Strap on those backpacks, it's time to travel through history with this literature unit based on the first four books of The Magic Tree House series. While reading through these fun stories, children create story maps, record...

How did jazz influence Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man? Class members read some of Ellison's non-fiction writings about blues and jazz, listen to records, watch videos, and engage in student-centered discussions. They then produce podcasts...

How did the television change people's lives? Learners consider the question as they complete their storyboards about the invention of the TV, adding visual elements along the way. Then, they participate in a peer review to offer and...

Let's work together! Using the collaborative resource, scholars work in triads to begin section two of their storyboards about Philo Farnsworth, the inventor of the television. They then practice using linking words and phrases to...

How high can your pupils jump? Learners design an experiment to answer this question. After collecting the data, they create box plots and scatter plots to analyze the data. To finish the lesson, they use the data to draw conclusions.

"Clean the data!" "I did not know it was dirty." Introduce your class to the process of cleaning data so that it can analyze it. Groups work through a guide that demonstrates the common ways to filter and sort data. Pairs then...

Discover the mean from fair share to the balance point. The lesson takes small groups of pupils through two different interpretations of the mean, the fair share understanding of the mean, and the balance point. Scholars use the...

And they're off! Working in pairs, young mathematicians roll dice to see who can fill in their double ten-frames first. When young scholars finally fill in their arrays, they create addition number sentences that represent their rolls,...

Learners work together to research and present their findings on the 20th century archaeological phenomenon of Ötzi the Iceman! This is a well-organized worksheet that guides class members through researching the story of the find,...

Let the computer summarize all that data. Pairs work together to learn how to create pivot tables by following directions in the online module. They then utilize the data collected from the beginning of the unit to create their own...

It is said that necessity is the mother of invention. Fifth graders prove this with help from three lessons that examine how ancient cultures used their needs to drive innovations. In lesson one, pupils identify main ideas and supporting...

How high will it fly? Pairs build straw rockets and launch them at different angles and determine the height and horizontal distance of the flight path. Teams make conjectures about how the angle affects the measured distances and use...

Nanofibers can be made through electrospinning or force spinning in order to reduce the negative impact on the environment. Pupils study the role of fibers and dye on the environment through a series of five hands-on activities. Then,...

Become a pest detective! Individually or in small groups, scholars scout the land to discover which pests—plant and animal—inhabit it, determine whether the pests are endangering the environment, and summarize their findings.

Phrenology, the belief that parts of your brain control certain aspects of your personality, is described in Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science. While we now know much more about the brain, learners use this...

Would you believe that your digestive system stretches to five times your height?! Help your pupils to understand this relationship as they work through the laboratory exercise. The first instructional activity of a 12-part series is a...

Researchers use scientific data to understand what is inside each of the planets. The first in a series of six, this instructional activity builds off of that concept by having pupils use a data table to create their own scale models of...

Introduce your learners to the federal and state court systems with a fun, interactive online video game! After reading sample cases, class members identify to which court the case should be assigned and gain a greater...

Why should classes care about the First Amendment? An engaging lesson serves as a powerful tool for answering just that. As all four cases in the lesson relate directly to freedom of expression in schools, young scholars explore the...

Ever wondered how your brain manages all of the information it receives every second of every day? The sights, the sounds, the smells ... each one filed away for later use or moved to the front of the line so your body can react. Through...

Each of the Earth's spheres interacts with the other spheres in predictable ways. Young scientists explore these interactions through a hands-on activity, graphing, and watching a video. They summarize their knowledge in a video or...

Scholars review prior knowledge before completing a hands-on simulation of the rock cycle. They write stories or songs summarizing their simulations to demonstrate mastery.

Assign an interactive poster activity to assess your class's knowledge and skill concerning data analysis. The teacher reference provides solid questions to ask individuals or groups as they complete their posters.

With all the hubbub surrounding national elections, it's easy to forget the importance of local government. After learning about county governance and voter turnout for local elections, young citizens demonstrate how local...