Lesson Plan
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Land Use and Lawmaking in California

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Students investigate the laws of using land.  In this California Government lesson, students examine the many uses of land in California and find an environmental issue they care about.  Students write a letter to a politician...
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Working in Photographs

For Teachers K - 6th
Young scholars analyze illustrations of workers in the 19th and 20th centuries. In this social science lesson, students examine photographs of workers and identify the types of work that were available in the 19th century compared to the...
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Plants and Animals: Partners in Pollination

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
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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Colors

For Teachers K - 5th
Students learn about the Impressionist painters' use of color and how it connected to early nineteenth century scientific theories about color. For this colors lesson plan, students explore combinations of primary and secondary colors,...
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Mineral Scavenger Hunt

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students complete a scavenger hunt worksheet as they find examples in their classroom, at home, etc., of minerals. Excellent worksheet!
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Create a Classroom Exhibit: Rocks and Minerals

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students bring in rocks and minerals from home. They observe them and describe them carefully, completing a worksheet. Finally, a classroom exhibit is created.
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Letters from the Japanese American Internment

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Students examine letters of Japanese-American children during internment in World War II. They discover what it was like in the camps and how they were treated once they were released. They also view photographs of the camps.
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Plants and Animals, Partners in Pollination

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Learners 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...
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Capturing Light: The Science of Photography

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Students explore light, and how it travels in straight path, recognize that light-sensitive chemical processes can be used to create images using light as catalyst, discover that light can be refracted by convex lens to focus camera,...
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Finding Balance

For Teachers 3rd - 10th
Young scholars examine the relationships between force, mass and balance through the lens of clay sculpture. They discuss the definitions and concepts behind Newton's Third Law of motion then individually apply these principles to the...
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Clearly Classified

For Teachers 3rd - 10th
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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Rocks and Minerals

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students bring rocks and minerals from home to investigate in the classroom. In this rocks and minerals lesson plan, students observe all the rocks and minerals brought into the class and answer 7 questions about the features of the...
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The Westward Movement

For Teachers Pre-K - 8th
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...
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Diversity

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students access prior knowledge of the five senses and relate to students with disabilities. In this people with disabilities lesson, students research and use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast famous people and their...
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Lesson 1: The Image of Maine in Sinclair Lewis' Babbitt

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students study excerpts from Sinclair Lewis, "Babbitt" for its accuracy and socio-economic point of view. They rewrite a portion of "Babbit" using the point of view of a Maine guide.
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Marshland Ecosystems

For Teachers K - 12th
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

For Teachers K - 12th
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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Reading Between the Lines: Making Inferences About Idioms

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students discover idioms. In this inferencing lesson, students identify idioms from passages and infer meanings of unknown idioms using prior knowledge and experience.  Students write sentences using newly learned idioms. 
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Keith Haring Animations

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students create their own computer animations.
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Symbols to Sculptures

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Young scholars transform 2-dimensional drawings to synthesized, free standing 3-dimensional forms.
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Haring Placemats

For Teachers K - 5th
Students examine and discuss artwork by Keith Haring. They design and create a placemat, painting a design similar to Keith Haring's style of drawing.
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K Is for Keelboat

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders investigate the significance of the keelboat in the Lewis and Clark expedition. They define the key themes of the expedition and classify them in prescribed format, an ABC book.
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Honor Your Special Qualities

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students view different sculptures from artist Ronald Baron. They discuss what the sculpture depicts. They are to create a thank you trophy for someone they know. They are to focus on that person's special qualities.
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Slide into Achievement

For Teachers K - 5th
Students take close-ups and people pictures, and to use lighting. They evaluate the quality of their slides as they sequenced them for the three shows.