California Academy of Science
Ocean Acidification Mock Conference
In a comprehensive role playing activity, teens play the parts of different stakeholders in the realm of acidic oceans. They research, debate, and create a presentation from the perspective of either ocean organisms, the fishing...
SeaWorld
Marvelous Manatees
Here is an interesting activity on the manatee for your upper graders or middle schoolers. A game is played where learners work together to complete a successful manatee migration. It's a board game, and all of the game components are...
VH1
Lesson 3: Marketing of Pop Music
Pop music and marketing are thrown into the mix to make a fun and engaging lesson. Learners listen to several pop songs and discuss the differences in musical style. They then get into groups and work together to decide how they are...
The New York Times
Stress Less: Understanding How Your Mind and Body Respond to Anxiety
What could be more relevant to teens and preteens than experiencing stress? Use an article from the New York Times website to practice valuable Common Core skills for informational text reading, and also get a discussion going in your...
Curated OER
Getting Help: Food Stamps and Nutrition Programs
Here is another lesson regarding the law. This time, the laws that dictate eligibility for food stamps is the focus. After an initial discussion about the basics of the laws, learners do a case study of a family who is applying for food...
Curated OER
Termination of Parental Rights
Learners study the causes for a juvenile court to terminate all rights of a parent to a child. They do case studies of a few examples of this scenario taking place. This instructional activity invites quite a bit of debate amongst the...
Curated OER
Air Pollution in Mexico City
A fantastic lesson plan on urban air pollution problems throughout the world is here for you. Learners understand that there are many factors involved in creating pollution, that there are many health effects brought on by air pollution,...
Curated OER
What's Wong? What's Right?
Explore the ethics, responsibilities, and impacts of the career cluster that relates to law. Learners examine various cases where legal action was taken and resulted in a consequence. They'll act out various scenarios, research jobs in...
Curated OER
The Zabbaleen, Cairo's Garbage Workers
Here is a fascinating human geography study of the Zabbaleen. They are a sub-class of people who work as garbage collectors in Cairo, Egypt. I can't say enough good things about this resource in my limited space here. It is fabulous! If...
Curated OER
Scaling it Down: Caves Have Maps, Too
Measurement and map skills are the focus of this lesson, where students crawl through a "cave" made out of boxes, desks and chairs, observing the dimensions. Your young geographers measure various aspects of the cave and practice math...
Curated OER
Double Jeopardy Clause: A Fifth Amendment Constitution Trivia Game
Here is a wonderful way to introduce your learners to the Fifth Amendment of the Bill of Rights. There are 16 questions designed to generate thinking and discussion questions about the Fifth Amendment. This lesson is extremely...
Curated OER
Hemispheres: People and Place
Here is an astounding series of lessons, designed for high schoolers, on environmental policy. By studying water conservation in rural India, the role of the government, and the reaction of the people, learners begin to formulate...
Curated OER
Biography Chat
Young scholars profile a mock television talk-show format to conduct mock interviews with famous people in history. Students read biographies of famous people in history. Young scholars assemble questions for interviews.
Curated OER
Yellow Pages Ad-dition
Students determine the revenue generated by sample pages from the Yellow Pages. They discuss the value of advertising a business in this venue. They use the local telephone directory and some fictitious ad rates to lead their inquiry.
Curated OER
Yesterday in Energy
Clever! Collaborative groups of environmental scientists create a museum exhibit and presentation for an energy-using activity such as heating a home or transportation. They must compare past to present use of energy for that particular...
Curated OER
Sensational Soil
Fourth and fifth graders explore soil by taking a simulated field trip under the earth. They go to an Internet site that runs a simulation which charges them with finding a source of pollution that could destroy all of Earth's soil, and...
Curated OER
Keep Your Eye On the Prize
High schoolers learn about citizens who were actively involved in the civil rights movement, and the strategies they used to overcome the Jim Crow laws that were so prevalent in the 1960s. They investigate the voting amendments of the US...
Curated OER
Three Dimensional Geology
Here is a fine lesson plan on geology designed for high schoolers. Learners use rocks, fossils, and other geological clues to determine the geology of an area. Then, they make recommendations to a fictitious city council about the...
Curated OER
How Old Is Illinois?
High schoolers use fossils found in rocks to determine the age of the strata between Rock Island and Chicago. Pupils pretend they are geologists. They must determine the age of all rock layers between the Mississippi River and Lake...
Curated OER
Globalization Comes to the Table
Students, in groups, research the issues surrounding one of several controversies involving food and globalization. Then they debate their position and show a PowerPoint presentation at a mock summit meeting.
Core Knowledge Foundation
Marching into Civil War Times: Little Women, Past and Present
Here is a fine unit of lessons which compare and contrast the culture during the time period of the classic book, Little Women to present day. Topics covered are the family, politics, morality, fashion, transportation, cities, historical...
Curated OER
Where'd You Get Those Genes?
Really a unit, this resource exposes middle schoolers to genetics at their level. They read interviews and biographies, trace a family tree, play games that simulate inheritance concepts, and more! Teacher's procedures, student...
Curated OER
Lesson: Looking Closer: The Artwork of Wangechi Mutu
Social issues of gender and media stereotypes, begins with a multi-sensory experience. Learners view the painting Backlash Blues and make critical comments based on what they see. They then read the Langston Hughes poem and listen to the...
Curated OER
Atomic Musical Chairs
An engaging activity enlightens young chemists in this lesson on atomic structure. They play musical chairs through a series of concentric circles that represent electon orbitals. A laundry basket in the middle holds the protons and...