Teach Engineering
Design Step 6: Evaluate/Manufacture a Final Product
This is what all of the excitement has been building up to! Young engineers create engineering drawings, use machines to manufacture their products, test, and evaluate their designs in the last step in the engineering design...
Curated OER
Brain Breaks to Liven Up the School Day!
Short brain breaks increase engagement and encourage teamwork in elementary, middle school, and even high school classrooms.
Curated OER
Where'd You Get Those Genes?
Really a unit, this resource exposes middle schoolers to genetics at their level. They read interviews and biographies, trace a family tree, play games that simulate inheritance concepts, and more! Teacher's procedures, student...
Curated OER
Cereal Box Redesigns
Learners examine cereal boxes for nutrition information. In this nutrition lesson, students redesign cereal boxes to reflect their nutritional value. Learners understand that some cereals contain too high a percentage of sugar...
Curated OER
Create Hydrogen Energy
Students complete an experiment to understand changes to the environment over time. In this hydrogen lesson plan, students discuss electrolysis and conduct an electrolysis experiment. Students observe and record their...
Curated OER
Lesson Learned: Creating a Life Reports Project
Tap into the wisdom and knowledge of older members of the community with this New York Times plan. To warm up, learners write about and discuss advice they have been given. After reading "The Life Report," an op-ed column that asks older...
Curated OER
Anticipation Guide for The Crucible
Before reading The Crucible with your ninth graders, give your class this prereading guide. They write agree or disagree for nine statements listed. Example statement: Honesty is always the best policy. What makes this guide even better...
Curated OER
The Power of a Project
How does PBL differ from a basic thematic unit? Discover the answer to this important question. A bulleted comparison is made between each type of teaching method, example projects are included, and a full "how to" is laid out in an easy...
iCivics
Step Nine: Action Campaign
It's time to take action! Learners strategize their action campaigns by using the resource and past brainstorming activities from the series that help them pinpoint problems in their communities. They use included templates to get the...
Curated OER
Teens Making a Difference
Is your opinion significant? Help your class discover the influence their opinions hold and encourage them to make a positive change in their community. To start, they get in teams and brainstorm why their school should have more healthy...
Curated OER
Solid Foundation
Young community members explore philanthropic foundations. They discuss the work of community foundations, and then they listen to a guest speaker describe the vision and activities of a local foundation. Is there a way they can join the...
Curated OER
Be the Change: Core Values
How do core values and identity contribute to citizenship and leadership? After engaging in a series of activities that explore core values, writers craft a children’s story that focuses on one value. They arrange to read their story to...
Curated OER
Kid City, USA
What a model community would look like? Get your kids talking with an activity that allows them to create their own town. After printing out a "fold out village," groups of students use a variety of resources to help them build an actual...
Curated OER
Wise Spenders and Savvy Savers
Second graders investigate the business community in their own town. They design interview questions before interviewing business people. They look at what type of good and services are offered in their area. They design a multimedia...
Curated OER
Who Am I?
Here are several activities intended to allow learners to understand who they are and how they can reach their personal career goals. They discuss community, support, personal achievement, and believing in oneself. It is a positive...
Discovery Education
Make it all Better!
Discover how innovations can help your school and community. In the three-part STEM lesson, scholars learn the meaning of innovation and brainstorm innovations in their schools. They identify issues in their communities and think of...
Missouri Department of Elementary
I’m Thumbody!
Positive and negative thinking is the focus of a activity that boost self-awareness. Beginning with a whole-class discussion, scholars brainstorm what positive thinking looks and sounds like then compares and contrast the two types of...
Curated OER
The Green Truck Garden Giveaway
Students read "The Green Truck Garden Giveaway" and explore the hobby of gardening. After observing illustrations in the book, students predict possible events in the story. They discuss gardening and write a story about a community...
Curated OER
A Passage Through Time
Young learners research and present information about a chosen subject to their peers, parents, instructors, and community. This lesson plan has a strong research and public speaking component, and would be ideal for your higher level...
Curated OER
Arkansas Festivals of the Land
Middle Schoolers research Arkansas community festivals which are tied to the landscape. They create brochures that reflect the festival from a geographical and historical perspective and share them with the class. This ambitious and...
Curated OER
Pollution in the Anacostia River
Seventh graders are introduced to Earth day--- what is it and why do we care, ease into topic of pollution, where have they seen pollution in their community, steer conversation in the direction of the Anacostia. They are reintroduced...
Curated OER
Radio Program
Students identify and assess the impact of unions on workers, management, and community. They listen to radio stories, students are asked what can they conclude about the impact of unions on the lives of the workers, management, and...
Curated OER
The Family: Louisiana Family Folklore
Every family has a different story to share. Your learning community examines the checklist that applies to the lesson, share some of the teacher's family photos, and look for clues in their own family photos in order to complete a...
Curated OER
Mission Possible: Energy Trade-offs
Teams of electrical engineers work together to develop plans for increasing electricity to a fictitious, but growing community. They consider different sources of electricity, both renewable and nonrenewable, the cost of building and...