Seward's Folly or brilliant strategic move? Class members investigate primary source documents from each country to determine the rationales behind the sale and purchase of Alaska, and then stage a debate.

The Alaskan wilderness contains every imaginable element of the water cycle: it has flowing streams, cool spring rain, and frozen glaciers. Pupils use a series of worksheets to identify and define evaporation, condensation, and...

Students examine how the climate and environment affect people in Alaska. They identify the five regions of Alaska on a map, conduct Internet research, write a report on climate differences across the five Alaskan regions, and write a...

Learners investigate the characteristics of the tundra on the North Slope of Alaska. They conduct Internet research, develop a chart of the types of vegetation, plant growth, and fauna found on the tundra, identify examples in their own...

Warm up to the idea of solar energy. A lesson includes three activities that challenge scholars to apply knowledge in new ways. First, they learn to run an alarm clock without a battery by using solar energy. Next, they complete an...

Fourth and fifth graders take a close look at oil spills and the devastating effects they have on the environment. They explore the various methods for cleaning up oils spills and perform and hands-on simulation of an oil spill in class....

Three activities are designed for readers of Jack London's The Call of the Wild. First, class members research and create posters that reflect the setting of the novel. Next, groups create posters with images that represent each chapter...

Though the walrus spends roughly one third of its time on land, it eats organisms that live on the bottom of the ocean. The first in a series of five, the lesson uses a variety of plant and animal cards to have scholars build an arctic...

Building on prior knowledge of the pervious lesson in the series, pupils explain the previous lesson to each other. Then they write a simple guide for a young child to read on the same topic. 

Carbon dioxide is not only causing global temperatures to increase, it causes the oceans to become more acidic. Lesson focuses on the blue king crab and the fragility of the habitat due to climate change. Scholars create a concept map...

How does the shell color of crabs and the habitat they live in impact the predator-prey relationship? The fourth lesson in a series of five is a game where participants try not to get eaten if they are a prey and try to eat if they are...

A male nurse? A female welder? Unequal pay? The "Glass Ceiling?" A 22-page Gender Equity Activity Book asks participants to examine the effects of gender role stereotyping on career choices. Class members also update job titles...

Climate change and weather extremes impact every species, but this lesson focuses on how these changes effect polar bears. After learning about the animal, scholars create maps of snow-ice coverage and examine the yearly variability and...

Animal reproduction in sheep and cattle is explored with the help of Punnet squares. Scholars employ tools using probability to conclude the color of wool a sheep's offspring will have. Acting as animal geneticists, pupils then take...

As a class, scholars read the poems, Humpty Dumpty, Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater, and Jack and Jill, in order to identify words with the same ending sound. Using their rhyming skills, learners brainstorm additional words...

Young geometers investigate and apply properties of quadrilaterals.  After a review and discussion of key terms, students use a computer applet to explore four-sided figures and classify them according to their attributes. The...

Here is a lesson that takes an interesting approach to analyzing data using box and whisker plots.  By using an applet that dynamically generates Venn diagrams, the class forms a strategy/algorithm for guessing the rule that fits...

Venn diagrams are helpful in understanding the idea of a set and using attributes to sort items. This basic plan is an introduction with an added bonus of an applet that can be used to demonstrate the activity. If a classroom of...

Watch the damage from a forest fire in this interactive simulation activity that challenges learners to estimate the burn area using different approaches. Learners are given a worksheet to track the different burn patterns and practice...

While the lesson focuses on right triangles, this activity offers a great way to practice the area of all triangles through an interactive webpage. The activity begins with the class taking a square paper and cutting in in half; can they...

Learn about polar bears and the Arctic circle with a lesson about the countries and conditions of the region. After examining how the area differs from Antarctica, kids explore climates, animals, and geographical position...

Use this packet as a companion to your study of Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. The resource breaks the novel up into several chunks, and for each chunk provides activities, background information, vocabulary, graphic organizers, and response...

Young seismologists learn more about plate tectonics with a set of pre-lab, lab, and post-lab lessons plans on earthquakes. After exploring how waves travel through various materials, sixth graders record their observations and...

As of 2015, there are 53,481 oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico. Scholars determine how species diversity is impacted based on the ecosystem's distance from a drilling platform.  It focuses on finding the mean of data sets...