Curated OER
Tree Identification/Tree Art
Seventh graders identify and examine a deciduous and coniferous tree. Using the descriptions, they discover the types of tress in their local area. As a class, they practice identifying trees on a walk in a park collecting leaves. They...
Curated OER
Ultimate Deck Tennis
The title is misleading because this is more of a keep away game with the ability to score points. This lesson has two groups playing against each other using a deck ring, but a frisbee, or a nerf football could also be used since the...
Curated OER
Safety Lesson
Students review or introduce personal safety concepts in a variety of areas common to the lives of students.
Curated OER
Invading the enemy
High schoolers participate in a physical outdoor activity in order to develop individual and group trust. For this interpersonal relationship lesson, students play attempt to find hidden objects in the dark. High schoolers must trust...
Curated OER
Outdoor Survivors
Fifth graders complete a survey to decide what are most popular plants among the class. They test the water quality in a nearby pond. Studnts test the quality of soil samples taken from their homes. Different plants are moistened with...
Curated OER
Aboriginal Physical Education
Students engage in p.e. activities that have roots in native Indian, Metis, and Inuit cultures. They practice the skill involved and listen to the significance behind the skill. They read relevant books and define new terminology.
Curated OER
Comet Encounters
Students create glitter-covered comet models. Then they make large outdoor chalk drawings of the solar system and place their comets at the location of the Kuiper belt. They carry their comets around an orbit of the sun, shaking various...
Mr Gym
Nuke Walk
Take a look at this cooperative learning activity. The goal of the activity is to transport nuclear waste (a cup of water) from point A to point B without spilling the toxic waste. There are several ideas given here for things to use to...
Mr Gym
Tunnel Tag
Tunnel tag requires players to form some kind of tunnel when they are tagged. In order to become unfrozen from being tagged, another player has to go through the tunnel they formed. There are several examples of tunnels that a player can...
Curated OER
Sliding Games (Marbles)
Students play a game of marbles outdoors on an iced area. They begin by playing a warm-up game of tag and proceed to sliding their marbles on an iced surface into holes. They attempt to gain points by sliding the marble into holes of...
Curated OER
Musical Hoop Addition
Musical chairs is a great activity to get children moving while still paying attention and listening. This activity, which is based on musical chairs, gets students moving while learning basic addition facts. They hop from hoop to hoop...
Curated OER
Orienteering Lessons - Overview
Welcome to the Orienteering lesson plans page. There is a short introduction to the topic and links to the ten lessons in this unit. There is also a linkto the unit home page. This orienteering unit is worth taking a look at.
Curated OER
Frisbee Horseshoes
What a great way to practice the art of throwing a Frisbee! This Frisbee Horseshoes instructional activity could be used as a warm-up or it could be made into an entire instructional activity. If the cones were placed different...
Curated OER
Soccer - Lesson 10 - Dribbling Practice & Mini Games
Lesson 10 in this soccer unit has the players practicing their dribbling skills before embarking on their mini games. Practice dribbling with the inside of the foot, the outside of the foot, dominant foot, nondominant foot, different...
Micron Technology Foundation
Forces of Motion: Rockets
Young scientists design a rocket to launch using Newton's Laws of Motion in order to discover for themselves the forces of motion.
Curated OER
Explore: 2nd Grade Camouflage
Second graders discuss camouflaging in animals. They create camouflaged animal artwork out of various craft and art supplies and then see how well the creation blends into an outdoor area.
Curated OER
Solar Car Series: During what part of the day can t most Sun power be collected?
Young scholars participate in an outdoor activity in which they make direct but safe observations of the Sun. Students use a solar cell and voltmeter apparatus to collect data on the amount of DC voltage produced by the solar cell...
Curated OER
In My Own Backyard
Learners explore the soil and vegetation found in their home and/or school environment and map a familiar area. Each group is assigned a section of the schoolyard. They draw maps of their assigned places and gather soil and vegetation...
Curated OER
Adjective? What's an Adjective?
Mount a variety of pictures (fantasy, rustic, portraits, action) on large sheets of paper and post them around the classroom. Groups rotate from poster to poster, adding adjectives to describe each of the pictures. Writers use these word...
Curated OER
Educated Action
Young scholars review what they already know about birds. Using the internet, they discover major issues involved with birds in Illinois. In groups, they determine what they can do to help them and contact a local agency.
Chicago Botanic Garden
Preparing for Project BudBurst
Plants take cues from the environment—change in daylight hours and temperature—to complete their seasonal life cycles. Lesson four in the series of six has classes collect phenology data on plants. After taking initial observations,...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Nature Walk and Ecosystem Introduction
A food web has no organism higher than a tertiary consumer because there wouldn't be enough energy left to sustain them. The fourth installment in a seven-part series begins with a nature walk to get pupils thinking about their...
