Curated OER
Are We Scaring Ourselves to Death?
Interesting! Have your high schoolers watch this 13-minute clip from the documentay, "Are We Scaring Ourselves to Death?" It examines the fear we have as a culture about death and whether or not the media increases those fears. The focus...
Curated OER
The Mozart Effect
Music has been said to effect short term memory. Learners test out this hypothesis, graphing how knowledge retention in a biology classroom changes when music is played in the background. In the end, a better appreciation of the dynamics...
Steered Straight
Marijuana Awareness
February is Marijuana Awareness Month, and a set of interdisciplinary activities can make your class aware of the social, medical, legal, and psychological effects of marijuana. With writing prompts, research opportunities, and...
National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science
Identical Twins, Identical Fates?
Can different personal experiences affect our genes? Find out in an intriguing case study about one twin who is diagnosed with mental illness and her identical twin who fears she may suffer the same fate. Designed for college-level...
Curated OER
Teen Smoking: Designing a School Anti-Smoking Publicity Campaign
Learners review the human respiratory system and the effects on the human body. In this design lesson students brainstorm and create a prototype then present it to the class.
Curated OER
Decision Making and Teen Parenthood
Students analyze psychology by completing worksheets in class. In this decision making lesson, students identify the important choices they will need to make as they enter adulthood and discuss appropriate methods to communicating with...
Curated OER
States of Consciousness
Students investigate sleep. In this psychology lesson, students discuss five environmental factors leading to stress related to sleep.
Curated OER
Monkey See, Monkey Do
Students consider the influence of bullies and map the social ecosystem of their schools. They create lifelines that compare baboon and human development and write an essay that considers the relationship between psychosocial development...
Global Oneness Project
The Man and the Wolf
Human attitudes toward the big bad wolf come into focus in a photo essay that asks viewers to consider their own feelings about the endangered species.
Curated OER
Stages of Life
High schoolers investigate the eight stages of human development. In this stages of life instructional activity students discuss as a class the stages and complete an activity.
Curated OER
The Social Sciences
Young scholars search for examples of social science in and around their school. They create a Social Science scrapbook of the eight social sciences, that includes news articles and summaries that focus on each social science area.
Curated OER
Spy on a Spider
Students view slides or live specimens to name and describe the distinguishing features of groups of arthropods, especially spiders and insects. They complete worksheets, observe webs and then search for and record where spiders can be...
National First Ladies' Library
Science: The Purloined Letter
Learners examine Edgar Allan Poe's "the Purloined Letter" from the perspective of a profiler. To sharpen search procedures, they examine the text and make lists of items and places in the house that were searched. Then students discuss...
Curated OER
Empowered Barbie
Students access prior knowledge of vocabulary on feminism and psychoanalytic theory, and gender schema. In this Empowered Barbie instructional activity, students recreate a Barbie doll. Students write a reflection on how they changed...
PBS
Stories of Painkiller Addiction: Contemplating Nature vs. Nurture
Does having an addict in your family make it more likely to become one yourself? Explore the genetic risk factors, as well as the prominent environmental influences, for substance addiction in a instructional activity that encourages...
Curated OER
Do You Have a Blog?
Ask learners about their personal writing habits, such as whether they keep a journal or a blog, or if they'd ever want to. Though this is not a fully developed lesson, you can use this article and question to provoke discussion and...
Curated OER
Jumpin' Pepper and Lazy Salt
Learners examine the result of a negative charge. After rubbing a balloon with a wool cloth, students hold it over a mixture of salt and pepper. They observe the pepper "jumps" to the balloon. Learners discuss their observations and then...
Curated OER
Animals and Humans Say the Darnedest Things
Students explore and analyze human and animal communications and create a short film that illustrates their findings.
Curated OER
Cardiac Arrest! Using Forensics to Investigate Cardiovascular Anatomy and Function
Students identify the different parts and functions of the cardiovascular system. In this forensics lesson, students collect and analyze evidence on a fictional crime. They describe different causes of cardiac arrest.
Curated OER
Human Development
Students brainstorm about the physical, emotional, and social developmental milestones of human beings. They complete a timeline as a class that begins with birth and ends with death. Students identify whether each milestone is...
Curated OER
Apple Estimation: Percentages & Subjective Reasoning
Students practice using their estimation skills by utilizing apples. In this percentage lesson, students utilize a scale and an apple to discover the percentage of each bite they take. Students share their data with the rest of the...
Curated OER
The Motion of a Virus Through a Population
Learners test the factors that influence the rate at which a virus spreads through a population. They complete a lab activity then discuss data collected and review and answer a set of questions.
Curated OER
Create a Classroom Exhibit: Rocks and Minerals
Students bring in rocks and minerals from home. They observe them and describe them carefully, completing a worksheet. Finally, a classroom exhibit is created.
Curated OER
Rocks and Minerals
Students bring rocks and minerals from home to investigate in the classroom. For this rocks and minerals lesson plan, students observe all the rocks and minerals brought into the class and answer 7 questions about the features of the...