Could you reinvent the light bulb? Scholars tap into their inner Thomas Edisons to build a light bulb prototype out of a jar and some wires. They see how long the filament wire glows in the jar (batteries not included) to measure their...

Convey your interest in conveyor belts. By considering different size tubes, groups create a conveyor belt that can transport boxes of candy at least four feet. Also, the conveyor belt must make a 90-degree turn—quite a difficult task!

Sometimes, taking things apart is more fun than putting things together. Groups of learners participate in a reverse engineering activity. They dissect a device of their choosing to see how it works—great hands-on learning from the...

Tumbling tumbleweeds! Scholars work with video clips, primary and secondary documents, and song lyrics to uncover life in the Old West. They examine song's lyrics to uncover myths told in the 1930s about life in the Wild West. 

Who decides someone is not a real person? Scholars investigate the Dred Scott v. Sandford court case which deals directly with slavery and citizenship. After viewing a short video clip, classmates work in pairs to assess and discuss the...

Have you ever played the game Monopoly? Do you know what it takes to win the game correctly? Scholars research the nature of outlawing monopolies in the United States while controlling trade. They investigate the court case Gibbons v....

You walk each day over 20 blocks to school as a 9-year old because the color of your skin does not allow you to attend a school in your own neighborhood. Scholars use the 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education to investigate...

Explore women's history through films and filmmaking. An innovative research project prompts class members to create their own screenplay about a figure in women's history. After outlining their characters, settings, and plots, young...

Language learners engage in a series of games and activities designed to help them recognize and name the numbers from ten to twenty.

Foot, bus, bicycle, boat. Transport and travel words are targeted in this plan designed for ESL/ELD classes. The packet is packed with practice exercises and performance prompts.

NASA's LCROSS mission is dropping a probe into a lunar crater. Groups design a system to travel down a zip line and drop a marble onto a target in the classroom. The groups then modify their designs based upon testing. 

Taxonomy is the study of organisms and how you phylum. Three biology activities are included, helping scholars understand four of the six kingdoms, specifically Protista, Plantae, Fungi, and Animalia. Scholars observe and classify...

What is a community? Find out with a lesson that sheds light onto the different types of communities—school, local, and global. Scholars read informational text detailing the life of a young girl from Cape Verde and take part in a...

3D printers, selfie sticks, smart watches. GPS, self-driving cars, YouTube. Imagine life without inventions. Believe it or not, these items were all invented in the last 10 years. Inventions, and the inventors responsible for them,...

Scholars take part in a grand conversation after they examine facts and stories about the Women's Suffrage Movement. Eight discussion questions bring light to influential women, the importance of voting, citizenship, and voting rights.

Discover the effectiveness of wind, water, and steam as energy sources. The hands-on activity has young scientists create a turbine from common materials. After constructing the turbines, they use wind, water, and steam to turn them and...

Explore the behavior of light waves with a lab activity. Scholars build new vocabulary through experimentation and observation. Using different mediums, they model reflection, refraction, transmission, diffusion, and scattering of light.

In a life or death situation, what resources would you choose to survive—and why? A zombie attack simulation teaches learners the concepts of scarcity and resources in regards to economics. The hands-on activity requires individuals to...

Take a ride in The Red Convertible by Louise Erdrich. Students read the story and discuss whether a car is really a character. After carrying out several activities using graphic organizers and tools for making their claims in The Red...

Middle schoolers delve deep into facts about HIV, AIDS, Hepatitis, and other STI's by way of discussion and a hands-on activity. Scholars ask and discuss questions anonymously using a Question Box. Two experiments showcase the...

Energize biologists with colorful images in an activity that captivates the imagination while demystifying the subject of cellular respiration. Participants build comprehension skills and access core content knowledge by analyzing text...

Gerunds and infinitives are the focus of this 24-page grammar packet designed to give language learners opportunities to practice using these parts of speech. Included are exercises, activities, games, and assessments.

Seeking to derive the formula for the volume of a square pyramid, geometry learners construct six square based pyramids that, when pieced together properly, form a cube. Two short videos demonstrate the relationship...

From start to finish, here is a fantastic resource that uses engaging activities and an interactive virtual game to teach about major US Supreme Court cases. Your class members will distinguish the primary arguments made in such cases as...