Alabama Learning Exchange
Calendar Fun Operations
Middle schoolers explore the concept order of operations. In this order of operations lesson, students make a song about the order of operations in groups. Middle schoolers practice working problems using order of operations.
Curated OER
Atmospheric Processes -- Convection
Students work together to discover how temperature changes can affect the density of water and air. They make predictions on what they believe is going to occur. They answer questions to complete the lesson.
Curated OER
Really Shocking
Students examine statistics about kidney transplants. For this current events lesson, students discuss the premise of the reality television show, "Big Donor Show." Students also discover the functions of the kidneys as well as the...
Curated OER
How Smart are You about Electricity, Batteries and Conductors?
Students create working circuits. In this electricity and circuits lesson, students make a battery, then build a flashlight and use part of the flashlight to create a conductivity tester.
Curated OER
Temperature
Students explore the concept of temperature. In this temperature instructional activity, students read thermometers in degrees Celsius. Students discuss the temperature of the seasons and what clothing they might wear given a certain...
Curated OER
Are You Thirsty? The Effects of Pollution on Drinking Water
Discuss the availability of clean, plentiful water and the causes of water pollution. In groups, sixth graders discuss problem-solving methods for keeping water clean. They explore the function of water treatment plants and perform...
Curated OER
Math & Social Science
Students are given data and are to calculate averages and yearly totals of how many cars travel the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. They also make a graph of the data.
Curated OER
Our Solar System to Scale
Students calculate the diameter of planets and their relative distances. In this space science instructional activity, students discover how small or big the planets are in comparison to each other. Students use cross multiplying...
Curated OER
The Ultimate Classroom: R & D
Redecorate a classroom on a budget. Middle schoolers rebuild a classroom after a disaster. They conduct Internet research to determine construction supplies needed and the most cost effective way to reach the predetermined results. They...
Curated OER
Observing the Changes: The Warming of the North
After reviewing the causes and effects of climate change, students become observers for "Plant Watch," a program to monitor the effects of climate change on plants. Students record blooming and leafing dates for selected local species...
Teach Engineering
Introduction to Water Chemistry
What are the issues surrounding water quality? Viewers of this short presentation gain information about the importance of clean water, the lack of fresh water, water contamination, and ways that engineers treat water.
Alabama Learning Exchange
How Big Can a Bee Be?
Mathematicians analyze the relationships between surface area and volume. They conduct Internet research, conduct various experiments, record the data in a spreadsheet, and graph the results and compare the rate of increase of surface...
Curated OER
Photosynthesis
Students recognize the importance of plants as they perform an experiment involving photosynthesis. Students determine the optimum wavelength of light for photosynthesis by exposing plants to different colors of light, collecting data,...
Curated OER
Scatter-Brained
Seventh graders graph ordered pairs on a coordinate plane. They create a scatterplot. Additionally, they determine the line of best fit and investigate the slope of the line. Multiple resources are provided. An excellent resource!
Curated OER
Measuring Speed With iMovie
Learners record each other running, walking, throwing a ball, or doing a similar activity for a set distance. They import the video clips into iMovie. They compute how long it took in miles per hour.
Teach Engineering
Egg Drop
Don't drop the ball on the resource ... drop an egg instead! A teacher-led demonstration has the class consider how to drop eggs into glasses when a tray is in the way. Hint: If you've ever seen a magician pull a tablecloth off a table,...
Teach Engineering
Live Like an Animal
When your parents say that your room's a pig sty, tell them about biomimicry. The sixth installment of a nine-part Life Science unit has scholars research the shelters used by animals in the natural world, like turtle shells. Using the...
Curated OER
Home Living/ Daily Living: Food Pyramid
What did you have for lunch? Did it contain all four food groups? Help your special education class make good food choices and recognize foods in each of the four food groups. They look at images and discuss the foods on the food pyramid...
Curated OER
Home Living/ Daily Living: Food Groups
What are the best foods to eat, and how much is too much? Kids discuss the importance of eating the right amount of each of the four food groups. They discuss the food pyramid and make meals by cutting and pasting foods from a magazine...
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...
Teach Engineering
Connect the Dots: Isometric Drawing and Coded Plans
Individuals discover how to draw cubes on triangle-dot paper. They use cubes to build structures and draw corresponding isometric drawings on dot paper in the second lesson of the series of five. The activity also introduces the concept...
Teach Engineering
Let's Take a Spin: One-Axis Rotation
Investigate the effect of one-axis rotations on geometric figures. Scholars learn to use snap cubes and the right-hand rule to draw figures after rotations about the x-, y-, or z-axes. They try their hands at examples created by the...
Curated OER
Whispers of Angels: Buffalo and the Underground Railroad
What role did Buffalo, New York play in the Underground Railroad? Young historians investigate the Underground Railroad ties to Buffalo and western New York. They create a web site or multimedia presentation based on the research. If...
Novelinks
Tuck Everlasting: Bio-Poem
Learn about the characters of Natalie Babbitt's Tuck Everlasting with a character biopoem. Readers fill in a poem format to detail the character traits of Winnie, Jesse, Miles, and Mae, and share their finished poems...