Raptor flight patterns align with seasonal changes in net primary productivity. Here is a thought-provoking lesson that uses empirical data from a video to help scholars understand raptor migrations, producers/consumers, and ecosystems....

Become an immunologist for the day. Scholars elicit the use of the enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA) to diagnose an infectious disease. Through the process, they learn about the immune system response to infectious diseases.

After reading The Great Gatsby, groups return to the text and note passages where Fitzgerald uses symbols and color imagery in his narrative. They then develop a presentation that explains the context, the implications, and possible...

What better way is there to introduce conservation of mass than a few simple experiments? Young chemists conduct two chemical reactions, take the masses of reactants and products, then compare their results to determine...

What sound does a piccolo make? What's the difference between a violin and viola? What family does a timpani belong to? Take a tour through the different sections of an orchestra with an interactive reference tool.

Bald eagles are opportunistic predators and eat fish as well as raccoons and other mammals. Pupils learn about bald eagle diets through a simple simulation and videos. They collect and analyze data to understand the adaptability of this...

Dig deep into a lesson studying volume. Learners view images of a Guatemalan sinkhole that seems too big to be true! Their task is to determine the amount of material needed to fill the hole using information from news articles and videos.

Explore vocabulary related to three-dimensional shapes. An instructional website describes the characteristics of different geometric solids. Learners can use an interactive component to view nets, faces, vertices, and edges of common...

An engaging PowerPoint presentation helps scholars learn the definition of a noun and provides examples of different types of nouns, such as person, place, abstract, and concrete nouns. Formative assessments within the resource check...

Tenzing Norgay, the Sherpa man who made history when he reached the summit of Mount Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary, is the focus of an informative article. Class members read about Norgay's perspective on the way up the mountain, the...

Join the fight against bacteria. An open investigation shows pupils different aspects of antimicrobial substances, such as disinfectants, deodorants, or plant oils. They design and conduct their own experiments on the effectiveness of...

Can you visualize one billionth of a meter? It's not easy to understand the scale of a nanometer. Learners use a hands-on lesson to develop an understanding of the size of a nanometer in comparison to common objects. They walk away with...

Don't let your eyes play tricks on you ... use scale to keep your eyes in check! Young scholars observe images without scale and try to identify the structure. Then, they look at the same image with a scale bar and assess whether their...

Capillary action is the frugal chemist's dream ... the less liquid used, the more tests they can run! Learners experiment with the best design to maximize the benefits of capillary action. Using a liquid sample, they design a capillary...

Go beyond the textbook to gain a better appreciation for the English language. A series of ESL lessons help expand the concepts found in Theme 2: Give It All You've Got. The second lesson in a three-part unit incorporates strategies such...

English is not the only subject that requires its own set of vocabulary words—geography does too! A series of language development lessons designed to be used with Theme 5: One Land, Many Trails helps introduce readers to key vocabulary...

Run a simulated airplane manufacturing plant with your pupils as the builders! Learners build Lego airplane models and collect data on the rate of production, comparing the number produced to the number defective. Using linear...

When you hear the name Florence Nightingale, what comes to your mind? Wartime nurse? The International Red Cross? Florence Nightingale's many contributions to the Crimean war effort, the welfare of injured soldiers, and the future of...

Work out your core, Common Core State Standards, through the first workshop in a series of 15 designed for educators. Inquiry-based activities designed for all content areas and grade levels explore the shifts to new standards,...

The Navajo people build their dwellings with the doors facing the rising sun in the east to welcome wealth and fortune. Pupils learn about the traditions of the Navajo people in the first part of a 16-part unit. They explore American...

Many regard John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath as the great American novel. The lesson plan combines a variety of strategies, including partner work, independent practice, creative writing, grammar instruction, and small group...

Model good modeling practices. Young mathematicians first learn about cross sections and solids of revolution. They then turn their attention to special right triangles and to the Laws of Sine and Cosine.

What if a coordinate plane becomes a slope-intercept plane? What does the graph of a linear function look like? Learners explore these questions by graphing the y-intercept of a linear equation as a function of its slope. The result is a...

Deciding how to rule a nation is no easy task. Scholars use an online quiz to test their knowledge of Federalist and Anti-Federalist positions, ideas on the Articles of Confederation, and finish with questions on the United States...