Students investigate the spectroscopic colors unique to elements, and to use this information to create a specific color. They follow a detailed schematic to produce a spectroscpoe to be used in the testing.

Why do readers need to know an author’s purpose? How do you figure out what that purpose is? Guide your pupils through a series of activities that show them how to identify various techniques and structures used in persuasive writing....

Make connections between Esperanza Rising and human rights with the activities outlined here. The instructional activity starts out with a brief quiz and review of the novel. After that, pupils circulate and share quote strips that you...

Set up your class to read Esperanza Rising, by Pam Muñoz Ryan, through a class read-aloud and exploration of the setting. The detailed instructional activity outlines each step. First, class members read over the first few pages and...

Identifying the theme or central idea of a text is a skill many young readers struggle with. It is also the second standard for reading literature in the Common Core. This resource, one from a series of Common Core lessons, can provide...

Middle schoolers study the biographies of Ellsworth, Hamilton, Paterson, and Randolph. They study roles of these men during the Constitutional Convention.

Lesson 6 of this extensive unit finally has your class begin to work their way through specific articles from the text of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Before examining the rights actually detailed in the...

If humans evolved from apes, why are there still apes? Using captivating pictures and videos of our primate cousins, young biologists examine evidence to dispel one of the most common misconceptions about human evolution. Depending on...

A fun, engaging lesson is definitely in the cards for your future. Pupils explore a deck of playing cards in the fifth of six parts in the Statistics and Probability series to learn about its suits and the number of each card type. They...

Improve high schoolers' public speaking with an engaging activity. Class members select three personally relevant quotes from a list. They then write a short speech for each quote, explaining how the quotes are personally relevant....

Looking to introduce some text-based questions into your ELA lessons? Practice the kinds of skills the Common Core demands with the seven text-based questions and the essay prompt provided here. Designed to be a three-day lesson, day one...

To truly teach through the arts means one must tackle both art and core content in one lesson. This quick activity does just that. Learners make skeletons out of cotton swabs in order to study relief sculpture and the skeletal system....

A great resource for your unit on Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. Small groups conduct research about related topics (list included), write papers, present PowerPoint slide shows, and take a student-created test. Fill in a few...

Who knew there were so many fun educational opportunities featuring pasta? Scholars read a brief informational text about the history of pasta (note that "macaroni" is spelled two different ways, so address this if kids are reading...

Engage further in Esperanza Rising with a focus on close reading and metaphor. Class members zero in on the tenth chapter, examining characters and big ideas. Pupils discuss the text in small groups and as a whole class, and...

To memorize, or not to memorize: that is the question. Whether 'tis nobler to suffer the fear and anguish of committing a poem to memory, to endure the heartache, to shuffle off this fear, and face the stares of classmates with the hue...

What kind of animals live on an ice planet like Hoth? How would the habitat on Tatooine allow different organisms to thrive? Connect social studies, science, and Star Wars in one engaging activity that focuses on the ecosystems...

Do you have what it takes to survive as a fit predator or will elusive prey lead to your extinction? Find out in a creative natural selection activity. Using different colors and shapes of grains to represent different species and...

After completing S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, eighth graders compose a personal letter to their teacher detailing what they liked about the novel and the activities assigned during the course of the unit. A clever way to get feedback,...

Students create lotus flowers in 3-D designs applying Lao art techniques. Following a teacher demonstration, they assemble their own lotus flower candleholders and the teacher arranges a group flotation in a body of water. Students...

Great real-world math application! Have the class compare and contrast their estimated home price and income data with actual data. In groups, they participate in simulations to discover how the housing market and mortgages operate....

What is a ‘Zine? Although the referenced PBS video that launches this study of self-published magazines is not available, the activities detailed and the step-by-step directions for creating ‘Zines would engage young writers. This...

Careful, that light bulb is hot! Compare heat and light energy using a simple light bulb. The exercise addresses energy conservation and presents actual calculations to determine the most cost-effective light bulb.

Let me get an angle on this! Investigate the orientation of a photovoltaic panel and its effect on efficiency. By using a light source, learners collect and plot current output to determine the ultimate orientation. The resource includes...