Curated OER
Tower Investigation and the Egg
Middle schoolers build three types of towers, engineering them to hold an egg one foot high for 15 seconds. They discover that engineering designs are subject to constraints such as time, money and size specifications. In this activity...
Curated OER
War On Battle of the Books
Middle schoolers participate in a statewide Battle of the Books competition. They read books and answer questions about them to earn points for their school.
Curated OER
TE Activity: Tears in Rain
Students examine photographs before writing captions for them. They develop visual literacy as they see how photographs are manipulated to show the effects of acid rain. They rewrite the photo captions after a class discussion.
Curated OER
Recycling for Raptors
Students write persuasive letters in support of the Recycling for Raptors campaign. They review raptor groups and names and categorize the raptor species and the groups which they belong. They research businesses, schools, and...
Curated OER
A Tasty Experiment
Students work together to determine if smell is important to being able to recongize food by taste. They try different foods with different textures and hold their nose. They create a graph of their results.
Curated OER
Sliding and Stuttering
Students measure frictional force existing between a moving cup and the surface it slides on. They conduct the experiment and answer discussion questions.
Curated OER
TE Activity: Testing the Caverns
Students make model caverns out of paper mache or clay. They bury them in a tray of sand, and test the models by dropping balls into them simulating as asteroid hitting the earth. They discuss the results of the activity in a whole class...
Curated OER
Primary Level: Earth Day
Students research the environment prior to brainstorming a list of ways they can help stop Global Warming. Students then design posters to hang throughout the school and choose at least 1 action to implement in their household.
Curated OER
Pictures Telling Stories
Learners see the importance of primary sources in the study of history, but also the limitations of relying only on primary sources of taking the money, as it were, at face value.
Curated OER
Couch Potato or Inertia Victim?
Sixth graders how primary research is carried out. They design a simple survey questionnaire to interview people about their week average television watching time. They analyze the results and write a report based on the information.
Curated OER
Raptor Poster Project
Students create posters about raptors. They synthesize information they read about raptors and select a raptor. They draw a picture of their raptor and include facts relating to where it lives, characteristics, feeding habits, size, name...
Microsoft
Microsoft Education Lesson Plan: Candy Is Dandy
Explore color distribution of M&M candies using this detailed lesson plan. An engaging integrated lesson that requires understanding of spreadsheets and formulas, and logical reasoning. Links to related websites.
PBS
Pbs Mathline: Bead Dazzling (Proportional Reasoning) [Pdf]
A comprehensive instructional activity on algebraic thinking where students create and identify patterns using proportional reasoning. Research based, this instructional activity includes technology connections, items for discussion, and...
Other
Duke: Center for Inquiry Based Learning
Duke University has established the Center for Inquiry-Based Learning. It serves to enhance math and science lessons. Click on Resources for good examples of Inquiry-based lesson plans.
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: M&m's and Blogs: Interpreting Data!
In this hands-on, technology-rich lesson plan, students will interpret data. The students will define words involving graphs, create a bar graph using M&M's, and post information from their findings on the internet. The students will...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Those Cells Look Good Enough to Eat.
This is a student led activity utilizing visualization and association to memorize the parts of animal and plant cells. Young scholars will work cooperatively to develop drawings to connect the parts of cells to one of their favorite...