Virginia Department of Education
Planet Line-Ups
Should Pluto be considered a planet or a dwarf planet? Scholars research planets in our solar system to understand their similarities and differences. It also includes memory activities related to the order of the planets.
Noyce Foundation
Rabbit Costumes
How many rabbit costumes can be made? This is the focus question of an activity that requires scholars to use multiplication and division of fractions to solve a real-world problem. They determine the amount of fabric necessary for eight...
Smithsonian Institution
African American Pioneers in Aviation
Bessie Coleman. William Powell. Willa Brown. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. While these names may not be familiar to many Americans, they are African American pioneers in aviation history. Class members have an opportunity to research the...
Agriculture in the Classroom
"Steer" Toward STEM: Careers in Animal Agriculture
Think like an engineer and an agricultural scientist over the course of 12 lessons in a STEM based unit. Young scientists take on the roles of animal physiologists, animal geneticists, agricultural engineers, animal nutritionists,...
Florida International University
Simulating Microgravity with Buoyancy
How do astronauts know how to live and work in a weightless environment? It doesn't come naturally! Junior physicists conduct experiments to examine the link between buoyancy and microgravity. Each activity illustrates a different aspect...
Leadership Challenge
Serving the Stakeholders' Interests
When school and community leaders are at odds, what's a young person to do? Grouped pupils examine the details of a difficult situation during the 10th in a series of 12 leadership activities. Presented with a decline in community...
Kenan Fellows
Farm to Fuel: The Alternative Fuels Industry
Need a lesson to fuel young minds? A variety of hands-on activities is sure to get your class fired up! Beginning with an introductory slideshow and culminating with group presentations, the week-long unit has something for everyone....
Microsoft
Variables
You won't want to replace the resource with anything else. Future computer scientists use Minecraft to learn about variables in computer coding. They engage in several activities to master the variable code block, then apply it in an...
American Museum of Natural History
Piecing It All Together
Archaeology digs are much like giant jigsaw puzzles. The artifacts found are often in pieces and scientists must reconstruct them. A hands-on activity lets young archaeologists experience this facet of the job as they create, smash, and...
Crabtree Publishing
Why Does Media Literacy Matter?
Criticism of news and entertainment journalism is at an all-time high. Help 21st-century learners develop the media literacy skills they need to become critical consumers with a three-lesson guide the looks at persuasive techniques used...
K12 Reader
Identifying Adverbs III
Put young grammarians to the test with an activity about adverbs. A five-paragraph passage prompts kids to find the adverbs and circle them, noting their purpose in context.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Lesson 3: Britain, Napoleon, and the American Embargo, 1803–1808
While the French were once the allies of Americans, the Napoleonic Wars saw the United States almost drawn into a war with its one-time friend. Wars in Europe threatened to draw in the early republic. A primary source-based activity...
Curated OER
Insects A-Z!
Alphabet insects! Who has ever heard of such a thing? Get ready because your class is going to research insects that start with a specific letter of the alphabet. In small groups, they'll use the Internet and reference texts to locate...
Illustrative Mathematics
Sort and Count II
Capture the engagement of young mathematicians with this hands-on sorting activity. Given a bag of objects, learners work independently sorting the items based on their physical attributes, counting to determine the size of each group....
Sea World
Whales
A whale of a lesson is sure to intrigue your elementary oceanographers! Learn about the mammals of the sea with a series of activities about whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Kids complete worksheets about the anatomy of a whale, create a...
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...
Illustrative Mathematics
Right Triangles Inscribed in Circles II
So many times the characteristics of triangles are presented as a vocabulary-type of lesson, but in this activity they are key to unraveling a proof. A unique attack on proving that an inscribed angle that subtends a diameter must be a...
Dick Blick Art Materials
Have a Ball!
M.C. Escher's "Hand with Reflecting Globe" and the work of Dick Termes, inspire this activity. Kids check out their reflection in a Christmas ornament or a bubble filter and recreate this distorted image on a vinyl ball.
Teach-nology
The Big Bad Storm
Get ready for the big storm with a vocabulary activity! Using a word bank and context clues, young learners fill in the blanks in a passage about a day at the park that leads to stormy weather.
Journey Through the Universe
Our Solar System
Take your class on a journey through our solar system. Learners explore each planet, from Mercury to Pluto, and discuss various features that differentiate one from another. They complete activities related to the topics and discuss the...
National Institute of Open Schooling
Periodic Table and Atomic Properties
An in-depth lesson, the fourth activity in a series of 36, begins with teaching how the periodic table's arrangement came to its current design. Using this knowledge, pupils then move on to analyze the arrangement of elements to their...
Illustrative Mathematics
Ordering Time
Practice telling time to the nearest five minutes in a digital and analog clock activity. Learners are prompted to order clock cards in increasing time order, and then write the time each clock represents.
Cornell University
Renewable Resins and Composites
Merge chemistry with environmental science to study biodegradable materials. An engaging activity allows learners to experiment with different resin concentrations and composites. Through experimental tests, scholars test their creations...
Science Matters
Formative Assessment #3
Thirteen short-answer questions follow a brief food web activity in a formative assessment designed to test knowledge of ecosystems and the energy that flows through them.