Smithsonian Institution
Watching Crystals Grow
Amazing science can sometimes happen right before your eyes! The class gets cozy as they watch crystals grow. They use Epsom salts, rocks, and food coloring to create crystals. They'll observe the entire process, documenting every step...
Curated OER
On the Track With NASCAR
Students complete a variety of activities to research stock car racing. They use the Internet to research NASCAR acronyms, schedules, results, car design and other aspects.
Curated OER
Integrating the Craft of Writing into Physical Education
Incorporate writing into your physical education class. In groups, learners unscramble a list of words related to exercise and use them in their journal writings. Using their name, they write one word related to physical activity that...
Curated OER
Pam Wu's Teaching Portfolio
Young scholars explore the concept of long division. In this long division lesson, students use multiples to work out division problems. Young scholars also complete a worksheet for students to practice this new skill.
Curated OER
How To Identify Figurative Language
Students investigate writing techniques by analyzing a chart. In this figurative language lesson, students define similes, metaphors and identify the difference between them and personification. Students demonstrate their understanding...
Curated OER
Problem Solving: Equal Groups Problems
For this equal groups worksheet, students read the word problems and learn to use equal group numbers to solve the six word problems.
Curated OER
EXCEL It!
Students surf the Web gathering information about graphs. The data collected is incorporated into an Excel spreadsheet and graphs of varying nature generated to further enhance student understanding.
Curated OER
Sew, You Want To Quilt?
Students become familiar with the achievements of the artist Faith Ringgold. They take notice of the patterns in their environment. They connect the mathematical concept of patterns to create a class quilt.
Curated OER
Hands On: Plot Points on a Coordinate Grid
In this solving coordinate grid word problem activity, students plot points, order pairs, identify horizontal and vertical lines, and find distances to solve problems. Students solve six problems.
Curated OER
Is London Bridge Really Going to Fall Down?
Students discover what forces work together to hold up a suspension bridge. They see various bridges around the world, and learn the basic principles that enable each bridge to support itself. Groups design their own bridge, testing how...
Curated OER
Baga Drum
Students examine a Baga Drum in order to explore the history of the Baga people of West Africa. In this art history lesson, students recognize figures used in Baga Drum design that represent aspects of Baga culture. They also design and...
Curated OER
Change Mixer
Students use their abilities to recognize coins and their values in this game that focuses on locomotor skills (skip, slide, gallop, run, jump). This game also requires students to add coin values.
Curated OER
Tessellations
Fifth graders investigate the relationship between math and art by examining patterns and polygons.They examine how polygons make up the patterns that form tessellations, and determine tessellations that occur in nature. Finally, they...
Curated OER
School Renovation - What's Your Idea?
Learners discuss the upcoming renvoations to their school. As a class, they develop their own proposals for what they would like to have available to them. Using a digital camera, they take pictures of the new school and compare them...
Curated OER
Energy Forms
Learners explore energy by participating in a science lab in class. For this energy form lesson, students define the different types of energy such as light, mechanical and sound while examining energy measuring tools in class. Learners...
Curated OER
Best Friend - Friend from Hell
Learners practice in a number of areas: expressing opinions, using comparatives and superlatives, descriptive adjectives and reported speech. The overall concept of this instructional activity can be applied to many other topics of...
Curated OER
The Westward Movement
Students study the westward movement through examining stamps. In this westward movement lesson plan, students draw conclusions, determine cause and effect relationships and examine the westward movement of the United States by...
Curated OER
Fossils Footprints Across Time
Students examine fossils to understand how they are formed and how they give information about geological history. For this fossil lesson, students research and write about fossils and make models of different fossil types.The PDF...
Curated OER
Plants and Animals, Partners in Pollination
Students participate in multiple hands-on activities to explore reproduction and pollination. In groups, using a cotton swab and powder, students simulate being pollinators and plants. They name the parts of the flowers and the function...
Curated OER
The Path of Electrons
Students engage in an interactive "hot potato" demonstration to gain an appreciation for the flow of electrons through a circuit. They role play the different parts of a simple circuit and send small items representing electrons (paper...
Curated OER
Translucent, Transparent and Opaque Objects
Students examine different objects. For this appearance lesson, students watch a video about translucent, transparent and opaque objects. Students work in pairs to examine a bag of objects and then discuss the results.
Curated OER
Mapping India
Students participate in an activity in which they place placards listing geographic features, landmarks, etc. in the correct place on a large fabric map of a given country. They also examine artifacts, photos, sounds/music, etc. from...
Curated OER
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur
Students participate in various activities which address Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. In this holiday lesson plan, students are exposed to Hebrew songs and construct Haiku poems about Yom Kippur.
Curated OER
Understanding Place Value
Fifth graders study place value. After forming teams, they play a game called, "Who Can Line Up the Number." Students observe numbers in expanded form and place representative digits in the correct order.