Third graders pretend to take a trip to Paris, France. Using the city as a guide, they identify its unique characteristics and research a physical feature that dominates the city. They follow the journey of one euro to show the concept...

Students review the catalog pages of a famous department store in Paris. Using the internet, they identify the types of clothing found on the website and create a list of words that are similiar to the words in English. They find an...

Pupils determine the density of Plaster of Paris that has been prepared with a foam generated from dishwashing liquids and shampoo.

Students use the internet to locate popular night clubs in Paris. Individually, they choose one club and identify if they find all the information they expected. They list words that are similar to English and words they do not know.

Patience is the name of the game. Using Plaster of Paris and chicken bones, learners simulate an archeological dig site. They excavate the chicken bones over a period of several days using tools and a large amount of patience.

Students explore fossils. In this fossils geology lesson, students use tools to reveal embedded "fossils" (made with plaster of Paris by the teacher-instructions included), then describe and illustrate their findings.

Ben Franklin was the only American to sign The Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Alliance with France, the Treaty of Paris, and the US Constitution. An interesting resource explores his role in the latter by comparing the US...

Rise to the challenge of trigonometry. Watching a video of an ascending funicular at the Sacre Coeur in Paris sets the stage for a challenging task. Young mathematicians use a given diagram, along with the concepts of slope and...

Students use plaster of Paris, talc, and cornstarch to create their own chalk. They hypothesize what mixture of ingredients produce the "best" chalk. Students discuss what they think are the characteristics of the "best" chalk.

Fourth graders investigate what natural events cause rocks to break apart and differentiate between erosion and weathering. They conduct an experiment with plaster of paris to observe why some rocks are hard and others break, and...

Third graders investigate how some extinct organisms resemble organisms that are still alive today. They watch and discuss the Magic School Bus video about fossils, then create clay fossil imprints, matching the imprints to plaster of...

Learners discuss the work of a paleontologist and examine several fossils and books on paleontology. They use clay and Plaster of Paris to create a cast of an object and compare this activity to the formation of fossils in nature.

Students explore types of fossils and discover how sediment affects fossil preservation. They focus their study on trace fossils and create their own using sediment, water, and a small organism such as a snail or lizard. Students use...

Third graders examine the differences between cast and mold fossils. They discuss geological time and how many fossils are millions of years old, then create a cast fossil using clay and a shell, and a mold fossil using a shell and...

Fifth graders create a fossil using an impression made with a shell pressed into clay and filled with plaster of Paris and a mold made out of dough and impressed with a shell. They also will receive a paragraph which contains four...

Students shake a box containing Plaster of Paris "rocks", gravel, and sand, to measure the effects of erosion. They work individually during this exercise. This task assesses students' abilities to make simple observations, describe...

High schoolers complete a virtual tour of the Louvre Museum in Paris. Using the internet, they identify the items they expect to see and the ones they actually see. They discuss the different types of artwork that can be found there as...

Learners examine primary sources. In this instructional activity on political parties, students view historic documents, speeches, and photos to trace the rise and fall of particular political parties. Learners will be looking at the...

Learners create their own fossils in an activity using plaster of paris and a variety of objects which can be fossils, e.g. chicken bones, twigs, shells, etc. After making their fossils, they allow them to dry and discuss time and its...

Here is a geology lesson that is sure to get your charges excited. It's all about the process of weathering of rocks. Learners study natural events that can cause rocks to break apart. Some of these events are: ice wedging, plant...

Using "mystery bathymetry" shoeboxes, young explorers simulate sonar action to map out the topography of an un-viewable landscape. This classic activity helps physical oceanography learners understand how sonar works. It would be...

Who knew there were so many fun educational opportunities featuring pasta? Scholars read a brief informational text about the history of pasta (note that "macaroni" is spelled two different ways, so address this if kids are reading...

Here's a great geology lesson for 3rd graders on weathering and erosion of soil. After a class discussion on how nature can "move a mountain," learners take a look at how a modern phenoma called acid rain can also cause weathering and...

What a great activity. Kids create humorous ceramic character (heads) spikes to enliven a planter. Modern art is full of expressive and exaggerated forms and your class gets to create them out of clay. This would be a lovely activity to...