How did Charles Darwin support his controversial theory of evolution with evidence? Use an excerpt from his 1859 work On the Origin of Species to reinforce the importance of making inferences within an informational text, and to...

Show me what you know about the sea. Learners answer 10 questions about marine biology. The questions range from what evidence points to the origin of life to the biggest threat to oceans.

Humans have only inhabited the earth for a fraction of the time that life has existed. Young scientists explore the facts about the emergence of life on Earth with an interactive resource. While highlighting different types of life, the...

What are some of life's most tried-and-true lessons? Pupils listen to examples from the book Live and Learn and Pass It On by H. Jackson Brown, Jr. They write down their own life lessons to later compile in a class booklet. As...

Do you have early finishers asking what they can do next, or any budding scientists eager to learn more about plant and animal cells? Then here is a cell unit for you! The packet provides scholars with everything they need in order...

Young geometers and biologists investigate the math of nature in an activity that is just the bee's knees. Participants will study the tessellations of hexagons in a beehive, along with the natural rationale behind the specific shape....

 The narrative works of Frederick Douglass engage learners in the topic of slavery. They will experience American history in a new way, a Douglass expresses his thoughts in his own words. Pupils then interpret this literary...

Here's a topic classes can really dig—the fossil record. Use the well-organized and thoughtful road map to take eighth graders back in time to unearth the answer. Learn how our climate has changed, and how organisms have...

Art learners examine still-life arrangement images and respond to a series of prompts. In a whole-class discussion, pupils list elements and qualities that still-life paintings can have. After instructors create an arrangement and model...

According to Anne with an E, "You can always nearly enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will." An eBook version of Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery introduces readers to the classic text. The novel includes...

Division can be seen in two ways; as splitting a whole into a certain number of pieces, or splitting it into pieces of a certain size. Help your class reach this understanding with these two simple word problems. Encourage the use of...

Your young physicists analyze the forms of four equivalent exponential expressions representing an amount of a radioactive material in a substance. They show how each expression is equivalent to the others and what aspects of the decay...

A simple question, with a not-so-simple answer. Working with whole and mixed number measurements in inches, feet, and yards presents a problem with many possible solutions. A great activity that challenges the minds of young...

Explore ocean habitats with a lesson plan that showcases the home of manatees and loggerhead turtles in Belize. Here, pupils compare and contrast the homes of ocean animals to those of humans, listen to an original short story...

Young historians discover the experiences of runaway slaves after reading the brief biography and narrative excerpt of Henry "Box" Brown, who escaped slavery by having himself shipped away in a crate and popularized his...

How much is your toaster costing you every day? Young environmentalists calculate the monetary costs of household appliances based on their average consumption of wattage.

The Labrador retriever is America's most popular dog breed. With the novel study for The Summer of Riley by Eve Bunting, scholars learn more about the sweet, lovable animal. Additionally, they write quatrain poems, explore foreshadowing...

Show learners the power of mathematics as they model real-life designs. Pupils graph a periodic function by comparing the degree of rotation to the height of a ferris wheel. 

On your mark, get set, GO! The class sprints toward the conclusions in a race analysis activity. The staggered start of the 400-m foot race is taken apart in detail, and then learners step back and develop some overall race strategy...

Young scientists find out what makes amphibians such unique and interesting animals in this simple life science lesson. After looking at pictures and discussing the characteristics of amphibians, learners complete a series...

Swimming is more fun with quantities. The short assessment task encompasses finding the volume of a trapezoidal prism using an understanding of quantities. Individuals make a connection to the rate of which the pool is filled with a...

From dragons to dwarves, from riddles to rings, the great adventure story of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien has captivated generations of readers of all ages. An educator's guide explores the novel's literary elements,...

One of the most common, everyday applications of math is dealing with money. This single problem calculating how much change Margie receives is more involved than it appears at first glance. An understanding of how fractions and decimals...

Enhance a reading of the Caldecott Medal-winning children's book Joseph had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback with this collection of learning activities. Starting with general background information about the book and author,...