Curated OER
Rainforest (Elementary, Social Studies)
Explore the rainforest with your class. Learners study the meaning of the word endangered, choose an animal to study, gather data, and discuss why the animal is in danger of extinction. This is a motivating way to have your class discuss...
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Pack your Parfleche!
Imagine you are a Plains Indian, a nomad getting ready to follow a herd of buffalo. Now imagine what you would have to pack for your trip. Little ones examine images of a traditional parfleche (packing box), and then create packing lists...
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What Kind of Vessel Are You?
This is a strange question; but what kind of vessel would you be and why? After examining images of a large Inca jug, the class sets to writing a creative narrative that answers that very interesting question. They start by researching...
Channel Islands Film
Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island: Lesson Plan 4
Imagine being stranded all alone on an island for 18 years. How would you survive? Class members are challenged to makes necessities out of natural materials that would likely be found on an island.
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The Great Barracuda
Students explore oceanography by researching the great barracuda. In this animal life lesson, students read several vocabulary terms dealing with ocean life and examine a drawing of a barracuda. Students examine the many...
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Clearly Classified
Young scholars review the classification system for living organisms and apply it the classification of insects and flowers in the still life by Ambrosius Bosschaert. They create a chart classifying the animals and plants in the painting...
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Seashell Homes
Pupils listen to a story about seashells. They discuss shelled animals. Learners describe the function of seashell. Pupils relate the function of a seashell to their own dwelling. They differentiate between shelled animals that make...
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Marshland Ecosystems
Students identify animals in ecosystem depicted on 16th Century ceramic basin and classify them as herbivores, carnivores, or omnivores based on physical characteristics and prior knowledge, determine which life forms in ecosystem are...
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18th Century Microscope
Students examine a microscope from the 18th century. In this microscope lesson, students investigate how it works, what it was used for and how the tool has evolved through the years. Students also build knowledge on how compound...
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Plants and Animals: Partners in Pollination
Students describe the complementary relationships between pollinators and the plants they pollinate, identify adaptations that flowers have developed to "encourage" pollination, and create and draw their own "designer" flowers.
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Indiana Travel Guide
Fourth graders share their information about their home state. In this research lesson, 4th graders use graphic organizers to make a travel guide about the state of Indiana. This lesson could be modified for use with any state, it also...
American Institute of Architects
Architecture: It's Elementary!—Fifth Grade
Young citizens construct an understanding of urban planning in this cross-curricular unit. Covering every aspect of city development from the political, economic, and social influences to sustainable building practices, this...
Curated OER
The Cleaning Station
Students study cleaning stations. In this science activity, students make a painting of a fish known as cleaners which take dead skin off of other fish.
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Constellation Companions
Students research the star composition for a constellation after a brainstorming session suggesting why humans have organized the night sky into constellation patterns. They use the research to create their own constellation and myth...
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Constellation Companions
Learners identify constellations and the characteristics of the stars that compose them. In this space science instructional activity, students view depictions of Ursa Major and Ursa Minor in the book Astronomical Micelleny. Learners...
Curated OER
Starring...Bears!
Students illustrate a First Nations' legend. For this legend of bears lesson, students read several legends which involve bears and groups of stars or constellations. After reading, students illustrate portions of the stories....
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Marshland Ecosystem
Students classify animals based on their physical characteristics and eating habits. In this animal identification lesson plan, students investigate the life forms shown on a Parisian ceramic basin, and discover ecosystem the...
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Japan: Images of a People
Students learn the geography of Japan and its location in reference to the United States.
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Medieval Natural Resources
Students discuss and view examples of the illuminated manuscripts that were created during medieval times and into the Renaissance. In small groups, they research the resources that were used to create the manuscripts and classify them...
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Into the Spectacular Sea
Students research coral reefs as dynamic ecosystems and the part that each organism plays within that ecosystem. They create a mural of a coral reef.
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Rocky Observations
Students examine two images of rocks, make their own observations of individual rocks through drawing, and explain how the same observation skills can be used in the study of geology.
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Keeping Us in Stitches Activity: Hexagon Quilt Top Design
Learners examine how the hexagon shape can be a building block for quilt patterns. They view images of quilts, discuss symmetry and design patterns, and create and name an original quilt design.
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Sea Urchins - Diadema Antillarum
Students investigate oceanography by painting sea life. In this crustacean lesson, students identify sea urchins in our ocean environments and describe the functionality of their spherical-shaped bodies. Students design their own sea...
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Indiana Travel Guide
Fourth graders create a travel guide about the state of Indiana with 100% accuracy. They label the capital within the travel guide with 100% accuracy. Students label one major river in the right location with 100% accuracy. They circle...