Curated OER
Mushrooms Can Save the World
Students use mushrooms to solve problems. In this environmental instructional activity, students study how fungi have been used to combat environmental problems. Students design strategies that employ mushrooms to combat other...
Curated OER
Tour + Workshop = DESIGN: Form Follows Function
Students design a chair with function in mind. In this design lesson plan, students design a chair out of newspaper that is strong enough to hold a "peanut ball". Students discuss how the form follows the function. This lesson plan...
Curated OER
Designing A Mythical Creature
Pupils study mythology and why human cultures require them. In this investigating myths lesson students design a creature that fits an explanation of a natural phenomena then demonstrate the concept of "myth" and "legend".
Curated OER
Equivalent Fraction Quilts
Fifth graders practice fraction skills by making quilts using paper or cloth for the squares and rectangles. Each square of the quilt is an equivalent fraction which they design. Students can also use this activity to demonstrate how to...
Curated OER
A Never-Before-Seen Creature
Students construct a never-before-seen creature in part of an analysis of societal injustices and discrimination. In this societal issues instructional activity, students create a creature called a Man-Droid as a study about the...
Curated OER
Individual Responsibility and Resistance During the Holocaust
Students examine what obstacles hinder resistance, what types of resistance are possible and how different individuals resisted Nazi oppression. They examine primary source documents related to the Holocaust and analyze various sources...
Curated OER
Transportation Systems: Two Liter Boat Activity
Students design and build full-size boats made out of two-liter plastic bottles, chicken wire, and plywood. Then they race the boats, with the boat's designers "manning the hull", in the school's swimming pool.
Curated OER
Unit 2: Post-Revolution: The Critical Period 1781-1878
The post-Revolutionary Period of 1781-1787, also known as the Critical Period, is the focus of a series of lessons that prompt class members to examine primary source documents that reveal the instability of the period of the...
Curated OER
Neighborhood or Slum? Snapshots of Five Points: 1827-1867
How has your local neighborhood changed throughout recent history? Young researchers evaluate census data, images, and primary source descriptions describing the living situation in the antebellum Five Points neighborhood. They consider...
Curated OER
Reformers versus Residents in Five Points: A Role Play
Social Studies and role-playing can go hand in hand. Learners use supporting evidence found in primary and secondary source material to develop a character from the Five Points neighborhood in the 1850s. Each student takes on the role of...
Curated OER
Story Solutions
Reading and writing are like peanut butter and chocolate, they just work better together. Stimulate those budding authors with a fun worksheet that requires them to read three story starters. The stories have been left incomplete; the...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
A Lesson on the Nature of Science
If you are looking for a great way to present natural selection in humans, look no further. This handout is intended to accompany the 14-minute video The Making of the Fittest: Natural Selection in Humans, which can be found on the...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Color Variation over Time in Rock Pocket Mouse Populations
A species-specific look at natural selection, the resource herein examines how adaptations have helped the population of rock pocket mice survive in a changing landscape. To begin, middle or high schoolers watch a 10.5 minute video,...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Chemical Signatures of Asteroid Impacts
What killed the dinosaurs and how do scientists know? Your high schoolers can examine these fascinating questions with a geochemical lens using the engaging 33-minute video, the accompanying data interpretation, and some thoughtful...
Curated OER
Law and Life in Two Ancient Societies
Students work in groups and compare/contrast Mesopotamian Law to Hebrew Law. They chart their findings on a chart to show a natural progression to answering questions about values in these two societies.
Penguin Books
An Educator’s Guide to Chraisma by Jeanne Ryan
Often, science fiction makes a lot of connections to real life. An educator's guide for the novel Charisma by Jeanne Ryan, has readers discuss many of the real-life issues that come in the text. A brief summary helps garner interest...
Curated OER
Beware the Ides of March
Sixth graders pretend to be the oracle warning Caesar about March 15th. They write a letter to Julius Caesar warning him of the consequences of going to the Senate building on March 15th. Students identify three causes and effects that...
Curated OER
The Presidential Quotation Report
Famous quotations by American Presidents are the focus of this Six Trait writing activity, which could be used in a U.S. History class or in language arts. After reading the picture book Theodore by Frank Keating, have your 7th graders...
Curated OER
In Pursuit of the American Dream
Students compare and contrast assimilation and acculturation. They explain the idea of "The Melting Pot" as it relates to what it means to be American. They write an 8 page response paper on a selected author.
Curated OER
Create a Walking Tour of San Francisco's Chinatown
Take a tour of Chinatown as it was in the 1800's. Analyzing primary source images and documents, learners will gain a better understanding of the myths and misconceptions of Chinese immigrants during the 1800's. They create a pamphlet to...
Curated OER
What's In a Phrase? Finding Historical Understandings in an Immigrant Guidebook
Using a Chinese-English phrase book from the late 19th century, learners view a glimpse of life on the frontier for a Chinese immigrant. They work in groups and on their own to analyze and summarize the content of various phrases, given...
Curated OER
Understanding the 1855 Census Database
Use data from the 1855 New York census to better understand the Irish immigrant experience during the late 19th century. Young historians analyze information from the census and build three hypotheses regarding the residents of the Five...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Seed Dispersal in Tropical Forests
How do seeds get around? It's not like plants can control seed dispersal—or can they? Dig deeper into the amazing mechanisms of seed dispersal observed in tropical plants through interactives, a video, and plenty of hands-on data...
Curated OER
Time Management
Students are taken through the design process to develop a system of time management for themselves and others. They practice participating in a critique of other students' time schedules and modify and improve their initial time...