Towson University
Looking Into Lactase: Structured Inquiry
Why is lactase important? Biology scholars explore enzyme function in a structured inquiry lab. The activity tasks lab groups with observing how temperature and pH affect enzyme activity, as well as determining which milk products...
Towson University
The Crucial Concentration
Which sports drink provides the best pick-me-up after the big game or grueling workout? It may not be the one you'd think! Food science is the focus in a surprising lab activity. Pupils use colorimetry to determine the amount of protein,...
Towson University
Chestnut Tree Lab
What will your class learn in a curious tale of a fungus, a virus, and a chestnut tree? Biology scholars discover the world of viral biocontrols through a DNA restriction lab. Groups research the decline of the American chestnut tree at...
Towson University
Case of the Crown Jewels
Can your biology class crack the Case of the Crown Jewels? Junior forensics experts try their hands at DNA restriction analysis in an exciting lab activity. The lesson introduces the concept of restriction analysis, teaches pipetting and...
Towson University
Transformation Lab
Transform your class' understanding of genes and antibiotic resistance with the Transformation Lab. Junior geneticists create and observe their own resistant strains of E. coli through research, discussion, and experimentation. The...
Towson University
Mystery Tubes
How do scientists know they're right? Truth be told, they don't always know. Explore the scientific process using mystery tubes in an insightful activity. Young scientists discover how to approach and solve problems in science, how ideas...
Prestwick House
Lord of the Flies
Nothing about William Golding's Lord of the Flies is straightforward, but you can map out the characters and key details in a helpful crossword puzzle. Twenty-seven clues review the book in an engaging and fun way.
Nosapo
Writing about a Meal
You don't need to be a food critic to describe your meal accurately! A series of activities introduce learners to vivid adjectives when writing about the taste, smell, and feel of food. After working with word choice, parts of a...
Prestwick House
Oedipus Rex
Who killed Laius? How is Creon connected to Jocasta? Where does the Oracle dwell? Get the details of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex straight with a crossword puzzle activity.
Prestwick House
Into the Wild
Chris McCandless's life, adventures, and untimely death is the subject of Jon Krakauer's nonfiction work, Into the Wild. A thorough crossword puzzle includes quotes, characters, and key details from the book as clues.
Nosapo
Creating a Bio Poem
Find out what's special about your pupils with a fun biopoem activity! As they fill out their name, words that describe them, what they love, and what they dream of, learners create an expressive poem about themselves.
Nosapo
Reading, Vocabulary, Comprehension
Whether you teach mainstream elementary classes or older English learners, a set of reading comprehension resources is a great addition to your language arts curriculum. Ten activities each include a reading passage and set of...
Prestwick House
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Challenge readers of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to test their knowledge of the tale by providing them with a crossword puzzle that asks them to recall characters and events.
Minnesota Literacy Council
Introduction to Historical Thinking
Christopher Columbus: hero or villain? Prepare class members for the debate with activities that asks them to think critically about how history is reported.
Read Works
Columbus Reports on His First Voyage, 1493
What did Christopher Columbus have to say about his exploration of the Caribbean? Young historians have a chance to examine Columbus' own words about his voyage to Cuba and Santo Domingo. After reading Columbus' report, pupils respond to...
Prestwick House
1984
Readers of Nineteen Eighty-Four use their answers to questions about George Orwell's tale to complete a crossword puzzle.
Prestwick House
The Great Gatsby
Here's a fresh twist on a comprehension quiz. Readers of The Great Gatsby use their answers to questions about the story to complete a crossword puzzle.
Nosapo
Pronouns: Personal Pronouns, Demonstrative Pronouns
Which do you use: that or this? Which or where? Me or I? Practice pronoun use with a series of activities that focus on personal and demonstrative pronouns.
Nosapo
Reading Activity: Circle the Right
Fables can teach us about life's morals, but they are also helpful for reviewing verb tense, spelling, and word choice. Three reading passages feature well-known fables, each with several opportunities for students to circle the correct...
Fluence Learning
Writing an Argument: Free Speech
How do you assess whether pupils have mastered certain concepts and skills? Designing a performance task that asks learners to demonstrate their skills and providing writers with a rubric that identifies these skills and provides...
Fluence Learning
Writing About Literature: Nature in the Writings of John Muir and Emily Dickinson
As an assessment of their skill in crafting a compare and contrast essay, class members read and compare the portrayals of nature in excerpts from naturalist John Muir's My First Summer in the Sierra and from poet Emily Dickinson's "The...
Fluence Learning
Writing About Informational Text: Political Parties
To demonstrate their ability to craft an analysis of informational text, class members read excerpts from James Madison's "The Federalist No. 10," from George Washington's Farewell Address, and from Thomas Jefferson's First Inaugural...
Fluence Learning
Writing About Informational Text: The Dred Scott Decision
Looking for a performance assessment that asks individuals to demonstrate their competency in writing about informational text? Use Frederick Douglass' essay "On the Dred Scott Decision," and an excerpt from Abraham Lincoln's 1857 speech...
Curated OER
Scale Activities
How do you put something as large as the universe in perspective? Use a series of scale experiments. Classmates collaborate around four experiments to examine the scale of the earth-moon system, our solar system, the Milky Way galaxy,...