NASA
Space Shuttle Glider
Your charges will enjoy putting together this model of the space shuttle and completing the three challenge activities described in the lesson plan. The worksheets embedded in the plan that pupils use to cut out their gliders are...
SeaWorld
Bird Biology
Here you will find two good activities designed for young learners. In the first one, pupils explore the fact that all birds have feathers, and they discover what two uses those feathers have. After the discussion, the kids color in a...
Thirteen Ed Online
What is Conceptual Art?
Research, art history, and web page creation! Sounds too good to be true. With tons of links and resources, the instructional activity provides you with everything needed to engage the class in an amazing art and research activity. They...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Attitude Determines Altitude
A fabulous lesson which combines mathematics with space science. Middle schoolers work in cooperative groups in order to research early astronauts and their accomplishments. They look at a variety of rocket and space shuttle designs, and...
Curated OER
Teaching "A Week in the Woods"
The book, A Week in the Woods is the focus of the very interesting language arts lesson presented here. After the book has been read, learners engage in study of certain parts of the book in order to gain a better understanding of how...
Annenberg Foundation
Service Learning in the Social Studies
Active Citizenship Today (ACT) is a "unique social studies service learning program" that requires students to learn about the public policy associated with community issues they identify in their local community. This web site provides...
Fraction Bars
Subtraction of Decimals
Here is a fabulous lesson on subtracting decimals with different numbers of decimal places. There are teacher-led activities for learners to engage in, including, modeling decimal subtraction through decimal squares, looking at place...
Fraction Bars
Multiplying Fractions Times Whole Numbers and Fractions
Fifth graders make the connections using models between multiplying a fraction times a whole number and multiplying a fraction times a fraction. After completing three teacher-led activities, pupils access a website on their own to play...
Curated OER
Subtracting Fractions - Unequal Denominators
Subtracting fractions that have unequal denominators is a tricky process. The lesson utilizes fraction bars as a manipulative, in order to understand subtracting fractions and estimating differences. After completing three activities in...
Time Warp Trio
The Caveman Catastrophe
Young archaeologists study the development of human history, and work in groups to create a timeline that traces the development of humans. Additionally, the groups utilize a very clever graphic organizer embedded in the plan in order to...
Curated OER
Persuasion as Text: Organizational, Grammatical, and Lexical Moves in Barbara Jordan’s "All Together Now"
A thorough lesson plan on persuasive writing takes middle schoolers through several activities, including group discussion, collaborative posters, and independent writing. They compare historical speeches and analyze the persuasive...
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
Media Literacy in Presentations
Middle schoolers study the three types of mass media messages: visual media, written media, and audio media. After a class discussion which has them list examples of each, learners get into pairs and work on analyzing the "Four A's" in...
Curated OER
Using Context Clues
Middle schoolers receive a handout that lists the five types of context clues. The class divides up into groups of three or four, and each group chooses five unfamiliar words. They write a multiple-choice question for each of their five...
NASA
The X-1 Paper Glider Kit
After reading an interesting account of how the X-1 aircraft was designed, built, and utilized, young engineers try their hand at constructing a paper glider version of the airplane. They cut out the plane out of a nicely designed...
NASA
The Wright Quest
A very impressive lesson plan on the Wright brothers and their place in aviation history. Learners discover many fascinating facts about the Wright brothers and their trials and errors regarding flight. Best of all, they get to build a...
Curated OER
Weather: A Global Awareness Tour
Upper graders and middle schoolers make up a scenario of planning outdoor concert locations for their favorite musical group. They do this by looking into the weather patterns in a variety of tropical regions. They research where and...
SeaWorld
Shark!
Here is an impressive collection of lessons on sharks. In them, pupils undertake a serious study of sharks, their habitats, their social structure, and how humans adversely impact their existence. These lessons effectively integrate...
Yale University
Islamic Art; Exploring the Visual Arts of the Middle East
The intent of this unit is to demonstrate some of the traditional arts of the Middle East. Extensive background information on the religion, culture, and nature of Islamic art found throughout the Middle East is provided. Each of the...
WeTransfer BV
Paper by FiftyThree
There is no such thing as someone who is not artistic when using this app. In fact, this is the type of app that makes you want to go out and buy a tablet computer. Whether you have a creative lesson planned, or just need a place to take...
Curated OER
Descending to the Challenge: Developing Documentaries About the Deep Ocean
The video clip that comprises the warm up is not available, but the related article from The New York Times and the movie trailer for Aliens of the Deep are, leaving enough material to make this a fascinating instructional activity on...
Curated OER
Harnessing Solar Energy
Middle schoolers discover the properties of light (radiant) energy from the sun by experimenting with solar collectors, cookers, and calculators. After a lecture/demo, students create their own solar collectors and test their efficiency.
Curated OER
Urban Ecosystems 5: In Defense Of Cities
Students explain that while cities have unattractive features, the density of human life enables energy efficiency, mass transit, recycling, and other benefits which are difficult or impossible in rural areas. This is the fifth in an...
Curated OER
Tree Diversity Activity
Class members become tree huggers with this terrific study of biodiversity among trees! They do so by examining different characteristics of trees: shape, leaves, bark, fruit or seeds, etc. After examining five concepts, they use their...