Chicago Botanic Garden
Faces of Climate Change
How does climate change affect you? First in a three-part series, the activity focuses on how individuals living around the world are affected by climate change. Individuals take on the role of a given character and share their...
Creative Learning Exchange
The Infection Game: The Shape of Change
Encourage the spread of knowledge in your class with this cross-curricular epidemic simulation. Pulling together science, social studies, and math, this lesson engages students in modeling the spread of infectious diseases, collecting...
Peace Corps
Brief Encounters
How are Pandyas different than Chispas? Explore cultural norms and societal behaviors with an engaging role-play activity. Split into groups of two hypothetical cultural groups, the formal Pandyas and the sociable Chispas, and another...
Curated OER
Exploring the Sky: Reading Maria's Comet
Discover the science behind astronomy. After reading the book Maria's Comet, which is about a young woman who breaks new ground by becoming a female astronomer, young learners practice reading comprehension with worksheet questions about...
National Park Service
Pulley Systems Used at Fort McHenry
What a great opportunity to integrate science into your lesson on the War of 1812! Discover how pulley systems were used to move 1,000 lb. cannons at the Battle of Fort McHenry, and to raise the flag that would inspire Francis Scott Key...
Sea World
Marine Animal Husbandry and Training
Step into the role of a zoo director with several activities about animal training and running a zoo. Kids calculate the amount of food each animal needs, design a habitat for penguins, decide how to breed bottlenose dolphins, and train...
Time Warp Trio
My Big Fat Greek Olympics
The Olympic Games are indeed a significant and far-reaching cultural component in our international community today, but from where do they originate? Where do our traditions stem from, and how do we choose the sports that constitute...
Rainforest Alliance
Trees and Carbon
You'll find everything but the kitchen sink here ... or just a carbon sink. In the activity, pairs or groups of middle school learners go outside and measure a tree's circumference and height to estimate its carbon storage potential and...
Candace Fleming
Ben Franklin’s Almanac: Being a True Account of the Good Gentleman’s Life
Candace Fleming's award winning Ben Franklin's Almanac is the anchor text for a classroom guide that provides teachers with a cache of pre, during, and post-reading activities.
Channel Islands Film
Island Rotation: Lesson Plan 1
How do scientists provide evidence to support the theories they put forth? What clues do they put together to create these theories? After watching West of the West's documentary Island Rotation class members engage in a series of...
American Evolution
Virginia Runaway Slave Ads
What does an ad reveal about a culture, or about the values of its intended audience? Class members examine a series of runaway slave ads—one of which was written by Thomas Jefferson—and consider what these primary source documents...
Earth Day Network
Conserving Water Through Art!
Having fresh, clean drinking water is a privilege many people take for granted. Help raise awareness about the scarcity of water and the importance of conservation by discussing different ways water is used in everyday life. Brainstorm...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Why Don’t More People in the U.S. Vote?
To vote or not to vote, that is the question. Secondary scholars explore voter turnout in the United States. The resource uses informational text, group discussion, and a worksheet to help academics understand hindrances to voting and...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Plyler v. Doe: Can States Deny Public Benefits to Illegal Immigrants?
Illegal immigration is an ever-changing source of consistent controversy. A reading passage about the rights of undocumented workers and illegal immigrants—and the lack thereof—guides high schoolers into a mock trial activity. Three...
Curated OER
Natural Disasters and the Five Themes of Geography
Have your class do research on natural disasters and create a presentation using this resource. In completing this activity, learners apply the five geography themes to their research. They write a paper describing their results. It's a...
Curated OER
HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES ANALYSIS
Middle schoolers examine a variety of maps and documents to identify physical and cultural features of neighborhoods, cities, states, and countries, to explain the historical migration of people, expansion and disintegration of empires,...
Curated OER
Global Warming
A series of independent learning activities teaches learners about global warming as it relates to economics and industrialization. The culminating project requires them to create a multimedia presentation identifying the problems,...
US National Library of Medicine
Science and Society: Preventing the Spread of Disease
Looking for a valuable resource on the spread of infectious diseases? Here is a lesson in which pupils simulate the spread of diseases and learn about how to prevent them from spreading. Class members read case studies about diseases,...
Curated OER
Activating Students
Students view and analyze one example of student activism in the 1960's and then apply their learning to their own situations. They work cooperatively to develop and implement their own "activist" or community service learning plan.
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Working with Watermills
In collaborative groups, emerging engineers or environmental scientists plan and construct a water wheel or watermill that rotates for a total of three minutes. Everything you need to carry out this lesson is included: objectives,...
UNICEF
Get Real on Climate
Climate change isn't just about a warming planet; it will affect humans' health, spread of disease, changes in heat waves and droughts, and changes in storms and wildfires. Participants explore global climate change through discussions...
iCivics
Municipal Government: High School
Municipal government takes on many roles, not just the ones we are used to hearing about such as Parks and Recreation. Scholars delve into the topic to get a grasp on how the government system functions. They participate in readings,...
Curated OER
Teaching Controversial Science Issues Through Law Related Education
A set of lessons help aspiring scientists practice the critical thinking skills required for facing controversial issues such as evolution. As a group, they discuss what controversy consists of. They compare and constrast the concepts of...
Curated OER
Science in baseball
Sixth graders examine how science is used in everyday activities, such as baseball.