Polar Trec
Permafrost Thaw Depth and Ground Cover
The thaw depth of tundra creates a positive feedback loop with both global warming and the carbon cycle. Scholars sort photos and develop a hypothesis for ground cover and permafrost depth. Then they review the data and measurements...
College of the Canyons
Free Verse
Free verse poetry is often regarded as poetry without structure, but in reality, it is a poetic form that adheres to its own poet's thought and breath patterns. Delve into the rules and famous examples of free-verse poetry with a short...
University of Colorado
Are All Asteroids' Surfaces the Same Age?
Did you know scientists can tell the age of an asteroid by looking closely at its craters? This final instructional activity of a six-part series focuses on two asteroids, Gaspra and Ida, in order to demonstrate the concept of dating...
Curated OER
A Contract on Bullying
If you want to stop bullying, you need to understand it. A four-part lesson guides learners through defining characteristics of a bully, identifying instances of bullying in the media and in their lives, and signing a contract to become...
Brethren High School
Romanticism Through the Eyes of Art, Poetry, and Technology
Use this simple collaborative activity to introduce the definition, art, and poetry of romanticism. Educators will have to provide the poetry, images of the art, and the survey for the learners, but by using this resource, they won't...
Curated OER
Science Puzzlers, Twisters, and Teasers: Chemical Bonding
What a cute approach to chemical bonding! Atoms all have human names and are attending at a dance. Who will pair up with whom? By reading the characteristics, and not the element name, chemistry whizzes figure out the bonding pairs....
Curated OER
Plant Groups
Compare different types of leaves in a science exploration. First, third graders identify common characteristics of various plants, such as daisies, fir needles, and cypress leaves. They then determine if the plants in each group are...
Busch Gardens
Create an Invertebrate
What better way for young biologists to learn about invertebrates than by creating their very own? Here, students are assigned a set of invertebrate characteristics and are asked to invent an imaginary ocean animal...
Curated OER
Wetlands Are Wonderful
Students study the characteristics of wetlands. They are introduced to terms and different examples of wetlands. The hands-on activity reinforces the different parts of the wetlands, and provides a working model of a wetland.
Curated OER
Nature and Place Names in Arkansas
Middle schoolers examine the way that many place names in Arkansas came to be. By looking at Arkansas highway maps, they find names that come from the characteristics of each of the state's six geographical divisions. This interesting...
Novelinks
The Giver: Biopoem
The characters in Lois Lowry's The Giver are rich and complex as they weave their way through the plot. Examine the character traits of one chosen person with a biopoem, which enables learners to follow a poetic format in writing a...
Curated OER
Look At Those Leaves!
Students explore botany by researching plants in class. For this tree identification lesson, students examine a group of leaves and list the different characteristics before guessing what types of trees they came from. Students read...
Curated OER
What Can a Leaf Be?
Students identify leaves for an art project and create a collage. In this leaf lesson, students review leaf characteristics. Students use leaves to create a collage of an animal or creature. Students write recipes of leaves for their...
Curated OER
The Touch N Feel Box
Students discover the characteristics of living and non living objects without the use of sight. In this sense of touch lesson, students touch items put in a shoe box and must identify whether the item was once living or not by...
Curated OER
Rock of Ages
Young scholars are given a classification table and samples from their location. They locate their samples on the classification table using the characteristics used in rock identification.
Rainforest Alliance
My Forest or the Rainforest?
The differences between tropical and temperate rainforests range from animals and flowers to climate and landscapes. Kindergarteners compare and contrast characteristics of their local forest to a tropical rainforest.
Curated OER
Leaf ID and Leaf Bingo
Third graders explore the parts of a leaf and use a dichotomy key to identify leaves. For this biology lesson, learners study characteristics of various leaves and play a game of bingo to identify leaves by their traits. Students find...
Curated OER
Group 7, The Halogens
The ten slides in this presentation make a consice introduction to the halogen group of the periodic table of elements. The location of the group is displayed, and then the characteristics of the different halogen group members are...
Curated OER
Get to Know Trees
Students recognize the characteristics of trees by using their five senses. In this trees lesson, students observe and record the characteristics of trees on a field trip. Students then are blindfolded and use their senses to identify...
Curated OER
Mr. Powell Leaves Washington
Students examine the life and achievements of Colin Powell. After reading an article, they discuss the role of the Secretary of State. In groups, they evaluate his successes in different regions throughout the world. They reflect on the...
Curated OER
Groundwater
In this groundwater worksheet, students use 12 given terms and match them to their definitions related to characteristics of groundwater and the components of the ground where the water travels. Students also fill in 5 blanks with given...
American Chemical Society
Mysterious M&M's
The first in a six-lesson mini unit, all using M&Ms® candies, this physical science activity gets kids to observe a single piece and discover what happens when it is placed in a plate of water. The activity can be used to...
Curated OER
Leaf Classification
Seventh graders work together to develop a leaf classification system. In groups, they are given a set of leaves and sort them based on their characteristics. They share their new classification system with the class and answer any...
Curated OER
MANY REASONS TO LEAVE
Students research different economic, cultural, and social characteristics of slavery after 1800, how slavery hindered the emergence of capitalist institutions and values, and slavery both prior to and after the Civil War.