Lesson Plan
Perkins School for the Blind

Conductors of Heat - Hot Spoons

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Why is the end of a spoon hot when it's not all the way in the hot water? A great question deserves a great answer, and learners with visual impairments will use their auditory and tactile senses to get that answer. A talking...
Lesson Plan
Perkins School for the Blind

Creating a 3-D Model of a Plant Life

For Teachers 1st - 6th
Instructing blind or visually impaired learners means you need to make symbolic tactile representations of various processes to provide as much input as possible. But wouldn't it be even better to have your learners make the models...
Activity
Perkins School for the Blind

Design and Problem Solving

For Teachers 6th - 12th
What if you had a design problem you wanted to solve, but were unable to draw because you were unable to see? Teach your learners with visual impairments that they can use Wikki Stix®, a braille ruler, Legos®, and Constructo Straws to...
Activity
Perkins School for the Blind

Introduction to Scientific Inquiry

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Every great scientist knows that the process of inquiry is a very important skill. Provide your learners with visual impairments with an opportunity to explore objects scientifically. They examine several pieces of fruit and generate...
Activity
Perkins School for the Blind

Baseball

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Baseball is an American pastime, super fun to play, and can be made accessible to learners with visual impairments. Instead of taking to the ball field, your class can learn the rules of the game by playing a small three-dimensional...
Lesson Plan
Perkins School for the Blind

Building an Organic Molecule

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Glucose is a simple sugar and a molecule that can be illustrated through modeling. Scientific investigators with visual impairments use hands-on models to reconstruct the process of bonding molecules. The tools used in this activity are...
Lesson Plan
Perkins School for the Blind

Handprint Art

For Teachers K - 6th
Stimulate the senses with a handprint art project! Flake laundry detergent, water, and food coloring are mixed together to create a substance that has a pleasant smell and will dry hard and dimensional. Children with visual disabilities...
Activity
Perkins School for the Blind

Conservation of Mass

For Teachers 5th - 12th
How do you teach a student with visual impairments about the conservation of mass? You use tactile models that represent the theoretical concept. Baking soda and vinegar are used to add gas to a deflated balloon. Learners will feel the...
Lesson Plan
Perkins School for the Blind

The Function of Villi in the Small Intestine

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Ever wonder what the villi in the small intestine do? I bet your class would love to find out. Mesh netting is used to represent small blood vessels on the outside of the intestine, and a chenille bath mat is used to represent the villi...
Lesson Plan
Perkins School for the Blind

Counting Cups

For Teachers K - 6th
Teach one-to-one correspondence, fine motor, and counting skills to your learners with visual disabilities. Included are a set of activity suggestions, which are useful when teaching a variety of different early math skills. Braille,...
Activity
Perkins School for the Blind

Friction

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Friction is a force that can be felt, which means that learners with visual impairments can experiment to feel and understand the concept of friction. They slide a rock along a smooth table, and then they slide a rock across sandpaper,...
Activity
Perkins School for the Blind

Identifying and Using Tools

For Teachers 6th - 12th
How can you teach a person about technology and engineering if he has never been exposed to the tools and devices used to create and construct? Learners with visual impairments examine a number of common tools, such as hammers, wrenches,...
Lesson Plan
Perkins School for the Blind

Volume, Mass, and Density Boxes

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Mass and density are difficult topics for kids to understand, and even more difficult when you have visual impairments or blindness. Learners will make boxes and fill them with cotton, sand, or crushed paper. They will feel the density...
Activity
Perkins School for the Blind

Name That Frequency

For Teachers 5th - 8th
How cool! This plan uses old cassette tapes to show frequency from traveling vibrations. To prepare for the lesson, tactile frequency diagrams are made and then placed near the video tapes or dominoes that are already set up. When they...
Activity
Perkins School for the Blind

Casting with Plaster

For Teachers 4th - 8th
What a fun lesson! Your class can experience the design and construction process by creating a mold and a duplicate for an engraved image. The lesson is specifically written for learners with visual impairments and allows them to create...
Activity
Perkins School for the Blind

The Printing Process

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
The printing process was a technological innovation that revolutionized the modern world. Your learners with visual impairments can experience this process by creating a print by using letterpress printing. They use cardboard, glue, and...
Lesson Plan
Perkins School for the Blind

The Mystery Box - Making Observations and Collecting Data

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Making observations and collecting qualitative and quantitative data is a vital skill all scientists need to practice. Help your scientists with partial and no sight learn how to use their other senses to make observations for...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Adapted Physical Education: Softball

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Review adaptive physical education suggestions and standards for coaching the fundamentals of softball: base running, throwing, fielding, and hitting (batting). This outline provides ideas and progressions for developing softball skills,...
Interactive
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics

Science at 100,000 Feet

For Students 9th - 12th
Take your class up, up, and away with an engaging weather balloon simulation! Individuals get hands-on experience in creating and launching their own airborne labs to study how temperature and pressure affect substances at 100,000...
Lesson Plan
Space Awareness

Meet Our Neighbors: Sun

For Students 1st - 6th
The sun isn't just a ball of yellow! Young scientists learn about the features of the sun using a hands-on modeling activity. They build models of the sun using common household items to represent sunspots, solar prominence, and the...