Curated OER
The Best of the Solar System (Grades 6-8)
Students are introduced to planetary research and become familiar with the planets and their features. They view images of the planets, and fill in an information chart which is imbedded in this plan.
Curated OER
Eyewitnesses to Change
Students explore recent changes in the Artic's climate that have been observed by Artic residents. They watch videos, take notes and create a concept map. They also look at historical weather data from a specific Artic community. The...
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Investigating the Earth-Moon-Sun System
Eighth graders research Native American legends involving the sun, moon, and stars and compare them to the origin of present day knowledge. They create a written report and make an oral presentation of their findings to the class.
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A Burning Desire to Move?
Students consider the dangers of living around active volcanoes. They develop media campaigns to encourage different groups of residents around Mount Vesuvius to consider moving.
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Herbs: Healthy Alternatives or Bad Medicine??
Pupils compare herbal and pharmaceutical remedies for common ailments.
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Moonwalking to Mars?
Pupils examine a quote from George W. Bush's recent speech on space exploration. They evaluate one writer's stance on Bush's space exploration goals by reading and discussing "Plea to Policy Makers: Let's Take Another Giant Step." In...
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Infectious Diseases
Eighth graders identify and explain how infectious diseases effect organ systems. Using an analogy with automobiles and body systems, they discover how one part influences the operation of the whole. Students write paragraphs about...
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Strong Chemistry
Students research and create a poster about a gemstone. In this mineral properties lesson, students view a video about diamonds. They discuss the properties of minerals and choose a gemstone to research and create a poster.
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What is a Medicine?
Students brainstorm ideas about what makes a substance a "medicine" to determine their preconceptions about medicines. They evaluate whether certain substances should be defined as "medicines' and examine various systems of medicine.
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Celebrating 100 Years of Flight
Students practice reading comprehension, note taking and writing skills. In this literacy and writing lesson, students read about the invention of airplanes, women pilots and the space race before writing their own news article on "100...
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Expanding the Mission: Historical Parks
Students explore U.S. geography by viewing a documentary in class. In this national parks lesson, students view video clips of individual national parks and locate them using Google Earth software. Students create a persuasive...
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How Old Is Old?
Pupils explore longevity in the United States and the impact of one living longer. Statistics are used to identify life expectancy of an individual from his or her birth. Gender differences are investigated.
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The Great Migration
Sixth graders explore the uses of herbal plants. They read the book Pharmacy in the Forest and discuss the vocabulary words that pertain to the structure of a plant. Students create a summary of what they have read and watch a video on...
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Happy Birthday Mathematicians and Me
Middle schoolers choose a mathematician or scientist born on the same day as the student and research them. They create a cube or tetrahedron and place required information on the sides (such as birth year, death yr., greatest...
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Three Classes of Levers
Eighth graders research the three classes of levers and create a Power Point presentation showcasing the fulcrum, effort arm, and resistance arm in each class. They then write a paper explaining real life applications of the levers.
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Plants in Texas: Then and Now
Seventh graders discuss continuity and change, identify various plant materials, and compare and contrast ways in which early people used plants in Texas in prehistoric times with ways that modern man in Texas uses plants today.
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Best of the Solar System
Students visit a site which provides images to be analyzed. Notes are taken and planets are named based on observed features and observations. Using peer review, they try to determine the identity of the planets. They are free to browse...
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The Day the Water Ran Out
Young scholars explore ecosystems by researching desert characteristics. In this drought instructional activity, students identify the potential impacts of a drought on their home state and interview people who are familiar with water...
National First Ladies' Library
Pandemics: The Swine Flu of 1918
Students study pandemics through the investigational research of the 1918 swine flu. They apply the information by choosing a current virus and role-playing a member of the Centers of Disease Control (CDC).
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Adapting to the World
Students consider dog breeds that are helpful to humans and their hereditary link to wolves. For this biology lesson, student research a dog breed for traits that make it useful to humans. Students write a report of how these traits...
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"Arsenic and Old Waste": Groundwater Activities Using Modeling
Learners develop models of groundwater and pollution flow. They research information using the Internet and develop models of groundwater flow in Stella and Excel.
PBS
Inventions
Use this lesson plan to discuss inventions that have changed your class's world and have impacted society. Middle schoolers investigate important inventions of their time and design an invention in a simulated business atmosphere. Modify...
Curated OER
Can You Walk a Mile With My Foot?
Pupils engage in a lesson plan that is concerned with the measurement of a foot as a customary unit. They take part in a series of activities to help them acquire skills of using a foot to compare other units of measurement. The teacher...