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New York City Delights: The Taxi Cab
You set the rate! Step into the shoes of a taxi driver in New York City, and also pretend to be a person who uses taxis to get around town. The class will conduct collaborative research to learn about the history of taxis. Then, they...
Science 4 Inquiry
States and Phases of Matter
Plasma is the most common phase of matter in our universe. Scholars explore the change of energy as molecules change phases of matter. They rotate through stations, graphing the changes in energy level.
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Television CensorChip
Explore the current television rating system, its content descriptors, and the new V-chip technology that more readily allow parents to control their child's television viewing. Help learners develop a survey that will determine the pros...
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Primary Sources and Protagonists: A Native American Literature Unit
Introduce your middle schoolers to the lives of past Native Americans. First, learners work together to put photographs in a sequence. Then, using their sequence, they create stories to share with the whole class. No matter how old your...
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Choosing the Best Candidate
Who would win an election between Napoleon and Julius Caesar? Group your class up to analyze and discuss which of their given choices would make the best presidential candidate, given specific criteria. The potential candidate list...
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Mapping Seamounts in the Gulf of Alaska
Learners describe major topographic features on the Patton Seamount, and interpret two-dimensional topographic data. They create three-dimensional models of landforms from two-dimensional topographic data.
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Lifestyles of Civil War
Eighth graders, after viewing a website on Civil War Time, explore and analyze the lifestyles of Civil War times as well as those of the soldiers through the writing of a composition of a narrative letter and story through the eyes of a...
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Lesson Plan: A Guided Tour
Albert Bierstadt's painting Wind River Country shows viewers how a reader progresses through a story. Your class studies the light and dark areas, how the eye moves across the painting, and what attracts the audience to the work, and...
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The Right to Vote
Students discover voting barriers. In this government lesson plan, students explore the history of voting. Students work in small groups to analyze and debate if certain groups of people should have the ability to vote or not.
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Inventing and Presenting Unit 2: Effective Speeches and Building the Invention
Young scholars identify the characteristics of effective speeches. Students find elements of good speeches in the text and in the delivery of model speeches. Young scholars build a working three-dimensional model of an invention or an...
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Haiku - Poetry of the Samurai Warrior
Students research the Samurai and their Haiku Writings. Students use internet research to gather information about the ancient Japanese Samurai. The students then create individual Haiku writings, and a cultural day is designated when...
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Inventing and Presenting Unit 3: Persuasive Speaking and Invention Promotion
Students write a proposal for a speech. Students prepare appropriate visuals for use in the proposed speech. Students produce one or more graphs that summarize the results from the experimentation. Students deliver an effective speech in...
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Get a Life Project
Eighth graders participate in interdisciplinary career unit in which they explore alternate lives. Students assume roles, manage budgets, make decisions, and solve problems, Students then research challenges, develop solutions, and...
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Looking into Space
Students explore how telescopes work, build a model of their own, and consider how real telescopes can be used to ask-and help answer-questions about the universe.
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Latin American Colonial Diary
Students examine the class systems of New Spain. In small groups, they create a five-day diary about the family life, food, occupation, and government involvement of an assigned personality from the time of Colonial Latin America.
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Check Out Lights and Shields with Beads
Students explore Ultraviolet detecting beads and conduct several investigations with them. In this investigative activity students participate in an experiment to see the harmful effects of UV light and discuss their findings.
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Washington and the Modern Presidency
Eighth graders examine the precedents set by George Washington. In this presidential history lesson, 8th graders discuss the challenges Washington faced as president and how he shaped the presidency to suit his leadership skills....
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Books: Writing a Blurb
Young scholars write a blurb for different audiences. Students encounter different forms and functions of the use of blurbs. Young scholars write an original blurb to share with the class.
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Breaking Barriers with Melba Pattillo
Students are introduced to individuals who made the civil rights movement a success. They examine, analyze and interpret the events and people who had a significant and stirring impact on the course of history through stories, interviews...
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Giving and Taking Directions (Middle School)
Students describe the difference between a declarative sentence and a command. They complete a diagram verbs, prepositions and numbers. They follow directions on a map and create directions of their own to another location.
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Athabaskan Migration & Bering Strait
Students examine the various migration patterns of the Athabaskan. In groups, they discuss the Bering Strait Land Bridge theory of migration and take notes on a lecture from their teacher. To end the instructional activity, they...
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Leonardo's Machines
Learners explore Leonardo da Vinci's ideas about design and machines.
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Text hunt
Students explore, research and develop new methods for evaluating information received from an original piece of text. They distinguish between easy and difficult forms of text and each group presents their findings and new methods to...
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We Are Super-Duper!
Middle schoolers explore the concept that each person is unique, special and valuable and assess how to express that concept with positive attitudes through role play, music and art. They email a friend or family member a special message...