Curated OER
Same and Different Through Music and Art
This lesson is intended for a music class but would be a great way to teach compare and contrast to any class. Kindergarteners dance the Hokey Pokey to four different styles of music and examine two paintings of Humpty Dumpty, then...
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
Differences Among Colonial Regions
Classes look at and analyze primary source images to explore the differences between the colonial regions during the Revolutionary era. They break into groups to tackle each region and then present their findings to the class. A final...
West Contra Costa Unified School District
Investigating Similar Triangles
Let your use of the resource be in proportion to its usefulness. Pupils investigate similar triangles by measuring side lengths and considering given angle measures. The results of the investigation help develop generalizations about...
EngageNY
Are All Parabolas Similar?
Congruence and similarity apply to functions as well as polygons. Learners examine the effects of transformations on the shape of parabolas. They determine the transformation(s) that produce similar and congruent functions.
Education Development Center
Similar Triangles
Model geometric concepts through a hands-on approach. Learners apply similar triangle relationships to solve for an unknown side length. Before they find the solution, they describe the transformation to help identify corresponding sides.
Curated OER
Critical Thinking Strategies
Teach your readers to be critical thinkers. A strategy is outlined that can be used to compare and contrast entities. An example lists four states. The learner removes one state that "does not belong" in the list for some reason, and...
Curated OER
How Are Plants Similar And Different?
Studetns create an index card database of different categories of plants such as bushes, trees, flowers, grasses and vegetables. They review the different parts of a plant and label pictures of plants on the database cards. They use the...
American Chemical Society
Different Substances React Differently
Looks don't tell the whole story. Young experimenters explore reactions with substances that look similar. They observe the reactions that take place when combined with baking soda and use indicators to conclude they react differently...
Curated OER
Differences
Students observe and compare a variety of living things and pictures of living things to note their similarities and differences.
Curated OER
Ratios of Similar Figures
Students identify the ratios of different triangles. In this geometry lesson, students identify the similarity and differences of triangles. They use the navigator to move the sides of the triangle around.
Mathematics Vision Project
Similarity and Right Triangle Trigonometry
Starting with similar triangles and dilation factors, this unit quickly and thoroughly progresses into the world of right triangle features and trigonometric relationships. Presented in easy-to-attack modules with copious application...
Curated OER
We are all alike, We are all different
Students investigate similarites and differences. In this multi-cultural instructional activity, students discuss how people are alike and how they are different by comparing apples to people.
Curated OER
Similar Figures
Your class will use a TI calculator to drag vertices of rectangles and triangles to observe what happens to ratios of pairs of sides within each figure. They will apply the definition of similarity to identify similar shapes. The lesson...
Curated OER
How are Seeds Alike and Different?
Second graders examine the seeds in fresh fruit. In this seeds lesson, 2nd graders view different seeds and tell how they are alike and different. Students separate the seeds into groups according to their characteristics.
American Chemical Society
Comparing the Amount of Acid in Different Solutions
Upcoming chemists use chemical reactions to determine relative pH in two different acids. This is a terrific lesson plan for middle schoolers that can stand alone as a practice in precision and lab skills, or as part of the unit on...
Curated OER
Reptiles and Amphibians
Introduce your class to various reptiles and amphibians. They will meet and identify a representative from each of the four major reptile families, then learn about and discuss reptile characteristics. Next, they will identify and...
Curated OER
My Family and Me: Our Similarities and Differences
Young scholars are introduced to basic genetic information to discover how they acquired the traits they have. Individually, they develop a family tree and identify the similarities and differences between two poeple. In groups, they...
Everyday Mathematics
Mathematics Within: Slope and Triangles
Learners discover a method for determining the slope of a line by creating and comparing similar triangles. They fold coordinate grids to make three similar triangles then measure the sides to compare the relationships between the...
NASA
Whip Up a Moon-Like Crater
The moon is famous for its craters, but they haven't always been there. Young learners experiment with materials to simulate the creation of moon craters. Pupils are able to see patterns in their materials that are similar to the...
PBS
Why Do We Have Seasons?
Explore the reason for the seasons! An interactive lesson allows learners to explore the earth's rotation from the viewpoint of four cities at different latitudes. It provides descriptive information at eight points during the orbit...
Curated OER
Similarities and Differences in Properties of Different Families of Functions - An Investigation
Exploring families of functions allows students compare and contrast properties of functions. Students discuss properties that include symmetry, max and min points, asymptotes, derivatives, etc.
Curated OER
Lettuce Us Be Different
Students evaluate their differences, then look at differences in plants. In this class team building and life science lesson, the class play a game that focuses on similarities and differences in the group, then students plant three...
Utah Education Network (UEN)
Finding Missing Lengths of Similar Triangles
Middle and high schoolers explore the properties of similar triangles. In this geometry lesson, pupils play a similarity basketball game, sketch similar triangles, and find the missing measures of similar figures. They find the height of...
PHET
Iron Filings and Magnetic Field Lines
How do magnetic fields differ? Allow scholars to see the difference between 2-D and 3-D magnetic fields. They construct models of both and observe how they are similar and different. It is the fifth installment of an 18-part unit.