Creating an environment where learners feel both educated and empowered challenges any teacher when discussing a sometimes bleak topic. A respectful resource provides them with the details and permits them to make a plan of action....

Even as adults it can be hard to distinguish needs from wants. Using pictures of common, everyday items, children make a pocket chart separating the objects they need from those that they want. Discuss their choices, explaining that...

Immediately capture the attention of your class with the smell of freshly popped popcorn in the sixth instructional activity of this series on the needs of living things. Young scientists first use their senses to make and record...

Plants provide a variety of delicious foods essential for human survival. In the fourth lesson of this series on food science, young scientists investigate common fruits, vegetables, and grains in order to determine which plant part is...

Assess your class's knowledge of the needs of living things with the final lesson in a series. Given a large piece of paper and coloring utensils, young scientists draw a picture of themselves and a plant or animal of their choosing,...

Your middle schoolers will show what they know with their bodies when they become the coordinate plane in this conceptual development unit. Starting with the characteristics of the coordinate plane, learners develop their skills by...

From the iris and retina to glasses and contact lenses, learners will be excited to see what activities are in store for them as they learn about the complex organ of the human eye.

Discuss how diseases have impacted human history. Divide your class into groups and assign each group one of the following: tuberculosis, malaria, plague, cholera, smallpox, and AIDS. They read up on, complete a concept map, and present...

Mini microbiologists play a card game in which they group microorganisms by groups: virus, fungus, protist, or bacteria. Then they identify the roles different microbes play in the natural world and explore how humans effectively use...

Home sweet home. Humans, birds, beavers, ants, we all need a place place to rest and keep us safe. In the ninth lesson of this series, the importance of shelter is discussed as the teacher reads aloud the book Tillena Lou's Day in the...

Looking for an interesting text to share the world of microbes with your middle school classroom? The edition contains explanations, worksheets, experiments, discussions, and links to outside sources for a true and complete...

Human fingerprint patterns are the result of layers of skin growing at different paces, thus causing the layers to pull on each other forming ridges. Here, groups of learners see how patterns and fingerprints assist scientists in a...

With a couple of neat diagrams on student handouts, your life science or health class will examine the contents and serving sizes of healthy foods. They dissect a slice of pizza and scrutinize the nutritional value of its components in...

No GPS allowed! High school scientists continue to explore magnetic fields with a hands-on activity. After mapping the ambient magnetic field in the classroom and completing data analysis, they write about the similarities and...

The fifth lesson in the six part series introduces units of energy including calories, Calories, and joules. Scholars determine the energy released when eating a snack and during activity.

Can your class help the people of Nepal? Scholars take an in-depth look into the social injustices and struggling economy of a country in turmoil during a multi-day role-playing exercise. After reviewing information on the problems...

An exciting activity has scholars use cell parts to build bacteria through cooperation with other groups. Each group has some of the cell parts needed, but they must trade with other groups to be able to fulfill their function as a...

Earth is sick and needs our help! Read the children's book Planet Earth Gets Well to explain the various problems facing the planet, discussing what young conservationists can do to heal the planet along the way. A great Earth...

Class members create their own social networks by collecting signatures before graphing the interactions with their fellow classmates. The degree distribution of the simulated social network is determined by calculating the degree of...

Is the spirit of peacebuilding already inside you? Scholars take a closer look at the characteristics of peacebuilders, past and present, in lesson 13 of a 15-part series. Individuals identify common traits of peacebuilders, then work...