Young scholars investigate toxic substances. In this health lesson, students identify warning labels on common household cleaners and create a "less toxic" cleaning recipe book. Young scholars recite a pledge to try a less toxic...

Students investigate polynomials.  In this ninth or tenth grade mathetmatics lesson plan, students teach their peers the steps to adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, and factoring polynomials.  Students create a...

Financial literacy is such an important, and often-overlooked, skill to teach our young people. Here is a terrific lesson plan which has pupils explore how to come up with a personal budget. They consider income, saving, taxes, and their...

Discover the meaning of Columbus Day and/or Thanksgiving by creating art from food. This activity focuses on making edible ships using easy to find food items. The class will investigate the journeys that were taken for either of these...

Explore the five biomes: aquatic, desert, forest, grassland and tundra by using online resources to investigate one of the five biomes and use MediaBlender to create an informational web site for a tour of that biome. Note: Other...

Students practice using substitution as a creative way of thinking about writing and try to substitute song lyrics, food items, rhythm movements and more. In this substitution lesson plan, students create a new candy, and create...

Students work with 4th and 5th graders at Cascade Brook School in Farmington, to teach them skills in wildflower and fern identification, and then to help them implement a nature trail, which is accessible to the greater Farmington...

Students describe the things that citizens can do to reduce ground level ozone and particulate matter. They design a flyer, poster or webpage to teach others about diesel bus retrofitting projects.

Here is a good version of this classic chemistry activity. Learners are given a simple recipe for how to make home-made ice cream by putting all of the ingredients into a ziploc bag. Before doing the activity, I would recommend having a...

Students write a story about an animal using rhyme. In this literacy lesson plan, the teacher shares different versions of "Mary Had a Little Lamb" with the class and that becomes the basis for the creation of a picture and story for...

Young scholars read given information and identify the main ideas and specific detail of the story. In groups, they read a historical title and create a "book talk" for each one, summarizing the story. In addition, students create a...

Students, individually and in groups, utilize Internet sites to access maps, scales, and information to assist them in calculating distances. They research modes of travel from their homes to Nagano, Japan, and write a travel agenda for

Students play percussion instruments that have been divided into four groups and perform to 'Old MacDonald Had a Farm'. In this percussion performance lesson, students identify percussion instruments divided into four categories....

Using Styrofoam trays, kindergartners carve and create their own prints. They create an image in the Styrofoam, ink it up, and then use it to create prints. It would be great to mention and show how ink blocks or block prints have been...

Study previously-unpublished techniques and also stunning yet surprisingly easy historic techniques in quilting. Advance from simple needleturn applique to antiquarian fancywork with optional stencil-shading applique, inkwork, and...

Students discover facts about the Mexican holiday, Day of the Dead. In this compare and contrast instructional activity, students explore Halloween and the Day of the Dead. Students create an alter to memorialize a family member or...

Students investigate how communities grow and change. In this communities lesson plan, students discuss how their community has changed and construct a model of a community.

Students create a desert biome and a prairie biome and see how plants survive in both. In this biomes lesson plan, studnets create their biomes and see how the water cycle effect each biome and plant differently. 

Third graders try their hands at writing Haiku, a form of Japanese poetry. Haiku is usually 17 syllables in three-line form. This engaging instructional activity has many excellent worksheets and website imbedded in the plan. They share...

Young scholars complete a unit about weather and meteorology. They read the book "The Big Storm," use weather equipment, view local weather reports, and create a weather forecast that is videotaped and presented to a younger class.

Students research different city departments and organizations that make up a city and choose a type of house to model. In this construction lesson students build their own city and present it to the class.

Students explore scarabs of ancient Egypt. In this visual arts lesson, students discover the design and functionality of Egyptian scarab amulets. Students make their scarabs out clay that are etched with personal meanings.

Students explore and gather relevant facts from a website about Minoan pottery. They present their information to the rest of the group in different ways: PowerPoint, handouts, timeline.

Students experiment with word choice and sentence fluency to revise Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst.