Chicago Botanic Garden
Personal Choices and the Planet
How big is your footprint? Activity three culminates the series by having groups complete carbon footprint audits with people in their schools and/or around the districts. Groups then gather their data, create a presentation including...
Curated OER
Observe a Tree
Tiny tree-huggers observe and examine various species of trees around campus. They use My First Field Guide to Trees to support their observations. Different tree projects are offered that can include using natural materials to make a...
Core Knowledge Foundation
Insects Tell It Again!™ Read-Aloud Anthology
A read-aloud anthology explores the world of bees, wasps, beetles, termites, ants, fireflies, and more. Scholars listen to stories and discuss topics and practice word work. Extension opportunities keep the learning going in and out of...
Curated OER
Writing Process
Fourth graders identify the benefits of using a field guide for nature observations. They then field trip to a natural setting to prepare for writing. They record their observations, and write a journal entry using the steps of the...
Curated OER
WebQuest- What is Poverty and Who Are the Poor?
Pupils are introduced to a variety of easily accessible data about poverty. The search activity performs double-duty in exposing students to the nature and magnitude of world poverty and in confronting them with different types and...
Curated OER
Weathervanes in the Wind
Students investigate wind and weather by creating a weathervane. In this environment lesson, students identify the purpose of a weathervane and observe weathervanes in action on their campus. Students create a weathervane and...
Curated OER
Random Strategies in Archaeology
Students critically evaluate cultures according to their artifacts. In this Random Strategies in Archaeology lesson, Students interpret evidence in order to better understand ancient societies. Students watch films that affect their...
Curriculum Corner
I See a School
Give observational and writing skills a boost with a instructional activity that takes scholars on a sight-seeing journey around the school. Learners read sentences and color a corresponding picture, then write their own...
Curated OER
Finding Comfort in an Unfamiliar Landscape
Students recognize the writings of a prominent American writer. They analyze written text making connections to personal prior experience. Students discuss in small and large groups their findings. They organize ideas in writing using...
Curated OER
The Chemistry of Water / Industrial Waste at My High School
High schoolers gain factual knowledge of the nature of industrial waste at on their school site. They gain process knowledge of the laboratory techniques and collection procedures for wastewater samples.
Curated OER
How Big Is A Tree?
Learners estimate the height of trees on the school campus, and measure their circumferences. They develop a map of trees on the school site, conduct their measurements, and record the results on a data table.
Curated OER
The Vietnam War
Students discuss the nature of protest. They comprehend that art can be a form of protest. Students analyze how music was used as a powerful tool for speaking out against the war. They listen to some protest music and discuss the meaning...
Curated OER
Environment: Waste Walk
Young scholars assess the positive and negative affects of humans on the environment. The lesson explores ways in which individuals and societies can reduce the negative impact on the environment. By taking a "waste walk" around their...
Fort Bend Independent School District
Data Analysis - AP Statistics
What better way to study survey design than to design your own survey! Bring a versatile data analysis project to your AP Statistics class, and encourage them to apply the practices from their instructions to a real-world survey...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Survival of the Fittest - Variations in the Clam Species Clamys sweetus
It's not often that you come across a clever laboratory activity that is both imaginative and comprehensive! Using M&M's and Reese's peanut butter candies to represent two different clam species, young biologists test for "relative...
Curated OER
How To Make the Transition to Middle School Easier
How schools, teachers, and parents can help pupils make the big change from elementary to middle school.
Education World
Black History Month Rap
Young scholars write a rap or hip-hop lyric about the life of a famous Black American. They explore famous Black Americans in history and explore how the rap form compares to other forms of poetic expression.
Curated OER
Story Mapping
Fill-out a story map to help your scholars with pre-writing. They will use a story map template to pre-write. They also organize their ideas into steps which become the foundation for their first draft. Concrete objects are brought in to...
Curated OER
Outgroup Experiment Reveals Bias, Stereotyping
Exploring bias and stereotypes, young scholars dress up as members of "outgroups" (groups of people who are often judged). Though the lesson specifies that it should be "respectful and not mock the outgroup in any way," this activity...
Curated OER
Dental Health
Fourth graders investigate the types of habits that are necessary for good dental health. They use information provided from a variety of resources to make conclusions of the overall practice of dental hygiene. Then students produce a...
Curated OER
Dichotomous Keys
Students utilize dichotomous keys to identify trees in their schools. In this ecological identification lesson, students practice creating dichotomous keys based on simple subjects such as hair color or sex of a person....
Curated OER
Commas After Introductions Exercise 2
In this comma usage worksheet, students are given ten sentences that they must correct by placing a commas in the correct place. Students must identify whether there was an introductory word, clause or phrase in the sentence.
Curated OER
Insect Homes
Students investigate student homes. In this insect homes lesson,students observe insect homes. Students visit a campsite and gather information about insect homes. Students examine and record an insect home on a worksheet....
Curated OER
Environmental Health Hazards and Children
Students are introduced to the environmental hazards their community is facing. In groups, they develop a list of the ways humans have changed the Earth and how these changes have lead to environmental hazards. They record their...