Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Multimedia Stained Glass Window Design

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Students construct and display a stained glass gothic window box made from cardboard boxes, color tissue or colored plastic sheets of mylar, and glue.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

James Van Der Zee

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers recognize James Van Der Zee as an outstanding photographer who documented and reflected life in Harlem during the 1920s. They identify important aspects of Van Der Zee's life and artwork and compose and shoot their own...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Animal Alphabetizing

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders observe a stack of folders, papers, notebooks or other materials that need to be organized. They discuss what the word organize means and then practice alphabetizing books according to first names of students as a class....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Self Reliance

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Students thinking is stimulated and has them reflect on looking after themselves and to not always rely on others for your needs. A story is read to them or they read it and reflect on the it. They put on a play in a small group and...
Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

Watching Crystals Grow

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Amazing science can sometimes happen right before your eyes! The class gets cozy as they watch crystals grow. They use Epsom salts, rocks, and food coloring to create crystals. They'll observe the entire process, documenting every step...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Revolutionary Money

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Examine paper money from the American revolution! Historians study the paper bills and discuss the history of money. How has money changed over the times? Activities are included. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sew, You Want To Quilt?

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students become familiar with the achievements of the artist Faith Ringgold. They take notice of the patterns in their environment. They connect the mathematical concept of patterns to create a class quilt.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Plants and Animals: Partners in Pollination

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students describe the complementary relationships between pollinators and the plants they pollinate, identify adaptations that flowers have developed to "encourage" pollination, and create and draw their own "designer" flowers.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mineral Scavenger Hunt

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students complete a scavenger hunt worksheet as they find examples in their classroom, at home, etc., of minerals. Excellent worksheet!
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Create a Classroom Exhibit: Rocks and Minerals

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students bring in rocks and minerals from home. They observe them and describe them carefully, completing a worksheet. Finally, a classroom exhibit is created.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Letters from the Japanese American Internment

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Students examine letters of Japanese-American children during internment in World War II. They discover what it was like in the camps and how they were treated once they were released. They also view photographs of the camps.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Plants and Animals, Partners in Pollination

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Students participate in multiple hands-on activities to explore reproduction and pollination. In groups, using a cotton swab and powder, students simulate being pollinators and plants. They name the parts of the flowers and the function...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rocks and Minerals

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students bring rocks and minerals from home to investigate in the classroom. In 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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Under the Spell of Spiders

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students examine spiders. In these spider lessons, students will view spider images and live spiders to determine physical characteristics, habits, and habitats. Students will examine fantasy and folklore about spiders to create and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Westward Movement

For Teachers Pre-K - 8th
Students study the westward movement through examining stamps. In this westward movement lesson plan, students draw conclusions, determine cause and effect relationships and examine the westward movement of the United States by...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Size Shapes Animals

For Teachers Pre-K - 3rd
Students investigate how size affects large and small animals differently. In this animal lesson plan, students determine how size affects different animals by constructing their own animal out of marshmallows. Once students create...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fossils Footprints Across Time

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students examine fossils to understand how they are formed and how they give information about geological history. For this fossil lesson, students research and write about fossils and make models of different fossil types.The PDF...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Going...going...gone? Tropical Rainforests-How They Work, What They Do for Us, What's Being Done to Them...

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders explore the Tropical Rainforest and come to understand what it is and how it affects the ecosystem. In this rainforests lesson, 6th graders write about the Tropical Rainforest, imagine they are in the Tropical Rainforest,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Plants and Animals: Partners in Pollination

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Students identify the plant parts and bee structures that are involved in pollination. They simulate pollination in a group activity and process the information.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Japan: Images of a People

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students learn the geography of Japan and its location in reference to the United States.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Japan: Images of A People

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students study Japan and explore the use of screens.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Views of the American West: True or False?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers explain that a landscape painting may or may not accurately represent a specific place. They identify techniques that create the illusion of three-dimensional space on a flat surface.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Minerals, Crystals, and Gems

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students discover the relationships between minerals, crystals and gems. They bring in rocks that they find at home, in the schoolyard, etc. and examine them and attempt to identify them. They set up a classroom exhibit that includes all...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

JAPAN, IMAGES A PEOPLE

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students interpret Japanese and American paintings; evaluate paintings as sources of cultural and historical information