER
Activity Guide for Snow
Create a cross-curricular learning experience around a shared reading of Cynthia Rylant's book Snow. From writing poetry and a singing a song about snow, to creating paper snowflakes and solving math story problems, this resource uses...
Curated OER
Big Time Lessons
Teaching students about time can provide a way to talk about sundials, different types of clocks, and even time travel.
Curated OER
Storms and Extreme Weather
Students explore hurricanes and tornadoes by conducting an experiment. For this weather pattern lesson, students define many extreme weather vocabulary terms and discuss the relationship with static electricity. Students utilize plastic...
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
The Micro and Macro World Around Us
Don't let your eyes play tricks on you ... use scale to keep your eyes in check! Young scholars observe images without scale and try to identify the structure. Then, they look at the same image with a scale bar and assess whether their...
Curated OER
Flight Dreams - Folding into Flight
Combine measurement, following directions, physics, and art with one fun activity. Learners read a set of instruction to create three different kinds of paper airplanes. They measure, fold, and fly the planes, and record data and answer...
Curated OER
Measure Up!
Discover ways to measure items without standard tools. In this measurements lesson, learners estimate how long certain objects are by measuring with a non-standard measuring tool. Students check their estimates with a ruler and share...
Curated OER
How Does Your Garden Grow?
Students construct and maintain a school garden. In this gardening lesson, students plan the construction of the garden by writing letters to local businesses asking for supplies and materials; students build the garden using their math...
Curated OER
Flight Dreams - Flight Factors
Young scholars investigate the physics of flight by experimenting in class. In this history of flight lesson, students define terms such as gravity, lift, and drag in order to better understand how a plane is able to stay in the air....