University of Florida
Unhealthy Forests and the News
Everyone knows a tree makes a sound when it falls, but what do we know about dying trees? Class members learn background information about Laurel wilt disease from a teacher-led presentation. Team members work with partners to read and...
Curated OER
The Fact of Global Warming
Students investigate the harmful impact of global warming by reading news articles. In this environmental care lesson, students analyze an article about the Kyoto Protocol and its goal of saving our environment. Students...
Curated OER
The Chesapeake Bay in Captain John Smith's Time
When Captain John Smith visited the Chesapeake Bay in the summer of 1608, what types of animals and habitats did he encounter? Your young historians will analyze primary source documents to answer this question, as well as compare...
Curated OER
Surviving AIDS
Enhance your middle and high schoolers' research skills with this lesson. After viewing a video clip about HIV and AIDS, high schoolers identify the facts and issues surrounding the disease. They work together to create a newspaper...
Curated OER
Adopt a Geographic News Story
Learners explore geography and the environment by reading the news. They discuss why it is important to follow the news. Students adopt a geographic news story, research the topic, and design posters to illustrate the story.
Personal Genetics Education Project
Genetics, Jobs and Your Rights
Your class will read an overview of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, passed in 2008 and address the question of whether or not genetic information should be used to influence our career paths. In jigsaw style, they then are...
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Invasive Species in the News
Students explore how invasive species can change an environment. In this critical thinking lesson, students study how invasive animals can change an environments population. They will discuss the implications of an invasive species and...
Personal Genetics Education Project
Claims of CRISPR Being Used to Edit Genomes of Twin Girls Born in 2018
Here is an activity that blends genetic technology, literacy skills, and critical thinking. Pupils review background information about cell lines and CRISPR by video and teacher-led discussion. Scholars collaborate to analyze two...
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Bovine Oversteps Boundaries
Sixth graders read about Grady, the Silo Cow and analyze the parts of a news story. In this news article activity, 6th graders discuss writing for different purposes. Students discover the characteristics of a strong...
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Getting Fired Up
Students explore first-person accounts of volcanic eruptions throughout time and use second-hand information about volcanoes. They use both types of accounts to write news articles covering the events of a historic volcanic eruption as...
National Wildlife Federation
I Speak for the Polar Bears!
Climate change and weather extremes impact every species, but this lesson focuses on how these changes effect polar bears. After learning about the animal, scholars create maps of snow-ice coverage and examine the yearly variability and...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Environmental Scrapbook and Podcast
High schoolers collect newspaper and magazine articles about the environment and construct a scrapbook using construction paper, glue, and scissors. To make it even more environmentally friendly, groups can create an online...
Curated OER
What Do People Know About Radon?
Students read the fictitious newspaper article entitled, "Levels of Radon in Jersey Town Exceed Limits." This helps them get a basic vocabulary started for the terms and concepts related to radon. In groups, they identify words that they...
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West Climate Change
Students read an internet article about hurricanes. For this hurricane lesson, students explain how they form and the damage they bring. They analyze the article and answer questions about it.
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The Social Sciences
Students 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.
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The First Humans: Prehistory-3500 B.C. "Lucy"
Students explore prehistoric times by completing web activities in class. In this human ancestry instructional activity, students identify the archaeological discovery of the "Lucy" skeleton and what it meant for science. Students...
Beyond Benign
SLS Today
Lather is not necessary for an effective shampoo. After learning of the industry created consumer misinformation, individuals investigate the toxicity of the most popular additive in shampoos to create lather. They use their results to...
Curated OER
Biodiesel Demand Could Destroy World's Forests
In this global issues instructional activity, students read a 1-page article about biodiesel demand then write PPC articles that address the costs of biodiesel use.
Curated OER
Good Timing
Students investigate time, how people measure it, and how it influences our lives. They complete an online Webquest, analyze various calendars, answer discussion questions, and identify references to time in a newspaper article.
Curated OER
The Causes of Prohibition
Eleventh graders explore the origins of the Prohibition Movement in the United States. In small groups, they analyze the influence of World War I in the passage of the eighteenth amendment. Students explain how different demographics of...
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Please Ex-Planet
Seventh graders create a model of an earth centered solar system and a model of the sun centered solar system. As a class, they discuss why the earlier astronomers believed their model and why it changed when evidence arose that this...
Curated OER
Forecast the Weather
Students analyze different weather conditions before creating their very own first-person report from the eye of a storm. They use maps to analyze different weather conditions, record an online weather script
and write a first-person...
Curated OER
Rivers
Students examine how rivers are used in our modern world. They create and analyze a large class mural of a river illustrating the ways rivers are used by people and wildlife, and write an essay on how rivers should be used and why.
Curated OER
On the Other Hand
Students identify traits that are either genetic or developmental in nature and determine why it might be difficult to learn if handedness is genetic or developmental. They explore theories on the causes of left-handedness by reading and...